Mater
“The sacred in me is the source of the sin that punishes humanity. I am the one who generates. I’m the one who kills. I carry in my hands the guilt for the choices imposed on me. A woman is only born to be a mother. And when a mother is born, a woman dies.”
Why do women still have their value associated to motherhood?
At the beginning of our journey as a species, motherhood was seen either as a gift or something feared and distrusted. We were goddesses who generated life. We were respected.
But over time, that changed. Children became a bargaining chip, women were dehumanized and became breeders. Our value was measured by the ability to generate strong and healthy children. Children represented workforce, strengthening and enriching of the families, they were sources of profit and expansion of power. Women were just the means to an end… We still are.
Women who have decided to be mothers will always be judged by their actions as mothers. They’re never good enough, they don’t do anything right, they have too few or too many children. They are seen just as mothers, never as women. Those who don’t want to be mothers are harshly judged as well. They are labeled as troubled and flawed woman. Since they refuse to fulfill their role in the society, they are condemned to a sad, lonely, and embittered life.
When it comes to motherhood, for the society all women have bloodstained hands, regardless they are mothers or not.
Melissa Giowanella
www.giowanella.com
@giowanella
