Motherhood is a large responsibility to endure. Every mother is warned about this task before they have children, but the real endurance of pain comes after the birth of the child has occurred. Although the stereotype of gender roles has changed significantly throughout the centuries, I believe that women are still believed to take on the role of performing as the primary caretaker of the children from infantile ages to the age at which maturity is reached and beyond. This is an enormous task to accept, as nowadays it is extremely common for a woman to attempt to balance her professional schedule with her familial schedule.
The pressure of this task has been recognized by millions worldwide. Based on a study conducted by Pew Research Center, the biggest task in raising children today is limiting the amount of negative influence that the environment has on offspring. Although this is a factor that is concerning to both parents in society, the mother is the parent that has been heavily criticized and evaluated throughout the past 50 years globally. Fathers have higher evaluations of their performance as a parent: around 47% of Americans say that fathers are doing a worse job as parents as compared to 30 years ago. However, the same people that participated in this survey believe that 56% of mothers have done a worse job. A discrepancy between the percentages of this survey could be based on the difference in behavior that exists between men and women, and how women tend to be more critical in their self evaluation.
This strenuous perception and evaluation of motherhood can be closely paralleled to the idea of motherhood that enslaved people had to endure during the time of the slave trade.
According to the concept of motherhood that has been discussed in Professor Block’s lecture, there was almost little to no respect given to mothers who were slaves. Not only were they treated badly as mothers, but they were targets for sexual violence. This evidence of sexual assault is supported by the National Humanities Center, which states that slave mothers and children were often separated from fathers, who were controlled by other owners. The responsibilities of being a mother were typical and included cooking, sewing, and caring for the children’s wellbeing. On the other hand, fathers had an indirect contribution to the family life by fishing, hunting, and training their sons for the upcoming duties that they would have to take on as fathers. The pain that was caused by the separation of the family led to a lifetime of sadness, as it was extremely rare to find and be able to interact with a divided family. In the mind of a slave owner, the availability of children that were completely health problem free and observant learners were more fruitful to them, and there was blatant disregard of the relationships that were shared between a mother and her children.
Centuries have passed since women have come to the realization of the stressful nature of being a mom. Although the burden that this role carries is very heavy, there is a genuine satisfaction that arises out of fulfilling this role. It is human nature to love what we have control over, and what is a product of our creation and care. Moms are and always will be in control of their children lovingly, no matter the circumstance.
Uncovering Culture 