Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Maternal Inheritance

Article by Miri Rubin in the Guardian:
"While we share in the cultural heritage that made mother the quintessence of nurture and suffering, and are moved by Michaelangelo's Pietà or Schubert's Ave Maria, much has changed.

Mothers are no longer solely imagined as inhabiting and guarding the home and its mysteries. In societies where women have access to education, citizenship and careers, mothers inhabit the same sort of spheres of culture and politics as their offspring. They face the same challenges at work and on the streets.

Mothers are no longer made mysterious by their ageless dark garb, and are no longer solely dependent on the implicit backup of the father's sternness. This new motherhood is colourful, and it is messy. Mothers sometimes pose as the Madonna or the Pietà. But most of the time they write the scripts as they go along."

Miri is also the author of "The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Middle Ages"



1 comment:

Lifeisbetter said...

Well written. Perhaps you would like this discussion on marriage and feminism

http://bit.ly/ahoQeW