Adrienne Rich's Of woman born and feminist theory

Adrienne Rich is one of the quintessential feminist writers of our time. This discussion is to examine Rich's book Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. The investigation found that Rich is shunning many of the traditionally held notions about motherhood using a postmodern approach. The view she presents is a direct contradiction to the manner in which society portrays women and their ideas about motherhood. This is evident in the fact that she entertains her own thoughts -- her wants and needs. As it relates to postmodernism. This part of the book is obviously a departure from traditional social constructs. Rich begins the book by adapting a postmodern stance. This means that the viewpoint that she presents shuns the western ideal of developing general "grand narratives" as a way of explaining society. Rich interjects a viewpoint that is inconsistent with the established western paradigm of women's feelings towards motherhood. She then uses this viewpoint to explain her personal world or society. The viewpoint is individual and does not have to be applied to all women the way that traditional theories tend to do.

Introduction

Adrienne Rich is one of the premiere feminist poets and writers of out time. Her ideas about femininity and women's roles in society and in the domestic sphere are still quite controversial. The purpose of this discussion is to examine Rich's book Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution. This exposition will incorporate ideas about feminism, postmodernism and institutionalization. The investigation will demonstrate that Rich is shunning many of the traditionally held notions about motherhood using a postmodern approach.

Post Modernism and Feminism

Before discussing the book it is important to define certain terms including feminism and postmodern theory. Feminism is the idea that men and women should be equal in every aspect of life. Feminism encourages women to pursue independent thought and not conform to traditional constructs of women's roles.

Postmodern theory is not as easy to define because it encompasses several domains or disciplines. For the purposes of this discussion postmodernism is defined as "

"a rejection of the western ideal of establishing universal grand narratives as a means of understanding and explaining society. Postmodern theory directly challenges claims of a unified subject, which is then presented as representing an objective point-of-view, in essence, a "view from nowhere." Postmodern theory

and practices recognize differences, making room for all to contribute and thus having a "view from everywhere" and eliminating the practice of positing one way or one understanding as representing or being "truth." (Wolff)

The author further explains hat feminism and postmodernism can be combined and serves the purpose of the questioning of essentialist approaches within and outside of feminism. In addiiton the combining of these two theories also contributes to feminist scholarship and assists in the further examination of gender. The fusion of postmodernism and feminism is useful because "Postmodern thought follows early feminist challenges to dualistic concepts, such as modernist practices of objectivity being favored over subjectivity, belief in rational over irrational thought, and the strength of nature over cultural constructions (Wolff)."

In addition because this discussion will focus on motherhood as an instution, the work institutionalization

"Institutionalization revolves around (a) structured patterns of action and inter-action, (b) legitimating myths and symbols for such patterns, and (c) cultural symbols carrying emotional and moral overtones. Deinstitutionalization is the converse of these forces, whereby actions, interactions, and interpersonal rituals no longer are controlled and constrained by structures, whereby legitimating myths and symbols supporting structures are all subject to challenge, and whereby cultural symbols become emotionally flat and less clear as to their moral meanings

(Allan & Turner 372)."

These definitions are essential to understanding the discussion that is about to commence. These theories will be used to explain Rich's viewpoint concerning certain issues.

-- the choice of motherhood, how does this define the woman/how society views the woman?

In some ways motherhood in this book is not necessarily viewed as a choice. Rich asserts that many women become mothers because it is simply what society expects of them. Women are not necessary viewed as people who can make their own decisions, especially as it pertains to shunning motherhood; such a station in life is viewed as a woman's duty. There are references in the book about women who pursue paths other than motherhood and the manner in which these women are treated by society as a result of their choices. This is an issue that will be explored later on in the discussion. For now let us concentrate on the initial premise of the book.

From the outset of the book Rich presents a dichotomous picture of motherhood. The first chapter of the book is entitled "Anger and Tenderness." On the one hand, she describes motherhood as a sublime experience. An experience in which she is blissfully gratified at times. On the other hand, she contends that there are times when she despises her children. She writes that their constant wants and needs can become overwhelming. In addition Rich explains that there are times when motherhood seems to be an institution for which she is poorly prepared. Rich further explains that

My children cause me the most exquisite suffering of which I have any experience. It is the suffering of ambivalence: the murderous alteration between bitter resentment and raw edged nerves and blissful gratification and tenderness.

Sometimes I seem to myself. In my feelings towards these tiny guiltless beings, a monster of selfishness and intolerance. Their voices wear away at my nerves, their constant needs, above all their need for simplicity and patience, fill me with despair at my own failures, despair too at my fate, which is to serve a funcition for which I was not fitted (Rich 21)

This passage is taken from a journal entry written by Rich in 1960. By the time the book was published and definitely during the time that this entry was written, the view presented would have been extreme. This view of motherhood is even somewhat controversial in today's society.

The view she presents is a direct contradiction to the manner in which society portrays women and their ideas about motherhood. This is evident in the fact that she entertains her own thoughts -- her wants and needs. Rich confesses that her children are irritating and that she does not always want to be tender towards them.

