Mothers and fathers play important roles in the growth of children’s life, with different approaches but a same goal: for the good of the children. In various publications, fatherhood complements motherhood: one represents the power that provides protections to the families while the other gives the most detailed care toward their children. However, what happens if only mothers present in the households? To the extreme, in Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman even depicts a utopia consisted of only female, a world operated solely on the love of mothers. This love contributes to the healthy growth and the continuation of their future generations in the absence of the fatherhood. Thorough and comprehensive, the mothers’ love delicately fruits the …show more content…
Herland has its unique origin that all present residents descend from only one mother, who profoundly founded and continued a new race. Ever since, the daughters afterward “[inherit] all that the devoted care of that declining band of original ones could leave them” and actively take on the role to dedicate their love to the future generations (Gilman). They respect mother-love and “raise it to the highest power” because for them, maternal love founds, preserves, and empowers their own race (Gilman). Not only fulfilling the current responsibilities of raising and caring for their children, mothers contribute to the continuation of the entire human generations, extending beyond the present. For black women, they take on the responsibility to advance the future of the entire community or even their population. Rooted from the origin of community mothermothers, their “feelings of responsibility for nurturing the children in their own extended family networks have stimulated a more generalized ethic of care where Black women fell accountable to all the Black community’s children” and also those from the future generations (Collins, 49). Passing onto their daughters’ this generous and extensive love, mothers perpetuate the advancement of the family and the community. Thus the human race progresses, driven by this eternal cycle of …show more content…
Ever lasting, this love from mother builds up and promotes the development of the entire generations, becoming the source that empowers the population and enlightens the civilization.
Patricia Hill Collins illustrates the maternal love through the African-American communities, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman uplift such love to the holy level in her female utopia, demonstrating the power of motherhood both socially and spiritually. However, descriptions related to men and fatherhood were rarely shown. What will the world only consisted of men look like? How will fatherhood operate and influence the development through that
Marie Louis Anderson writes black matriarchy to critically analysis the African American household, in which she examines the household culture and the matriarch in which the house operates under, many points are raised during this book. The most important of these points being , The Black matriarch regards the Black male as undependable and is frequently responsible for his emasculation, is often very religious, regards mothering as one of the most important in her life, attempts to shield her children from and to prepare them to accept the prejudices of the white world.
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
Throughout time mother/daughter relationships have been tattered as woman’s liberation has taken place. Many mothers have the “old fashioned” opinion about what a woman should be. The short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid, is a prime example of this relationship. The theme in “Girl” strongly suggests that a woman should be domestic and there is a certain way that she
Parents play a crucial role in the development of children, varying from culture to culture. Although imperative, the mother and daughter relationship can be trivial. Many women writers have exercised their knowledge and shared their feelings in their works to depict the importance and influence of mothers upon daughters. Jamaica Kincaid, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Kiana Davenport are only three of the many women writers who have included mother and daughter themes in their texts. These writers explore the journeys of women in search of spiritual, mental and individual knowledge. As explained by these authors, their mothers’ words and actions often influence women both negatively and positively. These writers also show the
The women of Herland do not only facilitate motherhood through a religious frame, it also shapes the social organisation within their society. Every woman is allowed to have one child but it’s expected to raise the child herself. The reason each woman is only allowed to pro-create once is a method of population control, as they found that without sanctions on childbirth they were outgrowing the country. In addition to that method, in rare exceptions, a woman isn’t allowed to procreate due to the evidence of what the Herlandians perceive to be bad traits. The child is taken care of by their biological mother for the first two years of their life for purposes of nursing etc., whilst being submerged in the love and affection of the whole community.
The maternal bond between mother and kin is valued and important in all cultures. Mothers and children are linked together and joined: physically, by womb and breast; and emotionally, by a sense of self and possession. Once that bond is established, a mother will do anything for her child. In the novel Beloved, the author, Toni Morrison, describes a woman, Sethe, who's bond is so strong she goes to great lengths to keep her children safe and protected from the evil that she knows. She gave them the gift of life, then, adding to that, the joy of freedom. Determined to shield them from the hell of slavery, she took drastic measures to keep them from that life. But, in doing so, the
A mother’s love for a daughter is an intense feeling; some times it can be very joyful or very painful. Most mothers just want their daughters to have everything that they didn’t have, they try to give their daughter all their hopes and dreams. The relationship between a mother and daughter should be one of the greatest relationships a woman can have with another woman. Some time a mother can push a daughter to hard, some mother don’t mean to make their daughter feel bad or to make them up-set, the mothers just want the daughter to have better then what they had. A mother gives her daughter advice about everything in life.
