the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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2.1.5. Who, how, when and where to mother is almost never
a woman's deczsron Even the questlon of whether to mother
or not 1s not a matter of a woman's cholce Untll recently,
patriarchy has kept women convinced that motherlng 1s thelr
one and only job Thls new also restricts women to the
prlvate / domestlc sphere, denying them access tc the publlc
realm Women are considered innately nurturant, domestlc
and selfless -- qualltles that makes them 'naturals' at
chlld-rearlng 'Good mothers' are not supposed to have
personal frlends or plans unrelated to those of thelr
farnllles They are supposed co be on the lob cwenty-four
hours a day and love every minuce of ~t According to
Oakley, the myth of motherhood contalns three popular
assertlons "all women need to be mothers, all mothers need
thelr chlldren, all chlldren need thelr mothers" (1976 186)
The assertlon that chlldren need thelr mothers only tles
women to the mother-role These assertlons are faithfully
pronounced as facts rather than unevldenced assumptlons
2.1.6. The enforcement of blologlcal and socletal roles
on a woman denles her the actual experience of motherlng
Wlth several dutles added to it, mornerhood extends beyond
nlne-months to Include responslblllty for the children's
proper upbrlnglng and intellectual development Whlle
fatherhood meant just provldlng the sperm to fertlllze the
ovum, the mother's functlon went beyond the blologlcal to