The effects of a successful father on his children was a cause of much psychological scrutiny in the twentieth century; what it's like to be a child of a successful mother is a relatively new question in western history, but one that is affecting increasing numbers of the current younger and upcoming generations.
Since the influence of the 1970s women's art movement and second wave feminism has filtered into the phenomena of strong mothers effectively working in multifarious fields, what impact does a successful, feminist-influenced, mother have on the individuation, or identity-formation, of her offspring, is an issue affecting current generations that is ripe for social, cultural and psychological consideration.
One of the major controversies of 1970s feminism was about whether gendered identity is biologically determined or socially constructed. So it is interesting to follow the development in thinking and art of leading feminist artists and theorists of the 1970s who asserted the belief that identity is socially constructed, and who have had and brought up children, and to consider the impacts on our beliefs on our children.
Of course how you define the term ‘success’ is the first step of such an analysis; on the surface one may think that a ‘feminist’ definition of success for a woman means one who is educated to tertiary level, professional and well regarded by peers in her field.
This definition would be superficial taken on its own, to be meaningful it needs to be understood in the context of the recent history of women’s struggle for liberation and equal opportunity in the academy, in the work-place and in the social domain of cultural production: arts and culture. It should not be forgotten that it is due to the political struggle of the international women’s movements, from the start of the 20th century, that all social advances for women are made; they were not given over by men in power. Even in the context of this struggle the real advances and interests of the women’s movements encompass far more than such an instrumental prescription.
One of the interventions and initiatives of feminism is to challenge the traditional western perception of ‘success’ as a concept in itself as a term that serves the interests of capital, or at least that is, when it is measured and judged by achievement of materialist goals in popular media discourses in consumer societies. It is one of third wave feminism’s imperatives to challenge and scrutinise this conception of success which is repeatedly revealed as redundant in each ‘bust’ cycle of capitalism; and to boldly and publicly recognise and lobby for other meanings of value and fulfillment in our lives.
This does not mean opting out of society and the work force, but as the 1970s women's art movement controversially put onto the agenda, it does mean raising consciousness of 'female' maternal values in the public domain of culture and in the workplace.
Copyright © Ruth Skilbeck, 2011
7 comments:
Appreciating the scrolls Ruth.
Boldly recognising and lobbying for other meanings of vaulue for concepts like success and fulfillment is imperative. This may not mean opting out of the work force but will mean opting out of the capitalist work force, so work itself will need to be given new meanings of value. Given capitals ability to re appropriate counter cultural meanings and practices, it seems there is a lot more to do than raise consciousness. We are supposedly more informed than ever, shifting from media consumers to active producers, yet most of our media is still owned and controlled by private corporations, who find increasingly more subtle ways to profit, FB and blogs included. And there are a range of very effective ways that individuals can soothe a troubled conscience with the effect that a quasi activism occurs. History shows that cultures are often grateful to the rebels who take direct action, itself an act of boldness.Of course this is a very complex issue as you indicate and both mother and feminist have nothing close to universal meanings. In our cultural contexts and from my own experience as a mother who has often failed to fit the dominant cultural view of mother, in part, due to the fact that my children are not seen as successful. I long ago resigned my self to the idea that my children will be effected by my practices and these are contradictory to say the least, especially in terms of work, where the precarious nature of work makes it even harder to for them to understand what constitutes success.As you say this idea is ripe for consideration.
I suggest that the effect on the chidren will have a gender effect..It can be hard for some men to partner with a successful woman and their reaction/lack of esteem, competetiveness can undermine the whole family and cause gender rifts .. I predict that Girl childen do better with a successful mother
Thanks for your thoughts, Karen, you raise a number of very relevant issues. 'Both mother and feminist have nothing close to universal meanings'- will be picking up this theme, related to new women's art movements, in coming entries..
That's an interesting perspective, Beth, pointing to the complex and subterranean dynamics of the family, where influences are never straightforward...thanks for your comment.
mmm success..is a successful mother ultimately the one who produces the successful child? do we use the same criteria of success when talking about our children...no...we dont..we are much tougher on ourselves
Yes, there seems to be a pressure for a woman and a mother to be literally a 'superwoman' impossibly 'successful' in all areas of her multi-tasking life before she can think of herself as 'successful', with multiple roles and multiple selves all needing to measure up to some external idea of 'approval' - and so casual work e.g. as a 'casual' academic cannot be seen as 'success' but even conversely as a sign of her 'failure' undermining her in the eyes of herself, family and world - even though she has had to successfully gain numerous qualifications, whilst raising children to do this...(requiring far more fortitude and perhaps even 'talent' than the traditional model of wife-and-mother supporting the husband to do this); these ideas are suggested to me in both your posts, Karen and Beth...
Applied in such a way by women to themselves, would seem thereby to be a form of internalised oppression, serving the purpose of control and domination, hence the need for feminism to scrutinise the concept of 'success' and how it is used as a form of social conditioning to make people feel unsuccessful, and to generate and live by more humane, humanistic and inclusive values...
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