the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

TO bear a child, preferably a son, and rear it according to
these norms and Ideals, becomes her sole purpose in lrfe
There 1s no questlon of cholce and nexther does she have a
say In matters of bearlng and rearlng her chlld
Adrlenne Rlch says of her early experlence as a mother
I had no idea of what I wanted, what I could or
could not choose I only knew that to have a
chlld was to assume adult womanhood to the full.
to prove myself,to be 'llke other women' 11976 25)
2.1.4. When every woman deslres to be 'llke other women'.
ultimately shaprng herself In the patriarchal mould, the
actual experlence of motherlng 1s negated, resulting In the
creatlon of an inauthentic self, a mystique
As
Betty Frledan
In The Peminlne Mystique states "When a mystlque 1s strong,
lt makes lts own flctlon of fact" (1971 601 She explains
~t thus
Facts are swallowed by a mystlque ln much the same
way as the strange phenomenon by which
hamburger eaten by a dog becomes dog, and
hamburger eaten by a human becomes human
(1971 1921
Fernlnlne motherhood does preclsely this -- by creatlng a
rnystlpe cf motherhood so that the needs of patriarchy would
be served
It 1s thls femlnlne rnystlque that creases
dlvlslons between the authentic experlence of motherlng and
the soclal expectations of motherhood or the difference
between women decidlng who, when, how and where to motP.er,
and men maklng these decislons for women