though this one may be more a mother-daughter squabble that has become very public.
Alice Walker's daughter Rebecca has just written an article for the Daily Mail in which she alleges that second wave feminism has destroyed motherhood for an entire generation of women (read it by clicking here).
Some feminist bloggers, such as feministing.com in this post, are saying that the younger Walker is wrong in equating her mother's views of motherhood with an entire feminist movement. Salon.com has a good article on the war between the Walkers.
I'm looking for blogs or articles that support what Rebecca is writing, but haven't found anything so far. Everything I've seen so far seems to support the idea that while Alice may have been a bad mom who used her understanding of feminism as her excuse, it doesn't necessarily say anything about actual second wave feminism. Rebecca writes, "It was drummed into me that being a mother, raising children and running a home were a form of slavery." This could be true without it being the fault of second wave feminism or even indicative of what second wave feminism was all about. But I'd love to read something that argues otherwise.
Maybe it is easier to pretend that your mom would have been a great mom if the feminist revolution hadn't come along and ruined everything, instead of acknowledging that hey, maybe your mom is just a bad mom all on her own. There have been women who aren't good at motherhood since women first started having babies, long before feminism showed up.
More feuding feminists...
though this one may be more a mother-daughter squabble that has become very public.
Alice Walker's daughter Rebecca has just written an article for the Daily Mail in which she alleges that second wave feminism has destroyed motherhood for an entire generation of women (read it by clicking here).
Some feminist bloggers, such as feministing.com in this post, are saying that the younger Walker is wrong in equating her mother's views of motherhood with an entire feminist movement. Salon.com has a good article on the war between the Walkers.
I'm looking for blogs or articles that support what Rebecca is writing, but haven't found anything so far. Everything I've seen so far seems to support the idea that while Alice may have been a bad mom who used her understanding of feminism as her excuse, it doesn't necessarily say anything about actual second wave feminism. Rebecca writes, "It was drummed into me that being a mother, raising children and running a home were a form of slavery." This could be true without it being the fault of second wave feminism or even indicative of what second wave feminism was all about. But I'd love to read something that argues otherwise.
Maybe it is easier to pretend that your mom would have been a great mom if the feminist revolution hadn't come along and ruined everything, instead of acknowledging that hey, maybe your mom is just a bad mom all on her own. There have been women who aren't good at motherhood since women first started having babies, long before feminism showed up.
What do you guys think?