Hegemonic Narrative Of Motherhood Essay

It is important that those middle-class women whose voices are more likely to be heard in the debate over redefinition of the family not create a new hegemonic narrative of motherhood in which there are good nonmarital mothers who are middle-class, white and well-educated, and bad nonmarital mothers, who are poor, black, uneducated and possibly drug addicted or HIV-positive. Such divisions along lines of class and race would be disastrous. What must happen instead is that women must seek commonalties that will support the development of coalitions between women of different races and classes.
Statistics clearly have shown that many people no longer live in the traditional nuclear family and the number of births to unmarried women has risen among all races. Despite these statistics, the fact remains that in the minds of much of white America, the face of single motherhood and of mothers on welfare, like the face of crime, is black. It is the image of the lazy welfare mother who breeds children at the expense of the taxpayers in order to increase the amount of her welfare check that is used to sell programs to the public that will adversely affect women. The message is that black women are immoral, unfeminine and undesirable and that white women …show more content…
Family time, love, play and work give children this foundation. Take the time to share your family values and traditions with your children. Schedule family meetings together, share meals together where the family gets together to talk about the day, schedule recreation and relaxation into your day-to-day life. The definition of family values is the social standards defined by the family and a history of traditions that provide the emotional and physical basis for raising a family. Work together within your family to identify and create your own family