Motherhood and Feminism: Rediscovering Purpose in a Modern World
Laura H. |
He snuggles against my chest, closes his eyes, and his breath becomes slow and peaceful. He knows he is safe. He trusts me. And I marvel, again, at how perfectly he fits here, in this space, his head just touching my chin. My heart bursts with protecting love, and I think of mothers the world over doing the same thing; some of them in trenches, perhaps, outside, or in tents, in refugee camps. But one constant remains – that safe space where the baby can sleep, peacefully, in their mother’s arms, with their head against their mother’s chest, falling asleep to the beat of her heart… her heart which would do anything to keep them safe. And a feeling washes over me. A deep contentment, and joy. A sense of wonder and awe. An understanding, deep in my soul, that this is what I was made to do.
Women, at their cores, are life-givers, and nothing else will ever fulfill them in quite the same way.
Motherhood and Feminism
My thoughts travel to the feminist movement. Being told we shouldn’t “tie ourselves down” with children, or that we shouldn’t stay home to take care of our families. That we are missing out if we don’t work outside the home. Being told children are a burden, and an annoyance. An inconvenience. And I realize this movement, while always being somewhat repugnant to me, is more than that – it is actually evil. Because it tells women they should ignore their deepest instincts, what they were specifically created to do. And because of that, so many women are missing out on something that is more fulfilling than anything else could be. As they search for contentment, they miss something so big, so vital.
Children are a blessing. Being a mother is a far greater privilege than any job could afford. The feminist movement has done us a great disservice.
Women were meant to be life-givers. To nurture and to care for the innocent, for the helpless. This is our calling at the deepest level, and to ignore it is literally to go against our very nature. For most, if ignored, it will leave an empty longing they will spend a lifetime trying to fill, not realizing that what they are missing is something that, these days, is looked down upon.
Serving. Nurturing. Pouring out. Her highest calling, her greatest reward. But it comes in the guise of lowliness and humility. Not promotions, high ranking employment, monetary compensation… but her reward is in the clinging of the little hands and the unfolding of the little hearts entrusted to her care.
