So I had to write an essay in my Feminism class about my mother and how her social ideals and beliefs have effected me and my ideals about society. Let me know what you guys think please.
Know Your Mom
My mother is my favorite person. Yes, we fight constantly; like most mothers and daughters do. But regardless of our arguments she is my favorite person in the entire world. I’m truly thankful for the way my mother raised me. I am who I am because of the beliefs and ideals that my mother passed on to me; some of which my grandmother passed onto her. I believe in equality; and I always choose love before hate. That is because of my mother and my father. But my mother especially taught me that everyone is equal; she taught me that even though society sees things wrong with some people doesn’t mean there is anything wrong.
After my grandfather died, my grandmother was left to raise three young daughters on her own. Not only did she raise my mother and my two aunts on her own; she worked full time, went to school and received her bachelors, and then went to school and received her masters. My grandmother was a single mother with three children, who worked and went to school full time. She never remarried. My grandmother is an educated, worldly woman who taught my mother all of the life lessons that she has passed onto me.
My mother received her Bachelors Degree in physical education and went on to join the United States Air Force. My mother was, among other things, a drill sergeant in the air force; and retired ten years ago as a First Sergeant.. My mother married my father and had me, and sadly when I was five years old my parents divorced. But then both my parents remarried and I got my amazing stepfather and stepmother. My mother has just recently been promoted to School Administrative Manager (SAM) at The Academy of Performing Arts and Foreign Languages, where she has been working for about the last fifteen years. My stepfather is also a SAM at a different elementary school. So, as far as a career and a family my mother chose to have both. Like my grandmother, my mother received her degree and has been working full time ever since. I feel these traits have been passed along to me, because I am trying to earn my degree at this time.
My mother is a feminist; she believes that everyone should be equal regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, or religious believes. She believes that even if someone is different that shouldn’t matter when it comes to pay, or equal rights. I am also a feminist, and I know that that is because of my mother. She taught me that being different doesn’t mean being bad. Someone can be different and that doesn’t matter to me at all, and it doesn’t matter to my mother either. The way my mother sees everyone as an equal is the same way I view the world. Everyone should have equal rights.
My mother said that the biggest social event that changed her life was the Kennedy assassination. And she also said that she is political, but not as much as she used to be. I believe my mother’s and my political views are very similar because she passed her positive beliefs onto me. When I asked my mother if there was anything she regretted in her life and why, she hesitated and couldn’t come up with anything. My mother’s answer was similar to the way I would answer because I believe everything in my past has taught me something valuable; so it’s hard to think of anything I regret.
The way I look at the world and the way I feel about those that are different from me is all because of my mother. She taught me to look past differences and see the person. I can’t wait until all people have equal rights when it comes to marriage and wages; and of course I can’t wait to see discrimination die out completely. Those hopes and beliefs come from my mother and my grandmother, both of whom are strong women that taught their daughter to be an amazing person.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Know Your Mom Essay.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/10860
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
If only all of us had mothers like that. Mine was the total opposite... not like Judy Cleaver meets Bill-O opposite, either.
My mom spent my childhood pawning me and my brother off on my dad, then pawning my brothers off on me when I was older. I pretty much raised one of them. She moved from relationship to relationship because of some severe co-dependency issues. She hates even going grocery shopping alone. This is only the tip of the iceberg, but I digress.
Even for ALL of her MANY faults, it is because of her I am who I am today. I spend each day of my life asking myself "would my mother do that?" When the answer is "no," I know I have made the right decision. Maybe some of her behaviors can be chalked up to patriarchal issues, maybe to some kind of mental illness, who knows?
But I think it is rather odd considering most of the other women in my family, for their faults are the exact opposite. Many of them raised families on their own and challenged the ideas of patriarchy without even knowing it. My grandmother raised five kids and did everything from the more "feminine" jobs of dog groomer and waitress to the "masculine" drywalling. My aunt was a carpenter, and women in my family also pass on their names to their children rather their husband's (first names, that is).
My great-grandmother actually packed up four of her kids and drove them from upstate NY to Alaska only a few days after getting her liscense, all by herself. (that's my favorite story, so I had to put that in there.)