Motherhood as a conservative oppressive ideology used to keep women under control

110 points•5 comments•submitted by dimadr to r/Feminism

I am currently running a Kickstarter campaign to finance the publication of my photo book "Undo Motherhood". It explores the reasons why a significant number of women around the world today regret becoming mothers and points a finger at the patriarchal institution of motherhood, which from a very young age pushes women to become mothers, promising the utmost fulfilment and happiness, and then abandons them, very often at the cost of their lives.

The women in this project come from seven different countries. They all love their children and are excellent mothers when judged according to society’s standards, and yet they hate the oppressive mother role that robbed them of their own existence and suffer through it in silence, feeling it to be the worst mistake they have made.

As a mother myself, I totally agree with the American writer and feminist of the 70s Adrienne Rich. She said that as much as motherhood means a love-based bond with your child, it is at the same time a conservative oppressive ideology with its rigid codex of moral rules that prescribe how you must feel, think, and behave as a mother. In my opinion, it is a perfect invisible and often internalized mechanism to keep women under control in care-giving subservient roles.

With this project I hope to help other people to make informed decisions and contribute to the public discussion about gender roles and power structures in families and society.

If you would like to support the campaign, please check out the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/933301382/undo-motherhood