The passage also debunks the idea that motherhood is somehow instinctual. Rich laments that it is not a function for which she is suited. Although views about motherhood being instinctual are changing, the view still exist that all women desire to have children and to be mothers. Through this passage Rich abandons this idea.

As it relates to postmodernism. This part of the book is obviously a departure from traditional social constructs. Rich begins the book by adapting a postmodern stance. By this it is meant that the viewpoint that she presents shuns the western ideal of developing general "grand narratives" as a way of explaining society. In other words, she interjects a viewpoint that is inconsistent with the established western paradigm of women's feelings towards motherhood. She then uses this viewpoint to explain her personal world or society. The viewpoint is individual and does not have to be applied to all women the way that traditional theories tend to do.

As it pertains to feminism this particular passage presents the idea that women have the capacity to think of themselves the way that men do. Traditionally men are taught and allowed to think only of themselves in terms of want and desire. In this passage Rich is presenting the idea that women can also think on an individual level. Their lives, ideas and thoughts are not always about the greater good of the collective. Instead, Rich asserts that women see and understand that they are individuals and that some of their individuality dissipates when they become mothers because of the way that society has conditioned women to think and behave. This idea of women embracing something outside themselves and going against commonly held beliefs about motherhood is definitely a feminist ideal.

Rich also asserts that at times she is jealous of her children -- of their childhood. This jealousy of their childhood may exist because childhood represents freedom and freedom is something that mothers no longer have. This is a starling admission and debunks the notion that mothers are always joyful and doting as it pertains to their children's childhood. Instead Rich points out that personally she is jealous that her children have the freedom that was once hers. Again, Rich is using a postmodern approach to debunk the idea that the society of motherhood can be described using

Rich also explains her envy of women that do not have children. Rich explains "I envy the barren woman who has the luxury of her regrets but lives a life of privacy and freedom (Rich 21)." As promised the idea of a woman choosing motherhood will be discussed utilizing this passage. Rich describes her envy of a barren woman. A barren woman can be a woman who can't have children or a woman who simply does not have children. It can mean that the woman has chosen not the have children. If the barren woman is someone who has chosen not to have children, Rich contends that she may regret not have children and such a regret is a luxurious one to have. Again Rich is reiterating the idea that motherhood is not necessarily the ideal situation for all women and that some women even regret choosing motherhood.

This regret is present because motherhood robs the woman of self. Although a woman with no children has regrets about her actions she still has her privacy and freedom. Rich seems to place privacy and freedom strictly in the domain of women who are not mothers. Motherhood is therefore viewed as a weight or a burden to a woman.

In this passage Rich is again rejecting commonly held beliefs about motherhood. Rich explains that motherhood is something that some women regret and that not having children allows the woman both privacy and freedom. This is particularly interesting because it reiterates the individual though process and how that process is not necessarily consistent with commonly held beliefs about how women feel about motherhood.

Although in this particular instance motherhood is presented as a chioce, there are also passages throughout the book that suggest that women d not really have much of a choice as it pertains to motherhood. This lack of choice is due to the fact that women who are not married and do not have children are sunned by society. Traditionally and even in contemporary times this is a very true concept. Society seems to question a woman's legitimacy if she decides not to become a mother. With this understood, many women may "choose" to have children because they are conditioned to believe that it is the correct and acceptable thing to do as opposed to what they may desire to do.

In this instance, Rich is questioning the social norms which posit that a woman's worth is defined by motherhood. Instead she asserts that for some it is regretful. Not all women want to be mothers and although they may have some regret on such a decision, their regret pales in comparison to living without the privacy and freedom which is taken by motherhood.

As mentioned previously in the discussion, there is a dichotomous thought process that Rich presents concerning motherhood. Rich discusses how this dichotomy leads to female anger and the supposed consequences of such anger. Rich explains "Mother-Love is supposed to be continuous, unconditional. Love and anger cannot coexist. Female anger threatens the institution of motherhood (Rich, 46)"

Although Rich admits that she is sometimes angry about motherhood and all it entails she also display a type of rationality about the relationship between the coexistence between love and anger. In some ways she is questioning the idea that love and anger is not allowed to coexist inside the sphere of motherhood in the western world. Then in some ways she answers her own question by stating the female anger threatens the institution of motherhood. The institution of motherhood is threatened by female anger because it completely rejects the idea that women are always content and happy as mothers. If it was known or became generally accepted that not all women are content and happy, many women might "choose" not to become mothers. Therefore threatening the institution of motherhood, at least in the context of the western archetype.

In the book, Rich also laments about the idea that all women can be is mothers. Rich explains that

"Not only have women been told to stick to motherhood, but we have been told

that our intellectual or aesthetic creations were inappropriate, inconsequential, or scandalous, an attempt to become "like men," or to escape from the real tasks of adult womanhood: marriage and childbearing. No wonder that many intellectual and creative women have insisted that they were "human beings" first and women only incidentally…The body has been made so problematic for women that it has often seemed easier to shrug it off and travel as a disembodied spirit

(Rich 40) "

This idea that women shouldn't think or pursue intellectual endeavors is the opposite of the ideas espoused by feminism. Feminism takes an egalitarian approach to the rights of men and women. Furthermore feminism asserts that these equal rights should be both social and political. That is women should have equal rights in all spheres of life. This passage also explains that within society a woman's only two purposes are often seen as marriage and childbearing. Women are not viewed as having the capacity to do anything else than marry and become a mother.

