Essay
SOC2604 Assignment 2
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
A comparison of the Motherhood and Fatherhood ideologies.
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SOC2604Assignment 2:
Question 1:
Title: A comparison of the Motherhood and Fatherhood ideologies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page number
1. Introduction..................................................................................... 2
2. The Motherhood Ideology............................................................... 3
3. The Fatherhood Ideology................................................................ 4
4. A Comparison................................................................................. 6
5. Conclusion...................................................................................... 8
6. List of sources................................................................................. 9
,1. Introduction
From a very early age we as human beings have been socialised by the
people and environment that surround us. We are taught to accept
certain inalienable facts about ourselves, one of these being our
gender. We are conditioned into fulfilling certain gender roles and are
taught to act in a specific way that is suited to our gender. Our parents
and the other adults in our home environment serve as role models
whose behaviour we copy and later internalise as our own.
As children our gender roles often influence the way we dress, the
friends we surround ourselves with and the particular games or sports
we tend to participate in. As adults these gender roles dictate what is
expected of us as members of our society and greatly influences our
chances of success in our particular society.
Maladaptation to or deviation from what is expected of us according to
our gender roles may cause a variety of problems in our adult lives. The
Motherhood and Fatherhood ideologies are sets of principles that are
intended to guide us with regards to our roles as adults. These
ideologies must be fully understood in order to analyse and possibly
improve the society in which we find ourselves.
It is for this reason that I would like to describe the Motherhood and
Fatherhood ideologies and then compare the two in order to identify the
possible similarities and differences between them.
, 2. The Motherhood Ideology
In order to fully understand the Motherhood ideology it is important to
draw a distinction between motherhood as an institution and mothering
as an experience (O‟Malley 2004:1). The Motherhood ideology applies
to the institution of motherhood while the experience of motherhood is
not as homogeneous due to the fact that all women experience it in a
different way (O‟Malley 2004:1).
The Motherhood ideology gained prominence after the Second World
War when women were encouraged to focus their attention on their role
of being a mother (Rabe 2005:56). However, the concept of striving to
be a „good mother‟ may be traced back to the Victorian ages (Vigil
2012:5). The motherhood ideology is an ideology that is believed to
have developed through the years and is influenced by both historical
events and cultural environments (Vigil 2012:6). This ideology is also
believed to have been influenced by various other ideologies such as
the ideology of patriarchy, the ideology of technology, and the ideology
of capitalism (Vigil 2012:13).
Many different descriptions of motherhood exist within the motherhood
ideology. Essential motherhood, for example, articulates femininity in
terms of motherhood and specifies the essential features or
characteristics of a „good‟ mother (Vigil 2012:15). Being a mother is
regarded as a privilege and the „good‟ mother is defined in terms of
what a „bad‟ mother is (Vigil 2012:13).
Intensive mothering states that motherhood is “exclusive, wholly childcentred, emotionally
involving, and time-consuming” (Vigil 2012:13).
This notion of motherhood idolises the notion of a Caucasian,
heterosexual, middleclass family (Vigil 2012:13).
Although many different notions of the ideal mother exist within the
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