It's no surprise: I pretty much hate Mother's Day. And not because it celebrates mothers, but because it celebrates a narrow view of womanhood. It's hard to tell, of course, but I probably wouldn't care about Mother's Day at all if we had plenty of other ways in which women in our culture were revered and celebrated. Then it would just be like, "Yay, Julie, you're an awesome lawyer and contribute a lot to your firm; happy Lawyer's Day! Oh and Magda, glad you identify as a mother and your family sure is happy that you are there for them; happy Mother's Day!" But this is not what we have to work with here.
Instead we have: send Michelle Obama a card and shocking polarizing Time covers for stories on this type of mothering vs. that type. Again, it's not that motherhood in and of itself is a bad thing; of course, it isn't. But it's just that motherhood is fetishized and sensationalized. It's just that it's the only loudly accepted and celebrated role for women. Something that could be a private family affair, something that's between adults and their children, something that could be celebrated in a quiet appreciative way–if you feel so inclined to celebrate your mother or your own motherhood–becomes a public ordeal of a social role unlike any other.
It's not fun to be the grinch on such a seemingly benign day. But it's hard to be celebratory when I simply can't agree with the underlying message of the holiday. I just wish we could publicly and enthusiastically celebrate all aspects of womanhood, whether it involves motherhood or not.
P.S. A friend sent me this. Who knew that Mother's Day was created to honor peace?
Instead we have: send Michelle Obama a card and shocking polarizing Time covers for stories on this type of mothering vs. that type. Again, it's not that motherhood in and of itself is a bad thing; of course, it isn't. But it's just that motherhood is fetishized and sensationalized. It's just that it's the only loudly accepted and celebrated role for women. Something that could be a private family affair, something that's between adults and their children, something that could be celebrated in a quiet appreciative way–if you feel so inclined to celebrate your mother or your own motherhood–becomes a public ordeal of a social role unlike any other.
It's not fun to be the grinch on such a seemingly benign day. But it's hard to be celebratory when I simply can't agree with the underlying message of the holiday. I just wish we could publicly and enthusiastically celebrate all aspects of womanhood, whether it involves motherhood or not.
P.S. A friend sent me this. Who knew that Mother's Day was created to honor peace?
0 comments:
Post a Comment