We all have mothers. We grow and develop in our mothers’ wombs, and then they carry us into the world. How maternal relationships affect our lives after birth varies among individuals, but our preborn development is a universal experience. Our mothers shape our reality from conception. They are our first human connection. What do we know about motherhood? We understand perfectly the biological development of a child in the womb, but we possess limited psychological and philosophical research about this process, and about the continuation of that connection after birth. Janice Chik, professor of philosophy at Ave Maria College in Florida, seeks to unravel the deep and unexplored philosophy of motherhood. At her talk at Holy Cross on March 28, she posed two questions: why is the study of motherhood untouched by philosophers, and why is motherhood so unpopular today?
Chik gave three reasons for the lack of philosophical work done on motherhood. She suggested first that because motherhood is subjective, it may be challenging to universalize mothers’ different experiences and develop a cohesive study. Motherhood is extremely personal and evokes radically different responses from everyone. The second possibility she raised, in a half-joking manner, is that most philosophers tend not to be mothers themselves, so motherhood is not of any interest to them. The philosophers that mention motherhood portray it negatively. Chik cited Plato’s Symposium, a Socratic dialogue that places Socrates in a drinking party making social commentary and debating with fellow Athenians. Socrates’ character Diotima distinguishes between a biological pregnancy and a “pregnancy” of ideas, the latter of which is far superior. It is good to impregnate women, Diotima argues, because in this way we can pursue immortality through perpetuating our lineages. However, it is even better to “impregnate” young men with wisdom and learning, because ideas are more immortal than people. We should note that Diotima is the only female speaker in all of the Platonic dialogues. Philosophy trumps motherhood. The third reason Chik supplies is slightly more extreme: some thinkers, such as the modern feminist philosopher Jeffner Allen, suppose that motherhood is “dangerous to women” and contributes to the “annihilation of women” because it further compels them into patriarchal domination. Allen argues that we should abandon motherhood altogether.
Arguing for motherhood’s philosophical essence, Chik contended that the diversity of experience among mothers contributes to the richness of motherhood. In contextualizing and relating these different experiences, we can reach a common conclusion about its psychological and philosophical importance. She then expounded Aristotle’s claim that we are “rational animals.” Our nature, as she observed, prepares us well for motherhood. Like all animals, we grow and nourish our young. However, we also have the benefit of reflecting on that relationship. Why shouldn’t we attempt to understand motherhood beyond its biological nature, especially since we are not limited to our biological nature? Finally, Chik referenced modern metaphysicist L.A. Paul, who argues that motherhood is a “transformative experience.” We ought to explore phenomena that can pull us out of our current state of life into something completely different, that turns our self-orientation inside-out.
L.A. Paul also argues that we cannot know what our own experience of motherhood will be like. She states in her book Transformative Experiences that modernity calls couples to deeply consider what outcome parenting will have on their happiness. Modern parenting guides pose a number of factors to spouses, many of which are about personal satisfaction and finding meaning in one’s life. Chik suggested that modernity’s notion of self-seeking and self-realization clashes with maternity, which is humanity’s most intimate and arguably most selfless relationship. Modernity seeks to free human beings from the bounds of nature in order to achieve total self sufficiency. Motherhood’s essence contradicts this goal. It involves four unchangeable, biological facts: conception between a man and a woman to create a life, gestation, childbirth, and breastfeeding. Motherhood cannot progress past nature because it is nature: it is one of those stubborn, unchangeable facts about humanity that binds us to our brute-selves.
Chik referred to “three C’s” of modernity that compete with motherhood: control, commodification, and careerism. The first principle, control, insists that women must regulate and minimize motherhood, or else they are not equal to men. We control human life and our destiny. We have agency, and we have knowledge of our agency. Motherhood thrusts us out of control. Women have physical limitations that we didn’t invent, like lactation and pregnancy. We can’t control the baby’s development in the womb. After birth, we can’t control if our baby cries in public. We must care for it anyways, and it will not understand if we scold or attempt to correct it. Chik argues that this lack of control is good. Motherhood humbles us and it reflects the reality of human beings. It shows us that we cannot have complete control over our lives. It makes us more willing to embrace people who may inconvenience us, and it reminds us to love the helpless and bothersome. Chik then highlighted the beauty in pregnancy’s passivity. She referenced Josef Pieper’s Leisure: the Basis of Culture, in which Pieper argues that culture is most fruitful when human beings are able to be at rest, when they do not push themselves to constantly labor and toil. She likens this receptivity to pregnancy. Catholics hold that God shares his transcendental qualities, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, with humanity as divine gifts: they require no action from our end besides a simple “yes.” The woman has no action in the benefits she reaps from being pregnant, nor does she initiate the emotional connection between herself and her child. She is the “creative artist” of her child, providing its environment and forming it, but she herself has no control over this process.
The second “C” of modernity that conflicts with motherhood is commodification. Children are reduced to their commercial value, emphasizing costliness and greatly decreasing their appeal to prospective parents. Chik aptly pointed out the absurdity of attempting to place a monetary value on new life. Modernity tends to place babies in a parasitic framework, especially within pregnancy: babies are seen as thieves of mothers’ resources. Scientifically, pregnancy is actually quite beneficial to the mother. It increases levels of estrogen and androgen, improving hair growth and shine. Studies have shown that it improves blood levels and increases oxygen, which boosts metabolism. Popular thought likes to perceive mothers as being sacrificial. On the other hand, Chik countered, motherhood has mutual psychological and spiritual benefits for the mother and the child.
The third “C” is careerism. Careerism asserts that our identity isn’t relational: it’s found in our wage-related work. It also affirms again that women have to be in the working world in order to be equal to men. Chik remarked that the denigration of motherhood is not strictly a modern idea. Since ancient times, careers have been considered better labor than motherhood. After all, motherhood does not provide sick days or health insurance. Rather, motherhood participates in the act of Creation. Like Christ’s love, it houses the homeless. It may seem oppressive to some, but in reality, it is a participation in divine grace.
In response to these three ideas, Chik stated that we must reorient ourselves to the theological. Motherhood involves the production of an immortal soul. No other station in life can do this. She likened the experience of pregnancy to the Eucharist: it is the offering up of one’s body for another. It is a totally selfless and life-giving vocation that accepts the earthly stranger and submits to God. For many women, motherhood is the “fiat” that transforms their lives. It unites them with Mary in her “yes” at the Annunciation that set the events of salvation into motion. It further joins them with Christ’s love for God the Father in His passion. It is transformative and philosophical and glorifies the nature of womanhood. As Catholic philosopher Alice von Hildebrand once said, “woman by her very nature is maternal – for every woman, whether married or unmarried, is called upon to be a biological, psychological, or spiritual mother — she knows intuitively that to give, to nurture, to care for others, to suffer with and for them — for maternity implies suffering — is infinitely more valuable in God’s sight than to conquer nations and fly to the moon.”