The Radical Potential In Lesbian Mothering Of Daughters Analysis

In this journal I will be discussing Baba Copper’s article “The Radical Potential in Lesbian Mothering of Daughters” by connecting it to my personal experiences with my mother and considering ways in which she both resists and conforms to institutional motherhood. Copper’s article reflects on the potential of lesbian mothers to resist traditional motherhood. She states that lesbians raise children within the patriarchal system like other women, but can make choices about the degree of assimilation of their daughter(s) into patriarchy (190). Copper’s article observes that power in motherhood is embodied in the mother’s lifelong position of influence on her children, particularly during early childhood socialization (186). She notes that there

Copper argues that any woman who is socialized by male standards transmits lessons to her daughters teaching them that the key to survival and self-preservation is through catering to male supremacy (188). While my mother often tells my sister and I that we don’t need to depend on men, her own life being a model for this, she sometimes contradicts herself. One of her primary concerns is her daughters’ ability to find a man to marry and “settle down” with in a traditional, heteronormative and patriarchal relationship. When I came out to her as bisexual, she was accepting and tried to be understanding. Despite her tolerance however, she sometimes expresses her preferences for heterosexuality, and would probably be happier if I were in a heterosexual relationship. In a conversation with her once, she worried that if I was in a same-sex relationship, “not having a man in the house” to take care of traditionally masculine activities (such as renovating the house or fixing cars) would be difficult on me. In this area, she sometimes contradicts herself and maintains patriarchal motherhood. Her preference for my heterosexuality is derived less from a place of intolerance, and moreso from a place of concern for my survival, similar to Ruddick’s theories on acceptability within maternal thinking. My mother is motivated to communicate to my sister and I ways to successfully manipulate the patriarchal system, which she herself learned from her mother as the key to female survival (Copper