Motherhood

1
Motherhood

• Social institution (like marriage) - encompassing
  customs, beliefs, attitudes, rules, laws
• Also has powerful symbolic component
• Individuality can disappear
• Has been used to exclude women from public life
  (liberal feminist)
• Motherhood as woman-centered model of how people
  can be caring, connected

2
Myths of Motherhood Mystique

• It is womens ultimate fulfillment,. thus
  necessary experience, those who dont are
  deprived, deficient
• Women are instinctively good at caregiving,
  should be responsible for family, home enjoy it
• Mothers have infinite patience, are to sacrifice,
  put own needs last
• Full-time mothering is best for kids

3
More on Motherhood Mystique

• Permeates experts advice on childrearing
• Form of benevolent sexism because justifies
  different roles, elevates men over women
  benefits them
• Economic dependence on men results
• Used to justify womens lower status pay
• Motherhood defined in ways that makes many women
  feel guilty, burdened

4
Decisions about Having Children

• In preindustrialized times, children were needed
  workers
• Industrialization lowered mortality rate, fewer
  children as they become economic liability
• Maternal instinct doesnt seem to exist, is
  learned
• Single fathers develop maternal skills so that
  nurturing looks like result of role rather than
  instinct
• Working class women do it to achieve maturity,
  middle class women after maturity

5
Other Reasons to Mother

• To experience pregnancy, birth
• Participate in growth of another person
• Pleasing partner
• Strengthen relationship
• Prove oneself as adult
• Gain love, being needed
• Pass on family name or genes

6
Motherhood Mandate

• Surveys in 50s thru 70s indicated strong norm
  against childlessness, 1-child families
• Choosing to be childfree often viewed as
  maladjustment (failed, self-centered, unhappy,
  unlikable, socially inadequate)
• In 90s survey, students judged childless women
  as less fulfilled, less acceptable role models,
  more often unhappy
• During feminist backlash of 80s motherhood
  reemphasized

7
Reasons for Childfreeness

• Financial issues
• Desire to pursue career, education
• Dangers of childbirth
• Possibility of having defective child
• Overpopulation concerns
• Belief that not suited

8
Childlessness

• Surveying childless over 55, 72 attributed to
  circumstances
• Later marriage
• Caring for parents
• Infertililty

9
Infertility

• Major study of midlife women found no differences
  in well-being related to motherhood
• One woman in 6
• In study of women whod given up after up to 15
  yrs. of tx, found emotional repercussions
• Profound grief, loss, emptiness
• Feel exhausted, worn out
• Relief at being done w/ medical machinery

10
Reproductive Freedom

• Most feminists advocate because affects all
  aspects of life
• Key is that all choices should be made by the
  woman herself
• Components
• Unbiased, comprehensive sex ed
• Safe, reliable, affordable contraception
• End to forced sterilization, forced birth control
  (for poor, minority women)
• Safe, legal abortion (pro-choice)

11
Contraception

• Accidental pregnancies results of method failure,
  lack of access, knowledge, unplanned or coerced
  sex, failure to use
• Women expected to take responsibility but may not
  due to
• Guilt
• Lack of power within relationships
• Sexual scripts
• Problems compounded for poor, Third World women
• Inadequate info for non-English speaking, young
  women starting to be sexually active

12
Abortion

• 40 of pregnancies unplanned
• 1.3 million U.S. abortions/yr., 30 of
  pregnancies, 46 million worldwide, 20 million
  illegally
• Most common for young, poor, unmarried, women of
  color (38 of blacks, 22 of Hispanics, 16 of
  whites) which may relate to contraception
  availability
• Roe v. Wade legalized in 73, relates choice to
  constitutional right to privacy
• Many limitations restrictions (e.g., Hyde
  Amendment - prohibits Medicaid funds), parental
  notification, consent

13
More on Abortion

• RU-486 legalized in 2000
• Plan B (morning after) not yet legal
• Harassment, violence at abortion clinics another
  deterrent
• No. of docs performing down (18) due to
  stalking, threats, murders

14
Bush Administration

• On first day in office, banned aid to global
  organizations that use own funds to provide
  abortions or abortion counseling to poor women in
  developing countries
• 2002 - he eliminated U.S. contributions to UN
  family planning programs which also provide
  contraceptive education, HIV/AIDS prevention,
  general health ed to women children in over 140
  countries
• Monitoring of womens behavior during pregnancy
  increasing, falls more on poor

15
Childbirth

• Socially constructed, few accounts from women,
  invisible in Western art
• Medicalization
• Women passive, dr. hero, has power
• Choices for ease convenience of docs, e.g.,
  anesthesia (prolongs labor by inhibiting
  contractions), position, C-sections, shaving,
  hospitals, isolation

16
Transition to Motherhood

• Becomes most important, defining role
• Stress of shifting to unpaid, at-home work, w/
  11-17 1/2 hr. day
• Discrepancy between expectations of partners
  involvement their actual behavior, most dont
  do their share, most do 0-2 hrs./day of primary
  care
• Superwoman, Madonna images conflict w/ reality,
  w/ resulting negative ambivalent feelings,
  feeling like failure, decreased well-being,
  isolation

17
Postpartum Phenomena

• After birth of child is most likely time for
  psychiatric hospitalization
• Postpartum blues - 50-80 have mood swings for
  1-2 days within 3-5 days after giving birth,
  hormonally based
• Postpartum depression - 13 have sig. depression
  w/ fatigue, tearfulness, insomnia, feeling
  inadequate
• Postpartum psychosis - affects only 1/10 of 1 -
  rejection of baby

18
Contributors to Postpartum Depression

• Sleep deprivation
• Lack of social support
• Absence of plans to return to work
• Conflicts between expectations of motherhood
  reality, need to reject impossible ideals
• Strongest predictor is previous depressive episode