Motherhood

Motherhood is the product of particular historical circumstances, social processes, and ideologies, and its social definition and meaning vary by culture, race, ethnicity, religion, and historical time period. Despite these variations motherhood is a major role for women in many societies. Lois Wladis Hoffman and Martin Hoffman (1973) report that in the United States until the 1970s, any role for women other than motherhood was considered deviant. In Confucian societies such as China, Korea, and Japan, motherhood has also been the central role for and status of women. By the early twenty-first century the number of choices for women in many societies had increased and diversified to include motherhood as one of the options rather than a requirement.

Contemporary mothering can be defined in flexible terms as the social practice of nurturing and caring for people. It is also important to recognize that mothering activity is not exclusive to women. Some scholars, such as Terry Arendell (2000), argue that it is possible for men to physically and psychologically take care of children, and thus the term mothering should not be exclusively reserved for women's experiences. In most societies, however, women not only bear children but also are assigned the primary caretaking role for infants and children. Therefore, motherhood is still an important experience in many women's lives. The description that follows focuses only on women's motherhood practices and experiences.

HISTORY OF MOTHERHOOD

Although the vast majority of the world's women do become mothers, historical investigations of motherhood were relatively rare until it became an important topic in women's studies in the 1980s. The lack of historical studies of motherhood is perhaps due to an emphasis on new roles for women rather than traditional ones and on the benefits of change. Studies on motherhood emerged partly, however, in response to criticism by those who considered the new scholarship antagonistic to women's maternal role. Within the United States context alone, Alice Walker (1983) showed the importance that maternal legacies played in African-American culture in encouraging much positive attention to practices of mothering.

In many European, North American, and Asian societies, the dominant cultural ideals of motherhood changed dramatically over the last 300 years. In the United States, women's primary role shifted from being a good wife for the domestic patriarchal husband in the colonial period to a full-time homemaker for the bread-winning husband and his children in the mid-twentieth century, and then to a balance between paid work and family life in the late twentieth century. Prior to the Meiji period (1868–1912), Japanese women were expected to bear children, but the task of caring for them fell to others, often members of the extended family network or, in the case of middle-class mothers, nannies and maids. This situation changed in the Meiji period, as the government and scholars alike, partly in response to the increasing influence of European and North American ideologies, actively promoted a new conception of mothers as nurturers and educators.

In many societies the modern construction of motherhood that emphasizes women's devotion to their children owes a great deal to modernization, which created the husband-as-breadwinner and wife-as-homemaker roles in families. In the early twenty-first century, although motherhood is still an important experience for many women, it is viewed from a much broader perspective, with options for women to be full-time working mothers, part-time working mothers, or full-time homemaker mothers.

EXPECTATIONS AND FUNCTIONS OF MODERN MOTHERHOOD

In many societies a mother is often expected to be a perfect and loving parent who is dedicated to the care-taking role of the child. Sharon Hays (1996) defines the ideology of intensive motherhood as the normative model of the emotionally absorbing, expert-driven, child-centered care that a mother gives her fragile children. This intensive motherhood is largely a myth, however, especially given changing workforce demographics in the industrialized world, such as increases in both female labor-force participation and dual-earner and single-parent households. Consequently, many mothers in different societies are attempting to balance work and parenting responsibilities while trying to meet societal norms and expectations for ideal motherhood. Many mothers report pressures to conform to the image of ideal motherhood and, as a result, the gap between ideal motherhood and real mothering experiences is reported to cause a high level of maternal anxiety and stress, as in the case of Japanese mothers, to the extent that some mothers emotionally and physically abuse their own children. Scholars, workers, and employers in many industrialized societies in the early twenty-first century are concerned with mothers' struggles to balance paid work and family responsibilities and obligations.

The various functions of motherhood include the physical and emotional caretaking, educating, and disciplining of children. In contemporary societies most of these functions can be shared with children's fathers. In reality, however, fathers' participation in child care is extremely limited compared with that of mothers. Another important function of motherhood is that of being an economic provider for their children and families. This maternal role is particularly vital for single mothers who frequently report the difficulties of balancing the roles of motherhood and economic provider given limited financial and personal resources.

