I just finished reading, The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women by Elisabeth Badinter. Badinter is a philosophy teacher at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and has authored a number of best sellers relating to feminism. Her voice is an influential one and her teaching/writing pushes a feminist agenda.
The main thrust of this book is the belief that “reverence for all things natural glorifies an old concept of the maternal instinct and applauds masochism [pleasure in being abused or dominated] and sacrifice, constituting a supreme threat to women’s emancipation and sexual equality.” (p. 167)
She argues that in the 1970’s women fought and earned new-found freedoms/rights in society. These rights were born through cultural changes/acceptance (singleness as a viable option, women in leadership, etc.), scientific discoveries (birth control, better formula for babies, epidurals, etc.), and philosophical/political changes (legalization of abortion). She observes that since this era the feminist agenda has gone backwards as culture has emphasized a more natural agenda (due to breastfeeding advocates; child development philosophies, etc.) on top of other factors. Some of these other factors would include government family policies that hinder women staying in the workforce; a slowing economy (leaving less-skilled women unemployed); and children of 70’s moms who felt neglected by their career/rights-driven mom and now want to do things differently than her.
She also spends a lot of time developing the idea that returning to an old maternal instinct of mothering results in a lot of pressure on mothers in addition to a mom’s other desires (seeking fulfillment in other avenues of life… career, art, etc.).
She also observes that “the individualism and hedonism [the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life] that are hallmarks of our culture have become the primary motivations for having children, but also sometimes the reason not to. For a majority of women it remains difficult to reconcile increasingly burdensome maternal responsibilities with personal fulfillment.” (p. 2) “In a civilization that puts self first, motherhood is a challenge, even a contradiction.” (p. 13)
Badinter’s bigger picture/agenda is summarized well in the opening to chapter four, “The irony of this history is that it was precisely at the point that Western women finally rid themselves of patriarchy [control by men of a disproportionately large share of power] that they acquired a new master at home. Women had achieved financial independence as well as control over whether they had children or not: they had no reason, it seemed, to continue to confront men’s power. Yet, thirty years later, there is no denying that male denomination exists.” (p. 96)
Overall the book’s thought process is a bit fragmented and negligent in discussing the merits of other worldviews related to this topic. Its tone leans more to being a rant rather than an objective analysis of sexual equality in modern motherhood.
I don’t have time at the moment to respond in depth from a Christian worldview to her observations, so I will simply file her thoughts away for processing later in the aforementioned sermon series. The purpose of me placing this on my blog is more for my own filing than for public consumption… that being said the issues she raises are prevalent, so if it gets you thinking and searching the Scriptures for God’s perspective on these issues then great!
