The Quality of Womanhood Vs Motherhood
Before embarking on the celebrated motherhood journey to raise confident, resilient, empathetic, compassionate kids, we’ve first got to fix womanhood deprivation issues.
I had written once that motherhood is the right of passage that unleashes a woman’s powers she hadn’t known existed within her. Now, ten years and two births later, I am strongly inclined to give a 180-degree flip to my view and say, “Motherhood can’t define who I am as a woman. Instead, it’s got to be my powers as a woman that I have honed since birth — i.e. the quality of a woman’s womanhood — which largely defines who I am as a mother.”
Because how can we separate a woman’s experiences in life from her skills as a nurturer?
When I worked with schools in India, as part of an organisation that helps schools and parents manage student health, I often heard mothers wishing that their children grow up to be resilient, balanced, go-getter adults. What I wanted to ask them then, is that how many mothers can confidently define themselves as that — resilient, balanced and go-getter women? How many of us mothers have set goals and ambitions for ourselves? Why is it natural to dream big for your kids, but not for yourself?