What Has Westernisation Influenced Perceptions Of Motherhood Within Latin American Society?

Feminine characteristics are thought to be intrinsic to the female facility for childbirth and breast-feeding. Hence, it is popularly believed that the social position of females is biologically mandated to be intertwined with the care of children and a 'natural' dependency on men for the maintenance of mother-child units."

Finally, the author examines how gender personality shapes a woman’s mothering capacities, and thus reproduces the cycle of mothering. The different structures of the oedipal triangle (binary for men, triangular for women) contribute to the formation of gender identity in children. The psychoanalytic object choice also ensures that the heterosexual relationship will result in women mothering and taking on the role of primary caretaker, leading to an asymmetrical organization of parenthood where men are mainly absent or removed. However, male-dominant households ensure that women will remain unfulfilled in the relationship, leading to a desire for a child, and rearing this child in a socially gendered family. In this manner, due to women’s nurturing role and their narcissistic attachment to their daughters, they contribute to the perpetuation of “their own social roles and position in the hierarchy of gender”.

The essence of the relationship between a mother and child is a mutual ascendency in regards to identity. Children are subject to an instinctive longing for a mother. It is the mother’s influence that guides them in their process of discovering all the realities the world posses and in that processing discerning their identity. Conversely when a woman becomes a mother the presence of her child causes her to evaluate and develop her identity under the pretense of motherhood. Paula Nicolson touches on the value of both these scenarios in her article “Motherhood and Women’s Lives” where she expresses how the mother child relationship gives the pretense for both parties to find their authentic identities (Nicolson). Sue Monk Kidd evaluates the

Everyone knows that being a mother is not and easy job, especially those who have the right to be called “mother”. Women who are gifted with the miracle of giving birth are gifted too with an enormous job of guiding a person’s life. Moms are always known for being there always, breaking the obstacles with their sons and making them learn from their own mistakes. Being a mom is a hard work and sometimes they suffer from abuse from their sons or family members for just wanting the best for them.

This myth of marianismo exercised by the mothers provided them with a stable identity; however similar to Taylor this identity also restricted them . This identity through marianismo restricts them to be women dedicated to the home and forces them to meet cultural expectations; further it creates the notion that “ a woman's role as mother becomes her central identification” ; hence, one cannot go without the other and a woman’s role is dependent on motherhood. Taylor describes the use of motherhood as a contradiction that questions the responsibility of a good mother and a problematic choice. Farj further shows the reasoning for such

The "mother-woman" role is an image that summarizes this idea of decorum. It is a behavioral code which bases a woman's identity on her capacity to bear children, look after them and worship the patriarch; it is a role based on the effacement and the extrication of each female individuality for the sake of the "mother-woman" raiment.

“When will you have a child?” is a question often heard by women nearing a certain age, or upon achieving certain milestones in her life (such as marriage or after her 30th birthday). While it may be true that women are indeed the only ones with the ability to bear children, having a child is portrayed as a woman’s right of passage. Individuals frequently overstep boundaries of privacy and inquire insensitively about a woman’s personal plan for children, and the male glorifying society is to be blamed for this prying and expectation. Due to the fact that motherhood in general is largely linked to women’s subordination to men, voluntary alternate decisions are subject to public criticism for violating the dominant norm. However, what if a woman truly has no desire to become a mother? Is it really something that every woman should aspire to? Why are women who opt not to procreate stigmatized in the first place? Is motherhood really as rewarding as portrayed to be? It is vital to note that is essay is not intended to degrade or discredit motherhood, as it is truly an extremely imperative, praiseworthy role, but, to closely examine

After watching these videos, I feel that social expectation and regulation play an important role that affect the transition to parenthood.The traditional roles of women used to be mothers and wives, and their social status was lower than men. With the development of society, it is not necessary to keep these traditional ideology nowadays.

What does it mean to be a woman? This is a question that has been answered, debated, re-answered, and carved into constitutions all over the world. Though there are no limits to how this question can be received, I, and many others would agree, there is no correct answer. Women have been told what to be for centuries, and today, patriarchy is deeply rooted in society, to the point where it is legal for a woman to walk the streets topless, but implausible for her to become the prime minister, or president. These roles given to us, ones which state men must be loud and aggressive, and women must be tender and loving, are the stone pillars upon which stereotypes and prejudices are built. From among these, perhaps one of the most universally held stereotypes pertaining to women is the maternal instinct. The maternal instinct is what is known as the “natural”, maybe even compulsive, tendency to care for others. Women are thought to inherently contain this instinct, and are often met with contempt if they express no desire, or in some cases are physically unable, to reproduce. However, a gender group cannot be born with any sort of traits, as gender is a social construct, and we are socialized to behave in conformity with our assigned gender. Likewise, women are not born to be mothers, they are simply better socialized than men to take on nurturing roles (Brym and Lie 2012).

