3.9.5

Discussion Points: Motherhood & Family

Test yourself

Is Being a Mother Restrictive or Liberating?

Some Christians argue that being a mother is restrictive; others argue that being a mother is liberating.

Illustrative background for Restrictive - BeauvoirIllustrative background for Restrictive - Beauvoir ?? "content

Restrictive - Beauvoir

  • The feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) wrote in the 1940s about the ways in which motherhood forces a woman to suspend her own interests and personality to take care of her children.
  • She wrote that women have motherhood forced upon them and it leaves them crushed and unable to develop as individuals while their children are young, and then left empty and without purpose once their children grow up and leave home.
Illustrative background for Restrictive: socialisationIllustrative background for Restrictive: socialisation ?? "content

Restrictive: socialisation

  • The sociologist Ann Oakley (b.1944) interviewed women and gave their accounts of their lives in their own words, describing how they felt about housework and motherhood.
  • She concluded that a woman’s feeling that she needs to become a mother is not biological but is entirely the result of socialisation: there is no such thing as a ‘maternal instinct’.
Illustrative background for Restrictive: childbirth & rearingIllustrative background for Restrictive: childbirth & rearing ?? "content

Restrictive: childbirth & rearing

  • Oakley wrote about the ways in which women feel powerless during childbirth when medical experts (usually men) take over and start treating them as ‘cases’.
  • She described the frustrations that women feel when they have to stay at home while their children are young.
  • Many of Oakley’s readers described a sense of relief at realising that other women did not always find motherhood easy.
Illustrative background for Liberating: *Mulieris Dignitatem*Illustrative background for Liberating: *Mulieris Dignitatem* ?? "content

Liberating: Mulieris Dignitatem

  • In Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope John Paul II says that motherhood is a precious and wonderful gift given to women. The love between mother and child is one that is celebrated and seen as a uniquely female act of self-giving.
Illustrative background for Liberating: Mary and JesusIllustrative background for Liberating: Mary and Jesus ?? "content

Liberating: Mary and Jesus

  • Mary’s motherhood of Jesus is seen as a model for motherhood.
  • It is undeniable that the Church has a very positive view of motherhood and would not endorse any negative views of motherhood.
  • Pope John Paul II argues that being female gives one the possibility of being able to give oneself in a way that no man can, and this ‘extra’ gift of self-giving is part of what it means to be female. It gives women a unique place not just in the Church but in society and the world.

Is the Concept of Family Totally Culturally Determined?

Here are arguments for and against the idea that the concept of family is totally culturally determined.

Illustrative background for For - Jesus' teachingIllustrative background for For - Jesus' teaching ?? "content

For - Jesus' teaching

  • Liberal Protestants may be inspired by the teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom of God.
  • Jesus seemed to argue for a more inclusive, non-hierarchical and non-judgemental society.
  • In particular, Jesus aimed his teaching at the marginalised, including women and those on the fringes of society.
  • For this reason, they argue that the Church needs to be more flexible in its understanding of family.
Illustrative background for Against - Letter to the EphesiansIllustrative background for Against - Letter to the Ephesians ?? "content

Against - Letter to the Ephesians

  • Conservative Protestants might appeal to St Paul's letter to the Ephesians and argue that the traditional view of the family is what God intended.
  • The love between a husband and wife should mirror the love between Christ and the Church.
    • “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians).
  • The family has specific gender roles that are timeless not based on culture.

Jump to other topics

1Philosophy of Religion

1.1Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.2Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.3Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.4The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.5The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.6Religious Experience

1.7The Problem of Evil

1.8The Nature & Attributes of God

1.9Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.10Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

2Religion & Ethics

3Developments in Christian Thought

3.1Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.2Death & the Afterlife

3.3Knowledge of God's Existence

3.4The Person of Jesus Christ

3.5Christian Moral Principles

3.6Christian Moral Action

3.7Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.8Development - Pluralism & Society

3.9Gender & Society

3.10Gender & Theology

3.11Challenges

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