Sorry to post an old article. It's almost one year old. (Must be recirculating due to Mother's day?) It hardly seems outdated, though. In fact, I think it is a great intro to the study of the long term effects of "feminism". The very daughter of one of the figureheads of the women's rights movement, Alice Walker, talks about the conflicting and confusing elements of her own life and how they shaped her desires to not only become a mother...but to ENJOY motherhood.
Enlightening? Yes.
Thought provoking? Definitely.
Worthy of a mouse click and a response in the comments? Please, do!
I am dying to hear your thoughts.
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5 comments:
Thanks for posting - I'd never read this before so I loved it.
I'm interested in the book now...book club possibility.
You always hear Oprah and her ilk praising Alice Walker... to hear about her daughter's experience is heart-breaking.
I think people who want things...sometimes forget that those things come at a price. Or, maybe they think the steep price of neglecting children is worth it? It is sad that her mother could be so threatened by motherhood - that she would not even be interested in her daughter/grandson. I don't have respect for people like that.
Life is always about choices. It's about give and take... it's about consequences that come from those choices... I think this denigrating men, feminist movement has come with heavy consequences...and we'll be dealing with those for a long time.
Wow, Amy --THANK YOU for sharing this. I had never read it before. I just finished it about 10 seconds ago, so I need to process, but I really, REALLY am grateful to have read it, and I agree with her about so, so much.
My friend Justine read Rebecca's book and continually praises it. I really need to read it for myself.
I've been processing it since I first read the post. I have mixed feelings. I do want to read Rebecca's book and it's definitely more in line with my own values.
That said, I know what it's like to be unfairly judged by the skewed perspective of my own daughter. To the point I even wonder if my take on my own childhood could also be somewhat skewed. So I would want to approach Rebecca's story with an open mind and a caution that it is only one side of the story.
I grew up in Southern CA. In 6th grade, we had to write a paper on what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wanted to be a mom, but was too embarrassed to write that. No one wanted to be "just" a mom.
As you all know, being a mom can be draining at times. I'm sure many women saw the feminist movement as a way out of that. Having had a mother at home to take care of them they had no idea how devastating it can be for the child that has to attend day care while their friends are home with their families.
It seems that things are changing for the better, and women are returning to motherhood. Is that true or is it just the community in which I live and the people that I surround myself with?
My children are 15,13 and 9...when they come home, "mom?" is the first thing out of there mouths. They need us - and we need them :)
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