Motherhood

• What does the term "motherhood" refer to in the apostolic letter?

  The state of being a mother
• What is the Church's view on motherhood?

  It is a special vocation and gift for women
• How can women express motherhood without biological children?

  By nurturing relationships with others
• What are the key points of Catholic teaching on gender roles?

  • Men and women are equal in dignity.
  • They have different roles in Church and society.
  • Gender and biological sex are part of creation.
  • Masculinity and femininity are distinct and God-given.
  • Self-giving defines personal identity.
  • Motherhood is a unique expression of self-giving.
  • Virginity is a valid choice for women.
  • Men can be priests; women cannot.
• What are the implications of the Church's views on gender roles?

  • Challenges modern views of gender fluidity.
  • Asserts the importance of biological identity.
  • Emphasizes the unique role of motherhood.
  • Encourages self-giving as a core value.
  • Supports distinct roles in marriage and family.
• What does the Church say about the role of women in the family?

  • Women have a special vocation in motherhood.
  • Motherhood involves self-giving and nurturing.
  • Women's roles are demanding and significant.
  • Men owe a debt of gratitude to women for parenthood.
• Motherhood/Parenthood

  • Christians - it is a great privilege
  • the Pope - the role of women is to be either mothers or virgins
  • Fundamentalist Protestants - the role of women as a wife and mother is to create a home suitable for the husband
  • liberalists - removes the idea of motherhood from the definition of women
• Is motherhood liberating or restricting? - liberating

  • women were created for motherhood, they are fulfilling their purpose
  • biological determination
  • a women’s desire to be a mother is biological
• Is motherhood liberating or restricting? - Restricting

  • a woman must give up her personal life to take care of her children
  • affects bodily health
  • slow down progress with careers
  • when children leave the home, a woman is left without a proper purpose
  • the desire to be a mother is the result of social conditioning
  • a women’s intelligence is wasted when at home with children
• Simone de Beauvoir - The Second Sex (1949)

  • motherhood is restricting
  • women over time above let themselves be made into the inferior gender
  • women are defined by there relationship with men as wife, lover and object
  • society forms people into their gender identities
• Different types of family in the Bible

  • the typical family is heterosexual and married
  • men with multiple wives or with children from their mistress
  • the church condemns those who live together outside marriage
  • motherhood as a ‘career choice’ needs to be celebrated as much as an other career choice