The disempowerment of motherhood a study in feminist philosophy

Abstract

My thesis is that motherhood is institutionalized in a way that disempowers women. Following Berger and Luckmann's analysis of institutions, but using a feminist perspective, this essay examines sociological evidence from a wide variety of sources to establish the extent of the disempowerment of mothers in our society now. Attention is drawn to the gap that exists between social (patriarchal) perceptions of mothers and their work, and women's lived experience of these things. The work of several feminist writers is critically assessed: Dorothy Dinnerstein, object-relations theorist Nancy Chodorow and in particular, cultural feminist Sara Ruddick. An analysis of mothers' selfhood and the public/private dichotomy concludes the study.