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 Identity
Causes of Anger — Confinement
Claims for Her Motherhood
Conclusions
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| Identity |
| A. Woman |
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1. Bodily / Physically defined → "I am a woman, with a woman's parts" |
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→ "I am a woman in my speech and gait" " I have no beard " |
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2. Blameless for naturally born woman → " I have no beard (I ' ll take no blame for that) " |
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| B. Mother |
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1. Source of motherhood |
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marriage → " because of marriage, I have motherhood " |
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based on love; rather for men → "And of love I bear children" |
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→ "Do not ask my weakness as a sacrifice to power" |
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2. Pregnancy—bearing children |
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honor |
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mirracle |
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hysically weak and suffered → "In the days of bearing is my body weak"
→ "body's pain" |
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togetherness and intimacy → "In many things are you [son] and I apart" |
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→ "But there are regions where we coincide" #13; |
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→ " Where law for one is law for both "
TOP
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Causes of Anger — Confinement |
| A. Sex [female or male] |
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1. "Woman" |
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totally sexualized, trapped in sex "woman" |
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→ "In many things are you ["woman"] and I apart" "Where law for one is law for both" |
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→ "There is sexless part of me that is my mind" |
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2. Marriage |
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bond |
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a. being mastered → "But why because I do you [husband] service, should you call me slave?" |
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→ "Where law for one is law for both" |
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b. wearing a mask → "If I must own your manhood synonym for every strength." "Then I must die" |
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motherhood |
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a. Man with power of manhood controls all. |
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→"In marriage there are many mansions" "Shall you rule all the houses of your choice " "Because of
manhood or because of strength?"
( mansions may be bodies/persons of the family or every aspect in marriage )
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b. Sex [male], not strength [ability], decides who has the power. |
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→ "If sex is a criterion for power, and never strength, " "What do we gain by union? " |
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union |
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a. Nothing is owned → "I lose all, while nothing worthy is so gained by you" |
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| B. Body |
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1. Woman 's body as weakness and definition |
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2. Body's love brings body's pain |
| 3. Bodily relationship – taking care of children |
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→ " Shall I for ever brush my infant ' s hair? " "Cumber his body in conceited needle-work?" |
| C. Traditional framework |
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1. Marriage / Motherhood |
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mentally humiliated → "But why because I do you service, should you call me slave? " |
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→ "And how can I serve my son, but to be much self" |
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2. center or wholeness of her life → "That [motherhood] is much, and yet not all" |
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abstract / superficial mothering |
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a. Abstract name →"I am not mother to abstract Childhood, but to my son" |
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→ " A fantastic creature like a thing of dreams " |
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b. Duties—housework
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c. Leads to disattachement with her son → "Or shall I save some pains till he is grown?" |
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→ "Why should dull custom make my son my enemy" |
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3. Privilege of manhood |
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leaving her → "So that the privilege of his manhood is to leave my house " |
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→ "Or shall I save some pains till he is grown?" |
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4. Lack of education → "You [husband] would hold knowledge from me because I am a mother " |
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→ "Power should be added to power(v.)" |
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→ "That [mother/hood] has so great an eye it has no head"
TOP
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Claims for Her Motherhood |
| A. Mind > Body |
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1. Thought |
| sexless, free |
| mentally strong |
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2. Heart, love (spiritual love, good affection) |
| woman need it → "Kiss me sometimes in the light" |
| → "Let me have flowers sometimes" |
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value for her son → "He will find more joy … in laughter" |
| B. Trueness > Disguise |
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1. Be true self → "Let me speak my mind in life and love " |
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→ she does not want to "lie," to do things " falsely, " be a " mime " and be " of pretence " |
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→ "Are you content to be from henceforth only father, and in no other way a man?" |
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2. Frank love → "And sometimes let me take your hand and kiss you honestly " |
| C. Spiritual Attachment > Physical Care |
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1. Spiritual love → "And love, which has no more matter in it than is in the mind " |
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2. Good affection |
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3. Intelligent enrichment→ " If he is my true son, " " He will find more joy in number and in laughter " |
| D. Strength / Ability > Sex [female] |
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1. Be wise |
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She is as good as men or even better |
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→ "You calculate the distance of a star" "I, thanks to this free age can count as well" "And by the very processes
you use" "When we think differently of two times two," "I'll own a universal mastery in you!"
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Necessary for being a mother → "Rather for this reason [I am a mother] let me be wise, and very strong" |
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→ "Show him the consolation of mathematics" |
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2. Be strong |
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mentally strong |
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3. To have power → "Power should be added to power" |
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TOP
Conclusions
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| As a woman, wife and mother: |
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1. She redefines her motherhood opposing that of traditional stereotype given by the society. |
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2. She asks for fairness and equality with men, and shows the confidence of her capability. |
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3. She asks for being self and to have her voices. |
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4. She values what's under the surface, such as mind, love, self, knowledge and affection. |
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5. In her motherhood, she not only can give her son the traditional mothering but also what men can give. |
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Reference
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| Ingman, Heather, ed. Mothers and Daughters in the Twentieth Century: A Literary Anthology. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. |
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