Motherhood is Political
Posted December 8th, 2009 by Valerie YoungFrom Your (Wo)manInWashington blog
MOTHERS changing the conversation @ www.MothersOughtToHaveEqualRights.org
Women around the world speak different languages, practice different religions, and live in an endless variety of circumstances, yet motherhood is a significant unifier. It is perhaps the greatest common experience in our global human endeavor, and it is women alone who share it.
Motherhood can be a radicalizing event, notwithstanding the pastel colors, teddy bears, and fluffy blankets advertisers surround it with here. Hitting the maternal wall and encountering gender discrimination following motherhood is something I hear about (and talk about!) quite a lot. Becoming a mother can, and should, make political actors of all of us.
Motherhood instantly ups your ante in the human sweepstakes. It gives you a very personal stake in the future, and makes you vulnerable in every way. It can also empower. Women who hesitated to speak for themselves may find their voice and advocate energetically for themselves as mothers and for the welfare of their children. Motherhood, it must be said, has the potential to be the single most common transformational experience in the world.
It has made political activists of several dozen mothers in Iran, who were arrested over the weekend for demonstrating in opposition to the government. Their children were killed in the riots following the disputed June 12 election, made famous by the viral video of the shooting and death of Neda Agha-Soltan. These mothers have gathered to protest in central Tehran every single Saturday since. They have been harassed and attacked by government forces before, but this was the first time they were arrested and jailed.
I know the mother of a seriously handicapped child here in the United States. She is the married mother of three, runs a graphic design business from her home office, and cares for her disabled 10 year old when he is not at school. She never reads the paper, watches “Meet the Press”, and can barely squeeze in an exercise class. However, she found herself walking the halls of Congress every day for a week, meeting her legislators to argue that federal education legislation actually undermines the aiblity of her son’s school to maximize his functioning and effectively address his needs. So surprised by the rush that came from articulating her personal expertise to policymakers, she subsequently signed up for acting classes and flexes her personal power muscles now on a regular basis.
Motherhood changes you and makes you realize that in this country, in this world, you see things differently than you did before. Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, says women the world over tell him the same thing. “We don’t want our babies to die, and we want our children to go to school.”
How will you unleash your motherforce today?
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6 Comments
Valerie, you are so right. Motherhood is the great unifier the whole world over, I have always felt that way. I have six chilren ages 13 to 30. I have spent all of my adult years investing in chilren, emotionally and financially. During all of the years I stayed home to raise them, I operated a day care to contribute to the family income. I was the CEO of my home. As a mother I had to be teacher, counselor, nurse, cook, etc… I did it all. My youngest child was diagnosed with Aspergers and that set me on a mission to find any kind of help for him I could. It was exhausting, time consuming and expensive. I returned to the work force with what I thought was a storehouse of useful experience. It was humiliating to have to start at the bottom because of lack of experience in the work force. My eyes were very quickly opened to the inequities in the corporate world for women. My job was inflexible and after trying to keep up the impossible schedule for four years, I quit to go back to school for massage therapy so that my mothering skills would have an outlet and I would then be able to create a flexible work schedule. I feel gratefull that I live in a country where I could make that choice.
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December 9, 2009 at 9:13 am by Heather H.Valerie — I love your post. It’s an inspiring call that links mothers’ activism in different places, albeit under very different circumstances.
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December 9, 2009 at 7:49 am by Gabriela SantosDear Valerie,
I’m so, so glad that my most intimate conclusions about today’s society find echo in your words. I’m so glad I found your post (or should I say, manifest?)! I too think that heart-felt motherhood and fatherhood are at the starting point of the only true life-respecting cultural, social and economic revolution the world needs. Because that revolution has to be based in the safety, respect and hapiness of ALL the children in the world. And us adults, we need to really listen and whatch infants in order to realise what makes them truly happy. And motherhood/fatherhood (hopefuly) cleans our ears and put new lenses in our eyes in order to do so. Children know what is missing. Let us be reminded by them. I salute you and the words you say. And this is how I unleached my motherhood today.
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December 8, 2009 at 9:06 pm by Wilma SummersPlease take me off your list.
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