In this discussion night The Feminist Club will discuss the relationship between parenthood, and especially motherhood, and feminism.

Traditional women’s roles in the family have been part of critical feminist reflections on the position of women in society. Those have frequently disclosed the power differentials women are subjected in the perpetuation of their main identity as a mother, and nurturer housewife. But surely the experience of being a parent cannot be simply reduced to the differences in power between genders. How can feminists remain aware and critical of such linkages and at the same time go through the life changing experience of becoming a father or a mother?

Should parenthood be stripped of its traditional “motherhoods” and “fatherhoods”, towards an upbringing of children less fundamentally tied to those gender roles? Or are there fundamental qualities in both the relationship a mother and a father have with their child which make this impossible? How can the experiences of gay parenting be integrated in this discussion? What is the role of both biologism and social constructions of the female and male parent in all of this?

Recently there has also been a surge of people opening up about having regreted the decision of becoming a parent, or openly rejecting the desire to become one. This has met fierce criticism, that shows how reproduction is such a corner stone in the common sense of how people should live their lifes and find meaning in the world. Many times in this condemnatory discourses, feminism is pointed at as the main scapegoat. Certainly the liberation from traditional roles has given people more freedom and imagination to re-think their life possibilities, but why is society so reluctanct to accept that some people simply don’t want to be parents? And why does this have to be equated with a lack of altruism or some kind of “disservice to the species”? At the rate that human population has been growing, can’t it be actually environmentally responsible to choose not to reproduce?

These are some of the questions we would like to bring to the fore, but feel free to add your own topics, from education of children to task sharing in the family, we are open to your ideas!

Start evening: 19.00
Location: Atria library, Vijzelstraat 20

Sources for preparation are posted in the Facebook event.

• Facebook event