Introduction
“Although women today have greater options through education than their mothers and grandmothers ever dreamed of, the view persists that the real vocation of women is mother: It’s the natural thing” (Senior,). The writer opines that the statement put forward by Senior still holds merit today as we live in a society that favours pronatalism. Pronatalism refers to any attitudes or policies which encourage reproduction and exalt the role of parenthood (Peck). Pronatalism makes assertions about what provides a woman’s ultimate fulfilment in life, and what her destiny will be.
The forces of pronatalism are significant to women as it is the philosophy responsible for the persistent idea that a woman’s destiny and ultimate fulfilment is entrenched in childbearing and motherhood. Furthermore, pronatalism focuses on the advantages of having children while minimizing the disadvantages (Veevers). It
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Similarly it is at work in the media, on television and in magazines. Motherhood is so idealized in Caribbean culture and cultures across the world, that it is hard to recognize the dangers inherent in this philosophy. Peck asserts that the danger of pronatalism is that it “denies or at least limits choice to individuals… and compromises opportunities for individual freedom and reproductive choice (p.2).
Additionally, it helps to stigmatize those who are childless whether by circumstance or choice, and creates an environment where women who are not mothers are pitied or vilified, and in which incorrect and unfair assumptions and prejudices are made about them (Gillespie, 2000). It further defines womanhood as motherhood, thus limiting a woman’s capacity to be fully realized and appreciated outside the boundaries of maternity.
Motherhood for a fulfilled