It is also important to understand that expectations and functions of modern motherhood vary greatly by economic and political conditions. In contemporary African societies, although mothers are held in high regard, they often find it difficult to fulfill mothering responsibilities because of political unrest (including civil wars), women's lack of education, and poverty. According to Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers 2006 report, for example, uneducated mothers are at a severe disadvantage, as are their babies. Uneducated mothers are more likely to be poor, to get pregnant younger, to have higher rates of newborn and maternal mortality, to be less knowledgeable about family planning, and to be less prepared to take care of their babies. Angola provides one example of an African nation reporting high newborn and maternal mortality rates. These problems are primarily attributable to a long-lasting civil war, which has limited access to health care for the majority of mothers. In addition, approximately 70 percent of Angolan women give birth to their first child while they are still teenagers (Save the Children 2006), and they have little knowledge about prenatal and maternal care of infants.

A similar case can be found in Peru where adolescents make up 16.4 percent of first-time mothers, a rate that continues to increase (Koroleff and Pierina 2006). Most of these women come from the nation's poorest areas. In a 2006 study focusing on Peruvian adolescent mothers, Traverso Koroleff and Mariella Pierina found that these mothers tend to have more unstable and conflictive relationships with their partners, whereas older mothers tend to live with their partners in more or less stable relations. It is predictable that these unstable relationships would have a negative impact of these women's parenting abilities. Indeed, Koroleff and Pierina reported that children of adolescent mothers are less lively in their interaction compared with those of older mothers.

Societal and political factors have also influenced maternal functions in Iraq, where many years of conflict and international sanctions have damaged the health system and taken a serious toll on the well-being of mothers and babies. Additionally, Iraqi women are more likely to be uneducated than their male counterparts and thus are often deprived from gaining knowledge about family planning and maternal and child care.

MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT

Because of the rapid increase in mothers' labor-force participation since the early 1980s and the subsequent changes in child-care arrangements and parent-child relationships, many studies in the United States have examined the impact of maternal employment on children. For the most part these studies have yielded inconsistent results. Some studies found that maternal employment has a negative effect on children's cognitive and social development, whereas others found enhanced cognitive outcomes for children as a function of early maternal employment (Vandell and Ramanan 1992). A 1999 study by Elizabeth Harvey found that neither early maternal employment status nor the timing and continuity of maternal employment were consistently related to a child's developmental outcome. Among the study's significant results, Harvey reported that mothers' working longer hours in their children's first three years was associated with slightly lower vocabulary scores up through age nine. Low-income adolescent mothers' employment was also associated with their children's lower verbal development (Luster et al. 2000). It was also found, however, that maternal employment during the first year of the child's life was slightly more beneficial for the children of single mothers, and early parental employment was related to more positive child outcomes for low-income families (Harvey 1999).

Many researchers have focused on the effect of maternal employment on cognitive outcomes of young children, paying much less attention to its possible effects on school-age children. In a 2004 study on adolescents' risky behavior, Alison Aughinbaugh and Maury Gittleman found little support for the view that what happens in the first three years of a child's life can have long-lasting effects on the child's development, at least with respect to whether maternal employment influences the likelihood of adolescent children engaging in risky behaviors. Aughinbaugh and Gittleman also report that maternal employment does not greatly reduce the time that parents spend with their children. According to Suzanne M. Bianchi (2000) there are several reasons why the increase in maternal labor-force participation has little effect on the amount of time mothers spend with their children. First, nonworking mothers may spend longer hours on housework, such as cleaning and cooking, than might working mothers, who may be more likely to hire professionals for housecleaning and other household work and thus free up time to spend with their children. Second, given flexible work arrangements, working mothers may be able to ensure that their paid work does not significantly reduce the time spent with their children. Third, reductions in family size and preschool-age children spending more time in school-like settings have reduced the time demands on mothers, regardless of their work status.

Except for drinking alcohol, Aughinbaugh and Gittleman report that maternal employment is largely uncorrelated with adolescents' risky activities. They argue that the positive effects of maternal employment, such as providing a positive role model or allowing teens more independence, may serve to offset any potentially harmful effects. There are also many other factors affecting adolescents' risky behavior. Therefore, within the family, the amount of time a mother works is only one of the factors affecting her adolescent children.

Balancing work and motherhood is often a challenge for women in many societies. According to the International Social Survey Programme's 1994 report titled "Family and Changing Gender Roles II," which was conducted in countries such as the United States, Sweden, Italy, and Japan, more positive attitudes toward maternal employment were reported in the United States and Sweden, where many more mothers are employed, compared with Japan and Italy, where not only are fewer mothers employed but more traditional views toward gender roles also remain. It should also be noted that the availability of nonfamily child care is generally greater for mothers in the United States and Sweden than in Japan and Italy.