Our Western society has strong beliefs about motherhood. The ideology has been termed the motherhood mystique and it includes the following myths:

“In The Myth of Motherhood: An Historical View of the Maternal Instinct (1981), the French philosopher Elisabeth Badinter argued that motherly love is not an

It is difficult to read everything and while I know I should read her work, Spelman has given me greater insight into her work. My initial reaction was that her statements seem dated and narrow. I was troubled by her limited notions that "mothering" occurs in "relation to her husband, her economic dependence on him, her experience of male dominance" (p. 85) . While Chodorow's view lends to the assumption of the SNAF as normative, it does so excluding single, teen, or lesbian mothers. This, of course, speaks to the middle class standpoint of which Spelman writes. Mothers who deviate from that narrow description are strewn into the position of "Other". Yet to suggest that children do not see the economic or racial identities and struggles of their mothers is also to say that children, male or female, lack the ability to negotiate their identities and theorize/ make sense of their social worlds. I know I'm rambling, but there are so many facets of the book I want to address, I hope our discussion will address the theoretical /philosophical aspects and critiques of the book. I was intrigued with the preface, introduction, and subsequent chapters which deconstructed the gendered, classed, racial assumptions of Plato's and Aristotle's standpoints. This is an area I've not studied, so for me, examining, the "grand narratives" and standpoints from which dominion is claimed, lends greatly to the attempts, experiences, and theories

Experimental data suggest that the past experiences of the mother are a major determinant in molding her care-giving role. Children use adults, especially loved and powerful adults, as models for their own behaviour. Children development literature, states that the powerful process of imitation or modelling socially inclines children. Kennell and Klaus explain that unless adults consciously and painstakingly reexamine these learned behaviours, they will unconsciously repeat them when they become parents (Kennell and Klaus 11). Thus the way a woman was raised, which includes the practices of her culture and the individual idiosyncrasies of her own mother's child raising practices greatly influences her behaviour toward her own infant. Bob Brazelton in The Early Mother-Infant Adjustment says that, "It may seem to many that attachment to a small baby will come naturally and to make too much of it could be a mistake... but there are many, many women who have a difficult time making this adjustment...(Brazelton 10). He points out that we must understand the ingredients of attachment in order to help, because each mother-child dyad is unique and has individual needs of it's own (Brazelton 12).

Motherhood is a unique and universal gift bestowed upon woman by nature, conferring a great responsibility upon her. But is this ‘gift of motherhood,’ a boon or a bane, does motherhood elevate and empower or does it subjugate and enslave a mother? The answer isn’t simple because it is embedded in the intricacies that involve the various aspects and perspectives that influence motherhood. So complex is the issue that, even while defining motherhood one wonders where to begin? Should one begin to define it from pregnancy or does one begin to define it from the early childhood or adolescence – a stage which prepares the female body for motherhood? If one has to make a thorough study of the subject then perhaps it would be appropriate to define it from early childhood, adolescence, followed by late adolescence, conception and pregnancy, child- bearing and child-rearing. All the stages of motherhood have an impact on the life of a woman, but the last, which is child-rearing, saddles her with great responsibility. In order to, understand the impact of motherhood on a woman’s life let us first study, the causes that are generally believed to affect motherhood.

Motherhood is a unique and universal gift bestowed upon woman by nature, conferring a great responsibility upon her. But is this ‘gift of motherhood,’ a boon or a bane, does motherhood elevate and empower or does it subjugate and enslave a mother? The answer isn’t simple because it is embedded in the intricacies that involve the various aspects and perspectives that influence motherhood. So complex is the issue that, even while defining motherhood one wonders where to begin? Should one begin to define it from pregnancy or does one begin to define it from the early childhood or adolescence – a stage which prepares the female body for motherhood? If one has to make a thorough study of the subject then perhaps it would be appropriate to define it from early childhood, adolescence, followed by late adolescence, conception and pregnancy, child- bearing and child-rearing. All the stages of motherhood have an impact on the life of a woman, but the last, which is child-rearing, saddles her with great responsibility. In order to, understand the impact of motherhood on a woman’s life let us first study, the causes that are generally believed to affect motherhood.