Baba Copper looks at the radical potential that queer mothers have when raising their children, more focused on their daughters. According to Copper, the practice of motherhood embodies real power – “the power of early childhood socialization and a lifelong position of influence on one’s children” (2007, p. 186). The way a child is raised from early on has a real and lasting impact on a child’s life. The upbringing of a child is largely dependent on women, yet mothers almost always function and are expected to function in continual denial of their own self-interest. (Copper, 2007). In various societies, it is the duty of a mother to train her children to fit into society and culture, but the problem with that is these societies are mainly male-dominated …show more content…
By challenging mainstream mother and parental practices, these queer mothers will be passing this curiosity down to their children. As new information is coming out and higher standards are being set, it is important for children, especially those of queer parents, to question the reasoning behind expectation. This perfectly links to authenticity and authority as discussed by O’Reilly. By questioning the norm, these mothers and children can make decisions that are consistent with their beliefs. Furthermore, radical mothering can help lesbian mothering to: “avoid falling into the traps of “naturalness” build around the assumptions, rules and myths of heteromothering; devise active resistance to the repeated betrayals by mothers of daughters, and daughters of mothers; and identify the inherent and unique benefits of lesbian mothering” (2007, p. 189). In other words, radical mothering can help queer mothers resist falling into the practices of patriarchal mothering. Alongside that, in the practice of patriarchal mothering, mother and daughters tend to bump heads since both their first priority is the males in the …show more content…
191). It is obvious that all children need to be raised to have a sense of belonging in society, but it is very toxic for girls be taught to work around their husbands. In other words, society encourages women to be smart, as long as they’re not smarter than their husbands. Copper argues that queer radical mothers do not do that. Queer radical mothers do not need men; they are better off without them. These mothers have control over how they want to raise their children and they are actively working towards a change. Along with that, Copper also suggest that these queer mothers should make their own determination as to which men she will allow into her life. These women must have full control and can decide the amount of access the males entering her life has on her family and home (Copper, 2007). Not only will this help her resist patriarchy without cutting men out her life altogether, but it will also help her set a good example for her children as they will know how allow men into their lives without being sucked into the trap of patriarchy (no matter what the child’s sexuality is). This very understanding is a reason patriarchy fears queer mothering, since it is the most obvious way a woman can show her children that survival without a man is possible (Matriarch, 2016). This