The Neutered Mother

Abstract

This paper uses the term 'Neutered Mother' because it represents conflict and contradiction – words in contraposition to each other, incompatible when placed together. The Neutered Mother represents a gendered noun, degendered by the adjective that precedes it – an opposition of meaning that mirrors the conflicts in culture and in law over the significance and potency of the symbol of Mother.

This article will assess the evolution of the symbolic aspects of 'Mother' in modern family law reform and offer an argument for revitalization of the powerful and positive aspects of changes in law for real life mothers.

The recognition that women now face an inappropriately neutered concept of mother reaffirms that the struggle over content and meaning in law is inherently political and that perspectives count. Given that male defined and controlled notions of law systematically disadvantage women in a variety of contexts, it seems essential that legal feminists affirm the need for law to respond to what women experience in their gendered lives. Adopting Mother’s perspective will call into question the very core of patriarchy and force us to consider how the institution of Motherhood should be defined.

Keywords: feminism, gendered lives, motherhood, mother, private roles, public roles, patriarchy, dependency, caretakers, gender equality, gender difference, gender-neutral, nuclear family