the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

clash with a woman's llved experlence, and when this
happens, a woman does not know whether to trust the
authority of the doctors or the sensations of her own body
~hls klnd of experlence can transform pregnancy into a
profoundly alienating experlence
the antlcipatlon of labour has been associated
wlth fear, physlcal angulsh or death, a stream of
superstitions, misinformation, theological and
medical theories - in short, all we have been
taught we should feel, from wlllrng vlctlmlzation
to ecstatic fulfilment (Rlch 1976,1561
Further, Rrch opined that lf blological motherhood can
become a real choice (as distinct from belng forclbly
prescribed or rendered obsolete), then the concept of woman
as womb, and of blological destlny becomes harder to defend
In a patrlarchal soclety, Rich sald, the solutlon to the
palns of chlldbearlng is not technology, but rather for a
woman to rlde with, not agalnst her body
The solutlon to
the lmposltlons on childrearlng In a patrlarchal society 1s
not the renunciation of children. the solutlon is for each
and every woman to rear those chlldrer. with femlnrst values
4.4.Z.2. Some of Rlch's ideas have been developed by
several radlcal fernlnists lncludlng Andrea Dworkin, Margaret
Atwood, Gena Corea and Robyn Rowland, all of whom belleve
that reproductive technology poses an enormous threat to
whatever powers women still possess. As Andrea Dworkln saw
it, reproductive techniques make the womb the province not