MOTHERHOOD AND MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS

The qualities of the relationship between a husband and wife influence their children's cognitive and social competence. The marital relationship provides the primary psychological and physical support for mothers' parenting behaviors, which in turn affects the adjustment of the children. For example, studies have shown that a harmonious marital relationship promotes competence and maturity in the couple's children and encourages their autonomy (Cummings and Davies 1992). In contrast, marital conflict may result in the children experiencing cognitive delays or school difficulties or exhibiting antisocial or withdrawn behavior.

Mothers who are satisfied in the marital relationship are more likely to have realistic expectations for their children than are mothers who report having an unhappy marital relationship. In addition, mothers who provide a positive relationship model contribute to their children's attitudes toward intimate relationships and long-term relationship stability. There is also evidence that various characteristics of the marriage, such as marital satisfaction, are related to the strength of the parenting alliance. Moreover, low marital power has been associated with depression, particularly in women, and depression has been related to poorer parenting behaviors.

The degree of marital quality and satisfaction varies greatly from one society to another. For example, Yoshinori Kamo (1993) found that Japanese mothers' marital satisfaction tends to be lower than that of their counterparts in the United States. One possible reason for this is that in Japan marriage is seen as an institution to ensure family continuity, whereas marriage in the United States focuses more on individual and intimate relationships. Despite this variation mothers' marital quality seems to have an important effect on their children's social and emotional development as well as psychological well-being in many societies.

MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

Whereas mother-child relationships in European and North American societies are based on the assumption that children will eventually become financially and emotionally independent from their parents, mothering in Asian societies emphasizes long-lasting codependency between parents and their children. This strong child-parent, and mother-child in particular, bonding in Asian societies is evident when children's perceptions of their mothers are examined. According to an international study "Family and Changing Gender Roles II" (International Social Survey Programme 1994), 80 to 85 percent of children in Japan, China, and Korea reported that their mothers understood their psychological needs and problems, whereas the comparable figures were less than 50 percent among children in the United States and England.

These differences may come from cultural and historical roots in Asian and European and North American societies. In China, Korea, and Japan, where Confucian thoughts such as respect for the elderly still strongly remain, children are expected to take care of their own parents when they age. Parents, therefore, devote their time and energy to educate their children in order for them to have successful careers and the economic means to support the parents in old age. Mothers, in particular, play a major role in emphasizing the importance of education to their children. In Japan these mothers are known as education mamas, and they devote their lives to providing their children with the best educational opportunities.

CULTURAL VARIATIONS OF MOTHERHOOD

Viewing motherhood as a social construction allows one to consider its cultural, societal, and religious variations. Motherhood is a significant experience for women in many traditional societies because women's reproductive capacity is something that women consider their source of power and as defining their identity and status. At the same time, however, women in many societies experience difficulties because of the stereotypical expectations of motherhood. For example, women in Vietnam are severely burdened by the pervasiveness of culturally ascribed gender stereotypes. The strong association of women with home and family has reinforced their identities to be critically intertwined with their status as wife, mother, and daughter (-in-law). Further, with respect to motherhood, deeply entrenched values and stereotypes have subjected Vietnamese women to many harsh practices and policies.

In India, which is mostly a patriarchal society, motherhood has connotations of respect and power. However, the view of motherhood as a source of power also varies from one culture to another. For example, in Korea, where the continuity of family lineage is extremely important, the status of women depends largely on the ability to produce sons. This role continues to be a major burden for most Korean women. In the United States, where the centrality of work and providing in people's lives are emphasized, motherhood is frequently viewed with respect to the women's ability to find a balance between paid work and family. In Japan, where the birthrate has dropped dramatically since 1997, fertility and motherhood are seen not only as individual experiences but also as important events with strong political and policy implications. In Brazil, one of the most developed countries in South America, mothers are in charge of the household, including child care. Brazilian fathers love their children, but they usually maintain a distance from the children's actual upbringing. Religion may have played an important role in defining women's maternal roles in Brazil, where 70 percent of the population is Catholic. Even if a significant number of contemporary Brazilians do not practice strict Catholic traditions, many parents still continue to celebrate religious holidays and practice the traditions for which mothers play an integral role.

These differences regarding motherhood come from variations stemming from the cultural, religious, historical, demographic, and economic backgrounds of each society. Regardless of these societal and cultural variations, however, motherhood remains a strong institution in many societies, and it is also surrounded with various myths and controversies.

see also Birth; Fatherhood.

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                                        Masako Ishii-Kuntz