“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.
We live in a society where the similarities between female and males are seen at birth. It begins innocently with the toddlers; girls get pink while boys get blue. The gap between boys and girls develops with time and becomes increasingly apparent. There are still gender stereotypes today, but it is not as bad as it was in the past. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” perfectly portrays gender stereotypes. It represents gender concepts as cultural constructs in the period it was written. These conceptions are comparable to current stereotypes about gender. The book gives us a list of commands from a mother to a daughter. Men in the society are dominant to the women, and the set of rules is a product of patriarchy whereby the mother and daughter appear as subordinates to the men in their lives. The article makes one aware of the prevailing masculine hierarchy that exists in a family, and how it creates firm gender roles for females in the society.
Throughout literary history, authors have categorized mothers as nurturing, critical, and caring; works of literature characterize fathers, however, as providers who must examples for their children and embrace their protective, “fatherly” instincts. However, many works’ fathers fall short when it comes to acting the role of the ideal dad. Instead of being there for their children, they are away and play very miniscule roles in their children’s lives; instead of protecting he actually ends up hurting their kids. Thus, the paternal literary lens tries to determine whether or not the work’s father figure fits the “perfect father” archetype. This lens questions whether or not the father figure is his children’s active example, provider, and
The books I’ve chosen to review are set on two different continents. This makes the comparison of the lives of women across the world more efficient and broader. What makes the comparison more practical, realistic and interesting is the fact that the characters in the two books 'The Woman Warrior ' and 'Wild ', lived in the same century. The authors specifically bring out the duties and the expectation that mothers were held to in the upbringing of their daughters as at that time and place. The authors, however, present the picture of motherhood in a fairly narrow view. They ignore the role of mothers in the upbringing of their sons and instead dwell on their duties and responsibilities in the bringing up of their daughters (Kingston & Gordon 2005). Therefore, I chose to compare how the theme of motherhood has been portrayed in the two ethnically diverse texts.
Strength, sacrifice and love is an embodiment of mother. She should always know how much she is worth and shouldn’t let anyone define who she is. A mother’s feminine power is very powerful and at the same time supportive. Till their last breath, they will love their child unconditionally.
Love is a strong feeling, an attraction, a constant affection to another person. Love is also an emotional sentiment that a romantic relationship has. Although love is for two people to build up a relationship together, the love of unconditional ideal parents give to their children. The love of kindness, care and tenderness that a mother provides to raise children. The love of energy, strength and concern of a father allows children to learn and to receive the best support. Naturally, many parents want the best opportunities for their children but they take effort and time to reset rules to shape up a child’s discipline. In the same manner, my parents are the ones that raised me up, helped me in many obstacles and satisfied their life to bring my brother and me to the best future as it could be. There are differences between the instruction, care, and concern of a mother and a father, but both of their love is so clearly to view an unconditional love that it goes beyond infinities.
Love and affection, two fundamental things we receive from our parents and loved ones while growing up. For some kids it might be overlooked, whereas for others who have not experienced a parent’s love, it might leave them with an empty abyss they attempt to fill in their whole lives. Thus the question remains whom do these neglected kids turn to in hope of receiving love and affection? An example of this could be perceived in the short story “Crusader Rabbit” where the main character, Jeremy, yearns for something he has never even experienced, moreover, how it affects him in his adolescent life. The short story “Crusader Rabbit” written by Jess Mowry from 1991, ultimately shows us how the title “fatherhood” does not only belong to a biological father alone, but also to the one who is
Family is the first contact an infant experiences and the environment child is raised determines their behaviors and social development. Father figures just like mother figures are important in raising and socializing children in becoming responsible people as they grow. Numerous researches to determine importance of fathers in early child development have been carried out and majority of them found out that just like mothers, the role fathers play in early childhood development including mental, psychological and physical development are crucial. The studies show that, children raised by single mothers are likely to have problems such as drug abuse, engagement in early sexual behaviors and other unsocial behaviors as compared to those raised by both parents. The paper will explore the role of fathers in child rearing, discussing strategies in raising children and exploring pros and cons of such strategies.