Raising Consciousness
I have been reading Stephanie Wilkinson’s essay “Say You Want a Revolution? Why the Mother’s Movement Hasn’t Happened” in Brain, Child magazine. She ends the article by talking about consciousness raising and how this is the start of change. Her article focuses on mothers, but what about younger women?
This past fall I began teaching a course called “Images of Mothering,” which was aimed at helping students think about the larger issues involved in the transformation we undergo when we have children from woman or individual to “mother.” I assumed that mostly mothers would take the class (we have quite a few non-traditional students). But I was surprised to find that most of the students were young and far from becoming mothers. As we went around the class and introduced ourselves, I was thrilled by their diversity—of background, circumstances, and opinion. One even declared that she had no idea what this class was about (it was listed as Women’s Studies, Special Topics in the bulletin) and that she didn’t plan on ever becoming a mother. But she was game for an interesting semester. And so was I!
That first week had already become the most intense teaching experience I had had. After years of teaching composition and literature to only-sometimes-willing learners, now I was exploring “real” issues with students who knew that they were learning something that would affect their lives. Then Katrina struck. I only knew them for one week, but I hope I get to meet some of them again.
I will never know what we could have accomplished that semester. I only hope that I have the opportunity to teach the course again because I believe that young women should think about the issues involved in becoming a mother long before they actually embark on that journey. How much I would have appreciated the opportunity to do so.
I feel like, for the most part, I was just winging it, despite the fact that I had waited until I was 34, had a husband and was approaching tenure. Much of my anxiety focused not on how I would take care of this child, but how would I do all of these things at once? And when I was pregnant I looked for books or articles from women who had gone before me to help me figure it out. I found a few, but I have found even more since then. There has been this incredible explosion in mother-writing. I hope it doesn’t end anytime soon. For I think the women Wilkinson interviewed are right, that raising consciousness—among men to, for that matter—about the difficult “choices” women are confronted with is crucial to making a better world for our children.
This past fall I began teaching a course called “Images of Mothering,” which was aimed at helping students think about the larger issues involved in the transformation we undergo when we have children from woman or individual to “mother.” I assumed that mostly mothers would take the class (we have quite a few non-traditional students). But I was surprised to find that most of the students were young and far from becoming mothers. As we went around the class and introduced ourselves, I was thrilled by their diversity—of background, circumstances, and opinion. One even declared that she had no idea what this class was about (it was listed as Women’s Studies, Special Topics in the bulletin) and that she didn’t plan on ever becoming a mother. But she was game for an interesting semester. And so was I!
That first week had already become the most intense teaching experience I had had. After years of teaching composition and literature to only-sometimes-willing learners, now I was exploring “real” issues with students who knew that they were learning something that would affect their lives. Then Katrina struck. I only knew them for one week, but I hope I get to meet some of them again.
I will never know what we could have accomplished that semester. I only hope that I have the opportunity to teach the course again because I believe that young women should think about the issues involved in becoming a mother long before they actually embark on that journey. How much I would have appreciated the opportunity to do so.
I feel like, for the most part, I was just winging it, despite the fact that I had waited until I was 34, had a husband and was approaching tenure. Much of my anxiety focused not on how I would take care of this child, but how would I do all of these things at once? And when I was pregnant I looked for books or articles from women who had gone before me to help me figure it out. I found a few, but I have found even more since then. There has been this incredible explosion in mother-writing. I hope it doesn’t end anytime soon. For I think the women Wilkinson interviewed are right, that raising consciousness—among men to, for that matter—about the difficult “choices” women are confronted with is crucial to making a better world for our children.
posted by Scribbling Mama | 8:26 PM
2 Comments:
I too, started out raising you by wondering what motherhood was about and what I should do. The 70s were full of consciousness raising and I wanted you to be your own person and feel that you could do whatever you wanted. I was raised to be a good little girl, to know my place, and to be either a teacher or nurse in case I had to work. This was all so foreign to my self. I think what bothered me the most was that my parents didn't expect anything great from me. When you became a mother, things were different. What could I tell you from my experience? My generation of women had tried to have it all and helped yours believe that we could have it all. Your reading has helped you understand more about your daughter than I observed in you, but in looking back see that you were similar. I think each generation needs to seek and build on what has come before them. My mother felt pressured from her mother, so she didn't pressure me. Her mother wanted an education, but only got one semester of college, so she saw that her daughters graduated from college. Her mother waited to marry until she got a good man, so she passed on the advice to her daughters to "get a good man". I love watching you become a mother! You are doing it differently than I would or could and it is good.
Mom
Thanks, Jack, for the book recommendation. I will check it out.
And thanks, Mom, for your post. Even though your parents didn't expect great things of you, you clearly did of me, and that has made a world of difference. It is hard enough to fight your own insecurities, but you have to have someone around to believe in you, and who else can you turn to if not your own parents?
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