Essay On Motherhood

INTRODUCTION

MOTHERHOOD

Motherhood is a unique and universal gift bestowed upon woman by nature, conferring a great responsibility upon her. But is this ‘gift of motherhood,’ a boon or a bane, does motherhood elevate and empower or does it subjugate and enslave a mother? The answer isn’t simple because it is embedded in the intricacies that involve the various aspects and perspectives that influence motherhood. So complex is the issue that, even while defining motherhood one wonders where to begin? Should one begin to define it from pregnancy or does one begin to define it from the early childhood or adolescence – a stage which prepares the female body for motherhood? If one has to make a thorough study of the subject then perhaps it would be appropriate to define it from early childhood, adolescence, followed by late adolescence, conception and pregnancy, child- bearing and child-rearing. All the stages of motherhood have an impact on the life of a woman, but the last, which is child-rearing, saddles her with great responsibility. In order to, understand the impact of motherhood on a woman’s life let us first study, the causes that are generally believed to affect motherhood.

MOTHERHOOD AS INSTITUTION AND EXPERIENCE

Mothering which involves all the stages of motherhood is

Through out history, various instances and attempts have been made to construct motherhood, both socially, as well as culturally. Women were chained to their homes, by the unwritten laws of the society. These laws were disguised as the various rituals customs and traditions. As has already been discussed motherhood roles got defined and became more gender specific during the period of industrialization, even though they were there during the pre-industrialization era, when people shifted from the agrarian to the capitalist economy Industrialization and nuclear families brought about new roles and power centres within the family, which deprived women of even those rights that they