This passage also presents the idea that women long to be thought of and treated as human-beings with feelings, thoughts and intellect. However, Rich presents the idea that the female body hinders women from being seen as such. They can only be seen as child bearers with no other possible contributions to society. Some women have recognized the "problem" that their body presents and would rather be disembodied spirits than exist in a world that can see past the function of their bodies.

Rich is using feminist thought and postmodernism to explain the way that women are often treated in their society. She addresses the way that motherhood is often viewed through the eyes of women and not through the prism of patriarchy. Rich presents that idea women are multidimensional. Marriage and motherhood in some cases are part of those dimensions but not necessarily. Rich implements a postmodern way of viewing this idea in that she focuses on the desire of individual women instead of making generalizations about women as a whole.

The body is identified as a machine in a patriarchal context, how is this an issue of power & control?

In the chapter of the book entitled "The kingdom of the fathers" Rich explains the role that patriarch plays in society. Rich explains that

"Patriarchy is the power of the fathers: a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men -- by force, direct, pressure or through ritual, tradition, law and language, customs, etiquette, education,, and the division of labor, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male (Rich 57)."

In other words men have control because they monopolize all of the aforementioned spheres. In monopolizing these spheres they have power over them and ultimately they have power of women. This power exist at every level of life, for the domestic, to the social, to the political. Patriarchy asserts that men are in control and can therefore dictate what occurs within a society.

Men even have control over women's bodies because they can by force direct, pressure or otherwise persuade women to conduct themselves in ways that are beneficial to the man and maintains a sense of patriarchy. With this understood women's bodies are used as machines to produce in both the domestic and economic contexts.

Indeed, Rich presents the female body as a type of machine, that is needed to produce children and sexually satisfy men. This is idea is most prominent in the following passage which describes the concerns of a woman whose letter is published in Margaret Sangers book Motherhood in bondage. In this particular letter the woman is inquiring about birth control so that she can have sex with her husband but still avoid pregnancy The woman writes "I am not passionate…but to try to treat the sexual embrace the way I should, be natural and play the part, for you know, it's so different a life from what all girls expect (Rich, 41)." Of this woman's inquiry, Rich posits

"The history of institutionalized motherhood and of institutionalized heterosexual relations (in this case marriage) converge in these words from an ordinary woman

…who sought only to fulfill the requirements of both institutions, "be natural and play the part" --that impossible contradiction demanded of women (Rich, 41)."

Rich further the states that this woman was seeking to gain some modest control over her own body. Rich also questions what compelled her to d this and concludes that it was a combination of three elements: her own voice, the needs of her existing children and the demands of her husband.

In this instance the woman writing the letter seems to understand sexual relations with her husband as her duty. It seems to be a mechanical function rather than a function of intimacy. In this ways the body of a woman acts as a machine to fulfill the needs and desires of the husband. She doesn't seem to demand anything from sex. She simply wants to be able to play the part without having to deal with the consequences of having additional children.

This idea of a woman not having control over her body and existing as a machine was also evident during the colonial period. Rich explains that colonial families commonly consisted of twelve to twenty-five children. The children were needed for the survival of the family. Many children were needed to attend to the affairs of the household. Because families were so large, during the childbearing years women were either pregnant or nursing. The woman's body was a machine used to produce and sustain offspring.

Rich also explains that both the colonial woman and the slave woman were relegated to being nothing more than machines. Slave women were often raped by plantation owners or their sons. In some cases they were even commanded to "breed." Rich explains

"In a Carolina plantation of about 100 slaves the owner threatened to flog all of the women because they did not breed. They told him they could not while they had to work in the rice ditches (in one or two feet of water). After swearing and threatening he told them to tell the overseer's wife when they fgot in that way and he would put them on the land to work." (Rich 44)

This is another instance where a woman's body was nothing more than a machine. The offspring of a slave woman did not even belong to her, the child belonged to the master. This meant that at anytime the child could be sold and the mother would have no say in the matter. The other purpose for the "breeding" would be to simply be to produce more free labor for the slave-owner. Every child born to a slave was one less slave that the slave-owner had to purchase. In either case the purpose of commanding slave women to breed was economic gain.

In addition if a woman was not married by the time she was twenty-five she was considered an old maid, particularly in colonial times. This old made status was due in part because life expectancy was shorter. If a woman was not married and did not start to have children before the age of twenty five, she would never have the opportunity to do so. Again her body was viewed as a machine designed for the production of children.

Overall patriarchy allows men to have a great deal of control and power because they dominate every sphere of life. This dominance in every sphere often means that the interest of men are served first. Men do not have to consider the needs or desires of women because they don't understand the sphere outside of their own.