Join us, either in person or online, as we watch and discuss three short videos on Mother's Day.
On this Mother’s Day, it’s not enough to superficially celebrate motherhood. Let’s examine a couple of different aspects.
We could start by thinking of a couple of the Humanist commitments.
“Altruism is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others without expectation of reward, recognition, or return.” Sounds pretty much like what we expect of mothers 24/7.
And
“We human beings are capable of empathy, the ability to understand and enter imaginatively into another living being’s feelings….” Yes, and moms again are supposed to do this 24/7.
We probably think of Humanist commitments as aspirational because we aren’t perfect. But we have higher expectations of mothers.
A whole Mythology around motherhood pervades our thinking. Some believe “natural” maternal instincts and emotions are present in all females simply from their hormones. We likely blame and shame the individual woman who doesn’t live up to this stereotype.
Before the concept of the nuclear family, a large family, even community, would share the raising of children. The burden wasn’t likely to fall entirely on the mother. We often fail to recognize the toll on her health that giving birth takes. At her weakest, still recovering from the physical cost her body has undergone, she is expected to be on duty 24/7 to respond to the needy newborn waking every few hours.
I was shocked at the statistic that in the United States in 2024, 32.4% of live births were Cesarean deliveries. So 1/3 of new mothers were recovering not just from birth but major surgery. At the least this should bring home the idea that becoming a mother is a serious health issue.
However, expectations that she can do it alone do seem to be changing. There is much more understanding that parenthood is a shared responsibility. We now see plenty of fathers out pushing baby carriages.
Also this Mother’s Day, reproductive rights are important. . For how many mothers is motherhood not a free choice? No matter how much a mother may love her child, It needs to be her choice as to when she bears this child, financially and emotionally. Not all mothers are equally prepared. Factors such as her youth, health and marital status need to be hers to consider. Even the timing can cause her to sacrifice career goals or other ambitions, and relationships.
Others have no right to blame her for not being willing to bear a child at a time other than of her choosing or of not always putting her child first.
You may be aware of the hypothesis that a couple of decades after the rights to abortions are interfered with, the incarceration rates increase. Whether a woman wants to bear a child affects all of society.
We will view three videos: the first is one about the origins of Mother’s Day and its relationship to peace. Second is a video about how we deny compensations to mothers such as paid leave, or any leave, after childbirth. The third video is about the most recent court ruling to curtail the sending of abortion medication through the mail.
You can watch the 5-minute reading of Julia Ward Howe, the author of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", at: https://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/8/mothers_day_for_peace_a_dramatic
Leave for mothers after childbirth, 12 minutes: https://egbertowillies.com/2015/05/11/john-oliver-shows-family-values-proponents-dont-value-mothers-or-families-video/
An 8-minute follow up to what's happening today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7OR2JApagw
Attend in Person:
Join fellow Humanists at Grant Park Community Center, Classroom 2, 1575 Holt Ave Los Altos, CA 94024-6921. Lunch will be served after the forum. We request a $10 donation.
If you can join us in person, please email vp@humanists.org to help us make sure we have room for you. If you have symptoms that may be COVID, kindly attend on Zoom.
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Attend Online:
Also, we will continue to present our forums on Zoom. To join and be able to ask questions and make comments, go to:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81653890712?pwd=QzN4MTVNbGEwQ0Zua3d1VG9tVE50UT09
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Joining the meeting via the link will download and install the Zoom app on your desktop computer (if it's not already installed), and then take you to the meeting.
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Meeting ID: 816 5389 0712
Passcode: 250634
Join the meeting by phone. +1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
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