the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

male. Rich interprets Yahweh's command in the Old Testament
"Be fruitful and multiply" as essentially a patriarchal one.
According to her, Yahweh "is not lnvoking the Great Mother
but blddlng his sons beget st111 more sons" (Rich 1976:119)
2.5.1. Patriarchal religion imposes its control on
mothers not only where child rearing is concerned, but also
with regard to child bearlng
In Judeo-Chrlstlan theology,
woman's paln in childbirth 1s considered punishment from
God
The "courage" of passlve sufferlng 1s the hlghest
pralse accorded to the mother
Since the curse lald on Eve in Geneszs was taken
literally well Into the nineteenth century, the
mother In labour had to expect to suffer, but what
was even more slgniflcant, 1t was assumed until
the last three decades that she must suffer
passively (Rlch 1976 . 128)
Thls paSSITJe sufferlng has become accepted as unlversal,
natural female destiny
Similarly, the passlve sufferlng
has been extended to every sphere of woman's existence
Patriarchal rellgion has also created images of the
archetypal mother whlch reinforce the conservatism of
motherhood and convert lt to an energy for the renewal of
male power
Moreover, the assertlon by femlnlsts In recent
tlmes regarding the right of women not to mother has stlrred
up religious reactions among conservatives -
the Roman
Catholic Church views abortlon and artificial means of
contraception as against God's laws