Motherhood In Mean Girls

   Historically, the job of women in society is to care for the husband, the home, and the children. As a homemaker, it has been up to the woman to support the husband and care for the house; as a mother, the role was to care for the children and pass along cultural traditions and values to the children. These roles are no different in the African-American community, except for the fact that they are magnified to even larger proportions. The image of the mother in African-American culture is one of guidance, love, and wisdom; quite often the mother is the shaping and driving force of African-American children. This is reflected in the literature of the

In the article “Fictive Kin, Paper Sons, and Compadrazgo: Women of Color and the Struggle for Family Survival,” Bonnie Thornton Till writes about how family roles were different for whites than for families of color. Meanwhile white females’ roles only pertained to family, females of color had much more obligations than just family responsibilities. For African American women,

In its simplest form, a child is a product of a man and a woman but Alice Walker one of the foremost authors during the twentieth century, adds depth to her black American women by focusing on the role that race and gender played in their development. Family reunions can be times of great anticipation, excitement and happiness but for Dee, a young, beautiful, African American and our leading character, it was a reunion with underlying, unspoken tensions. Dee was Dee but Dee had changed; a new husband, nice clothes, and a college degree to boat. Maybe that college degree certificate could be farmed and hung on the wall replacing that old photo of George Washington Carver, out with the old and in with the new. Alice Walker is showing

From this text, we are introduced to the different types of pain Black women had to go through during this time. Martha was separated from her family as a whole an instead of being depressed she had to continue on with her life, and serve her new master. The Black feminist theory suggest that “the experiences gained from living as an African American woman stimulate a Black Feminist sensibility (Collins 20).” It is from this approach, readers learn that black women must be strong because her inner pain must be hidden, or her pain will often go unnoticed. At the end of the day, the black woman’s emotions did not matter. Therefore, at a young age Black women are taught that this is normal and because it is normal one must not dwell on that pain. Instead, you must take this experience and move forward which is exactly what Martha does.

Secondly unlike most people who view the mother as in denial towards her race as an African American Women. I believe she was trying to explain to everyone that her baby son was going to grow up with problems facing life because he is African American.” Towards the end of the short story “Desiree Baby” she was writing a note which said “… I thank the good God for having so arranged out our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.” From my perspective she is saying that she is happy to know that as his mother he does not have to know how it feels to be brand the past of slavery.

I have always believed deeply that the role of a mother holds complexities that I have come to appreciate. It amazes me how innate characteristics are completely unravelled once a woman gives birth. As people have certain ideas of how a mother acts and presents herself, there is a unique depiction particularly of African American mothers during the 20th century. At the Mothers in Movies event, we were presented with different clips to analyze and discuss. The compilation of these clips surfaced different ideas held of African American mothers during the 20th century, such as conformity to social norms, aggressiveness, and tough love.

In the end, she is indicating her devotion to keeping “hope” as it is what allows her to release her daughters into the world without unleashing her inner rage to the world over the daily trauma she must endure as a mother. I envision this paper more as a personal essay that operates in the realm of ideas, as she is using Coates’ article as a foundation for her to publicize the fears of Black American mothers that have been swept under the rug for so long. This is why she ultimately attempts to culminate her emotions and inner-feelings into a piece of writing for readers around the world to gain a better sense of understanding

According to the dictionary, the word “Mother” is defined as a woman in relation to a child whom she has given birth to showing maternal tenderness or affection. The definition clearly defines a stage in woman's life that should be a pleasant and happy experience, but that's not the case for everybody. The dehumanizing acts of slavery are eminent in many novels, such as Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. In these novels, slave women were not suppose to enjoy the role of mother. It was either physically taken away or their mother instincts were brutally effected. Slave mothers had to face many consequences and sacrifices for their life and the life of their loved ones.

When reading the first couple of pages of the short story, I concluded that the story was taking place back in the day because of the price of the herring snacks (464). I would never find herring for 49 cents. I was able to relate to the situation of the boy when the lady got mad when he rang up the item wrong. I work at a grocery store so I am able to relate to people getting made when you ring up an item twice. They get very mad and act like it’s the end of the world. I found it rude that Sammy called the girls pale and chunky even though he did not mean any harm to call the girls that (461). The girls did not have a name so they made of ones. When Sammy describes the girls that he sees, it reminds me of the movie “Mean Girls” because of

“The Sky is Grey” by Ernest J. Gaines and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker are both stories that share a view point of black motherhood. The black mothers share a connection with each other by demonstrating how they both don’t show no affection toward there sons and daughters. Both mothers in the stories share another connection by being an uncaring parent toward their children. A mother should not show unloving affection toward a child, instead they should be energetic with their children. If a mother doesn’t show love onto a child well-being than their bond with the mothers can be destroy. Black mothers in society today illustrates the power to help their children to gain an urge to express their emotion with their mothers. Both stories illustrate the power that a mother must help or hinder a child in developing a sense of character.

Black womanhood is extremely complex because this is a group of people who have marginalized for centuries. There is a burden put on black women that other groups do not experience. Being a woman in today’s society is a burden alone, but on top of that being African American presents another set of obstacles. Linda Brent in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Janie Crawford in Their Eyes Were Watching God, are both black women who are oppressed by society as a whole, particularly males. Since they have to face twice the amount of oppression, they have even more of a reason to fight for their basic human rights of liberty and respect. By looking at Linda Brent’s fight for independence as a slave, we can see how even though Janie was not a slave, she still fights for independence within her relationships with men. This is important because it shows how Jacobs and Hurston believed that domesticity and over sexualization limits the power of black women therefore they have to be physically and mentally strong.

In the article, “A Mother’s Day Kiss-Off,” author Leslie Bennetts explains her rage about the Mother’s Day holiday and the unfair expectations of mothers in modern America. Bennetts feels that the treatment of women and mothers is unfair, causing women and mothers everywhere to be angry. Bennetts proclaims that women feel inferior in most aspects of life, and she explains that this is unfair and all too common. Bennetts challenges women to realize that they are not alone and should keep fighting for themselves. In doing so, Bennetts loses credibility in her idea that women are oppressed housewives due to her negative tone and approach to men and husbands.

Mean Girls begins with the initiation of Cady Heron into “girl world”. Cady, growing up in Africa, has been homeschooled her entire life and is not used to the interactions faced in high school. Upon meeting “The Plasatics”- Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith- Cady was taken under their wing. This changed Cady’s morals and her overall outlook on life. Both the feminist and marxist lenses accurately describe Mean Girls and the messages it portrays.

Many of these themes focus on society and the roles that women used to play in society. During the time that this work was written, it was the woman’s job to take care of the children and the household. It was uncommon for women to have jobs other than a seamstress. Women did not have any social or political power. In order to do certain things, women had to have their husband’s permission.

In Beloved and Sula mothers are not depicted as flawless, but they show unconditional love for their children, often in quite provocative ways. Morrison's authorship elucidates the conditions of motherhood showing how black women’s' existence is warped by the severe conditions of slavery. These two novels become apparent how in a patriarchal society a woman can feel guilty when choosing interests, career and self-development before motherhood. Those sacrifices have to be made by a mother is obvious and natural, but equality in a relationship means shared responsibility and with that the sacrifices are less on both parts. It argues that although motherhood can be a wonderful experience many women fear it because of the domestication of the mother