The Joys Of Motherhood By Buchi Emecheta

Through Women’s Eyes by Ellen Carol DuBois and Lynn Dumenil addresses American History from 1865 until present day. The third edition of this textbook includes visual and primary sources over several centuries. I used this textbook in a history course, “Women in the United States, 1890 – Present;” I found the textbook to be engaging, helpful, and useful throughout the course. The way in which in the information was presented allowed me to learn, assess, and analyze the difficulties women faced.

Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her “broken English”. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks “limited” English, needs Tan to be her “translator” in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother “broken” language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thought at the end since she realizes things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. Through the various different literary devices and rhetorical strategies such as the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, as well as a

The poem “Mothers and Daughters” is written by Pat Mora. Pat Mora is a contemporary award winning writer, who writes for children, youngsters and adults. She was born in El Paso, TX in the year 1942. She attains a title of a Hispanic writer; however, the most of her poems are in English. In her literary work, one can observe the different aspects of the immigrants’ lives such as language issues, family relationships, immigrants’ experiences and cultural differences (1187).

Jonathan Kozol, in the chapter entitled “Other People’s Children, discusses and justifies the kinds of limitations placed on children who must attend poorly funded, educationally inferior school. Kozol argues that children in the inner-city schools are not fit to go to college and that they should be trained in schools for the jobs they will eventually hold, even though these jobs are less prestigious, lowest-level jobs in society. Kozol’s argument is based on the fact that students from the inner-city or rather from the societies that do not have enough job opportunities are not supposed to learn much because their society cannot accommodate most of the courses that are often found in the urban settings. For example, there is a point where Kozol cites one of the businessman’s statement which says, ‘It doesn’t make sense to offer something that most of these urban kids will never use.’ The businessman continues to argue, ‘no one expects these ghetto kids to go to college. Most of them are lucky if they are literate. If we can teach some useful skills, get them to stay in school and graduate, and maybe into jobs, we’re giving them the most that they can hope for’ (Kozol 376). This statement clearly indicate that the society should accept the inequalities and exercise the same inequalities even in education.

Questions have been raised on whether Chinese parenting raises more flourishing children than Western parenting. Despite what people think, in Amy Chua's essay “The Roar of the Tiger Mom”, she portrays the differences between the beliefs of Chinese parenting and Western parenting. Chua introduces the views of a Chinese parent compared to the views of a Western parent. The methods used by Chinese mothers in raising their children are drastically different from Western mothers. Each defends their methods and believes the other group is doing their job poorly. In the end, both types of parents just want one thing-- successful children.

English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize

Both Mother Who Gave Me Life by Gwen Harwood and Woman to Child by Judith Wright, explore the bonds shared between mother and child. While both poems explore the same themes, each poet uses different techniques in doing so. Woman to Child is from the point of view of a mother. Although the poet has used the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’, the poem is not from Wrights point of view, rather, from every woman’s, as majority of women have experienced the intimate experience of becoming a mother. Like Woman to Child, Mother Who Gave Me Life also uses personal pronouns, but unlike Woman to Child, Mother Who Gave Me Life is a personal elegy for Harwood’s mother.

The tone of hopelessness in this poem is very obviously the result of regret, or the feelings of what motherhood may have been. For a majority of the poem the mother focuses on what their lives would have been having “never giggled or planned or cried” (4) or how they “will never wind up the sucking thumb” (4). Although these are only a few examples it is very evident how the mother, although denied the joy of motherhood, longs for the child she almost had, saying, “believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you/ All” (5). In an attempt to take a more positive outlook on the mother tries to justify herself saying how much better the child’s life would be, that as a mother she would never have the chance to “neglect or beat/ Them…” (4). The story behind “the mother” is just one example of hopelessness that Brooks prominently saw throughout her community, obviously this feeling of regret and lament was prevalent throughout many women who, although chose to have abortions, were not done out of not wanting the child, but by force in order to keep a job, house, or some other commitment in which carrying and properly raising a child would be near impossible.

In the Ibo culture, when a woman was to be married, the family of her suitor would come and inspect her to be sure she was beautiful and ripe enough to be a part of their family. A woman did not have any value other than her beauty and her abilities to cook and bear children. In a conversation between Okonkwo and his friend Obierika, they spoke of two other villages where their ''customs are all upside down'' and ''titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives'' (73).

In Meredith Small’s article Our Babies, Ourselves she focuses on people’s social and psychological development through examining the different cultural aspects of raising a child. During this process she compares the American perspective of treating babies, to those of the Gusii and the Dutch. Throughout her examination many points are made that I believe can give the reader’s a valuable understanding of the impact of different means of parenthood on a child’s future development.

The idea of Mother Earth is extremely empowering for women; most women believe that, right? Ellen Cronan Rose finds the idea of mother earth tremendously unempowering. Rose writes in her article “The Good Mother: from Gaia to Gilead”, that the imagery of mother earth is deeply problematic and is harmful to the feminist cause. This is a shocking view considering that most women don’t seem to have a problem with that idea. Ellen Cronan Rose states that the “mother earth” metaphor is harmful to the way women are viewed in society because it perpetuates negative stereotypes against women, it views the earth and women primarily as producers, and it overlooks the fact that both men and women are connected to nature. She goes in-depth into how mother earth imagery can impact women.

On of the works of art that I have come across this term is an oil on canvas titled “Young Mother and Two Children” by Mary Cassatt, an American Impressionist painter, measures 92.08 x 73.66 cm. The subject matter of a mother and her two children done in the Impressionist style depicts a lifelike representation with an almost ethereal viewpoint There is also a sense of unity as it is a closed composition, which directs the eye to the piece and although there are three subjects within the painting, it seems as one unified and self contained image.

“the mother” was written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1945 who was born in topeka Kansas on June 7, 1917. “the mother” was published in her 1945 collection “A Street in Bronzeville”, in 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.(bio) “the mother” is a great description of a mother going through a time of remembering her wrongs and pondering on what could have been. The poem “the mother” is a anti-abortion poem, it is a emotional outpour of the sense of guilt by a mother who has regrets, she speaks of mothers who have had abortions and how they will never forget. The title “the mother” is not capitalized so it makes it feel as if the writer is making the mother less important or not important at all.

Maya Angelou said, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow” (Wanderlust 1). The relationship a mother has with her child transcends all other relationships in complexity. Maternity largely contributes to the female identity in part because the ability to sexually reproduce is uniquely female. With this ability often comes an unparalleled feeling of responsibility. That is, mothers experience an inherent desire to protect their children from the world and guide them through life. Serving as a child’s protector then transforms a woman’s perspective, or the female gaze. While these protective instincts often arise naturally, they are also reinforced by the ideas society’s perpetuates about motherhood. Globally, women are expected to assume the roles of wives and mothers. The belief that motherhood is somewhat of a requirement assists in the subjugation of women and reinforces a plethora of gendered stereotypes. While some women enjoy the process of childrearing, others feel that having a family comes at an irreparable cost: losing sight of oneself. In response to the polarized views surrounding maternity, several authors have employed different writing techniques to illustrate the mother-child dynamic. Through the examination of three narratives, spanning fiction and non-fiction, one is able to better define maternity and the corresponding female gaze in both symbolic and universal terms.

"Voluntary motherhood implies a new morality—a vigorous, constructive, liberated morality. That morality will, first of all, prevent the submergence of womanhood into motherhood. It will set its face against the conversion of women into mechanical maternity and toward the creation of a new race." (Sanger, Woman and the New Race)