Mothering

Introduction

Ann Crittendon, The Price of Motherhood

In Ann Crittendon’s “The Price of Motherhood”, she uses her personal experience as a professional and a mother to show readers the importance of mothers. Throughout her article, she notes how unrecognized mother’s work is, as it relates to other work paid outside of the home. Crittendon defines a mother as “selfless service to another”. A mother’s work requires complete devotion and dedication to raising her children along with forgetting or ignoring her own needs so as to give her all to her children. I do agree with Crittendon that child rearing is the most important job in the world. The way in which children are raised truly shapes the future, in its achievements and in its people who carry out those achievements. However, raising children and being a mother is work taken for granted. Housewives are often misunderstood as beautiful, classy women who sit around their houses all day waiting on their husbands and dreaming about using their husband’s money for shopping, when in reality, many housewives are taking care of daily chores plus that of raising a child. The calculation that Crtitendon performs to add up the amount of work and money that mothers put into servicing their families is in actuality a very significant amount of money that is denied and unrecognized by society. These chores go unpaid, taken for granted, and are in fact very risky to the mother’s in the future. Crittendon explains that because of the divorce rate, mothers are taking a huge chance in not working outside of the home in order to care for their children, because in all truth the money earned by the worker is really only their own. As a society, we need to start recognizing a mother’s work as providing to good people to the bigger society. By providing special services such as paid maternity leave, or day care at their job, to allow mothers to work outside of the home as well as take care of their children we as a society can work toward balancing the efforts and the fairness of mothers.

Women as Fathers: Motherhood and Child Care under a Modified Patriarchy

Barbara Katz Rothman

Rothman’s Motherhood and Child Care under a Modified Patriarchy introduces readers to the aspects of patriarchal privilege. The seed as a term stemmed from the bible is what connects fathers to their children. Their seed and their genetics is what makes fathers parents, as apposed to the nurturance and body that makes mothers connect to their children. Parenthood however is technically defined by genetics, as Rothman explains technically allows an individual to be equally related to their mothers and fathers. Understanding of this concept recognizes the legal and social rights and claims of the parents, mother and father. However throughout history and still currently today, there is still a traditional sense of parenthood, and men are still considered the dominant and controlling figure in a family. With the introduction and on- going success of procreative technology, women’s egg (seed) is considered as important as the contribution of a man’s seed, thus launching women as patriarchs. Women can come to own their children just as men own them and have rights to them just as men do. What most interested me in this article is the special connection that children had to their substitute caregivers as opposed to the relationship that they actually had with their own mothers. I feel that the mother-child relationship that develops is one that is special and irreplaceable by any other caregiver. The mothering experience is not only exclusive to the mother in her becoming a selfless individual who loves and devotes her life to her child, but it is also special for the child. The nurturance that is received by the child from the mother cannot be replaced by a substitute or an assistant. The recognition of power and control that the mother has over the child that the assistant does not have strengthens that mother- child relationship. I agree that mothers should and do have a right to their children as caregivers and as authoritative figures.

Black Feminist Thought: Black Women and Motherhood

Patricia Hill Collins

Collins article brings light to a traditionally different type of mothering that occurs in African American households. The images that are usually associated with black mothering are that of the mammy, the matriarch and the welfare mother. Motherhood, as Collins notes can actually serve as a way for black women to empower, respect and redefine themselves as women in society who have been oppressed and experience many social problems. One thing that Collins highlights in her article is the notion of othermothers. Othermothers are women, usually family members or close members in the community who care for children so that the mother can continue to go to work and take care of the family. The presence of othermothers is very common amongst black mothers, and is reciprocated throughout the community. Collins also notes the image of the “superstrong” black matriarch who to society is a strong disciplinarian. This mother is the one who teaches her daughter how to survive and handle anything that may come her way. This image of the black mother was the one that most stood out to me. Many times black mothers get a reputation for being mean, harsh and overprotective of their children; however, black children must be somewhat prepared to face the struggles that they may face as minorities. I feel that black mothers make it a priority to be leaders in their children’s lives, by helping them develop skills that will make them independent and self sufficient individuals who are well educated and do not need to depend on men for survival. By providing a support system within the community, and by being an active mother, black mothers are the foundation for black leaders in society.

As a black woman, I found this article especially relatable to my personal life and upbringing. Because both of my parents worked, my sister and I were left to be taken care of by another relative, specifically my grandmother when we were very young. By surrounding us with family instead of another caretaker, I believe was most beneficial to my upbringing. My family instilled values of education, and self-worth and respect into my lifestyle at a very early age, that I believe could not have been done with having another caretaker.

The Wage Penalty for Motherhood

Michelle Budig

The Wage for Motherhood, provides readers insight into the disparities that exist within the workforce for mothers. Mothers joining the workforce have a very hard time in attaining much financially because as Budig concludes, mothers have to compensate their duties outside of the home with their duties within the home. Many mothers because they cannot afford to have a full time, and big paying job, receive low wages and wage penalties. The wage penalty for motherhood is also a result of gender inequality. Motherhood is often not recognized as a job, and for that it is unpaid. Budig refers to society as “free riders” who receive free labor from mothers, while mothers receive lower wages. As agreed in Budig’s article as well as in Crittendon’s article, the resources that are available to women as mothers and as professionals are lacking and do not allow women to be as productive in the workforce as men. Women are forced to take on part time jobs or otherwise known as “mother-friendly” jobs so as to allow for time to complete household duties that are rarely performed by men. As a woman in today’s society, we face discrimination that limits us in our job opportunities, and as mothers we take an even greater risk as companies do not offer particular resources that motivate being a mother and a professional.