Attitudes and Expectations Relative to Motherhood in Early 20th-Century Canada
In the early 20th century, the Canadian people placed lot of expectation and emphasis on the roles that the women played in the society. The status of the people in society spelt less about the roles that they played, but the ultimate measure stood in the activities that went on (Rosenberg & Weinfeld, 1993). In most cases, the people expect a lot from the mothers, a situation that heightened in the early 20th century. The situation with the Canadian mothers has attracted the world’s attention. One of the earliest situations in Canada in the early 20th century was the rise of the single mothers, a situation that took toll in the late 1930s. In the early 20th century, the number of single mothers in Canada increased tremendously due to the effect of marriage fears and breakdowns arousing feelings of decline in the parenting values in the country. The paper evaluates the expectations that the Canadian people had on the mothers in the country and society’s attitudes towards the mothers in the early 20th century.
In the study of the motherhood situation among the Canadian people in the early 20th century, a number of questions arise from the scholarly sources. In the minds of the Canadians, the women situation in the early 20th century, especially in the 1930s takes major parts in most of their studies. The main issue retards in how the people viewed the mothers in Canada in the early 20th century. The main question is how did the people view the mothers in Canada in the early 20th century? While exploring the main question, several auxiliary questions arise, which require that the researcher deal with them to suit the main idea. One must ask questions like; what were the attitudes of the Canadian people towards the mothers in the early 20th century? What did the people expect from the mothers in Canada in the early 20th century? What reasons prompted the rise of single mothers in Canada? What role did the people expect mothers to play in the growth of the young children? What were the attitudes of the people towards the single mothers? What were the attitudes of the people towards surrogate motherhood?
As much as many people respected the mothers in the society, in the early 20th century, most of the people considered mothers to hold an insignificant position in the society. The position of the Canadian mother restricted them to the basic care of the children, with little to do with the overall growth and economic independence of the society (Rosenberg & Weinfeld, 1993). Concerning the position, any challenge on the moral state of the society mainly went to the women. However, a few of the people thought that the mothers assumed the blame of changing morals of the children in the country. Surprisingly, the whole burden of parenting fell on the mothers, with little of the bone befalling the fathers. The Canadian people expected the mothers to be responsible especially in the lives of their children. The institution of motherhood required that the holders care for the children and teach them the moral ways of life, not forgetting their behavioural standards. However, the number of single mothers in the country increased due to various factors like divorce and decline in the family values. Many mothers became the single caretakers to the children when they separated with their husbands, with a few of them taking the roles after death of their husbands.
Male chauvinism was at highest levels among the Canadian people in the early 20th century. Affirmative action had not reached out to the population in the correct measure as more of the men believed that the women had little to add to the society (Johnson, 1999). Some of the women revolted but most of them sat back, believing that the societal belief was their ultimate judgement. People loved the surrogate mothers, although a few of the scholarly sources indicate victimization and hatred towards the mothers. Precisely, the surrogate mothers answered their questions regarding the bearing of children. Inability to bear children naturally never hampered their childbearing dreams. My views on motherhood in Canada are challenged bearing to the lessons in the study. Initially, I thought that the people hated the surrogate mothers. I also thought that fathers and mothers took equal roles in the upbringing of the children.
The Canadian people expected the mothers to take up the decisions made by the fathers as opposed to making some of the decisions on their own. The most common situations prevailed when the mothers took the roles given to them but the society although they constantly went out to the men to take up some roles for them. The single mothers started increasing when the women took the challenge to become economically stable, especially due to the industrial revolution that touched on the country during the stated period. However, due to the effects of the change in environment and dieting factors, some of the women could not deliver children in the natural ways, thus the surrogate mothers increased in the country tremendously. According to the sources, the Canadian people respected the motherhood institution more compared to some of the early authors stated in their analysis.
The agreements of authors to the findings vary depending on the period of writing and the population that took part in the research. The differences in the findings arise due to a number of reasons contingents to the researches. According to Gleason (2006), the major reasons for the differences are the geographical backgrounds and the racial compositions of the areas where the authors undertook their studies. In support for their stands, the authors presented empirical evidence, especially on the fact that the fathers have a vital role on the development of the children in Canada. Most of the authors also affirm that the single mothers increased in the late 20th century and not in the former years due to the improved economic situation in the country. From the findings, the women in the early 20th century had varied experiences, classifiable into a number of themes. The themes include motherhood in Canada, roles of parents in growth of children, technology, and its influence on the mothers, and economic change and its effects on the mothers in Canada.
In the early 20th century, the experiences of the Canadian people changed the attitudes of some of the people towards the mothers yet some of the people developed more chauvinistic feelings. However, a good deal of the people developed to accommodate the women, especially the mothers to whom a range of roles fell. The single mothers slowly declined as the people learnt to accommodate the mothers in most of their activities. In the early 20th century, the attitudes of the Canadian people towards the women varied quantitatively, with a number of the women regarding their positions in the society as more advanced than the society offered. However, the Canadian people respected the institution of motherhood, which was hit by a number of cases not witnessed before the industrial revolution in Europe. The number of single mothers was high as women established ways for providing for themselves. Divorces increased and the institution slowly eroded. Irrespective of the developments in the institution, the people still respected it and valued it above most of the institutions in the country socially. Motherhood has risen to become one of the best positions for the Canadian women. Unlike the early 20th century when their dignity never bothered the people, more people are concerned with them presently.
References
Gleason, M. (2006). Unwilling mothers, unwanted babies: Infanticide in Canada. Labour, (58), 237-239. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218786375?accountid=45049
Rosenberg, L., & Weinfeld, M. (1993). Canada's Jews: A social and economic study of Jews in Canada in the 1930s. Montreal, Qué: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Johnson, B. D. (1999, Nov 08). Reinventing motherhood: Actress Susan Sarandon is finding her niche as a movie mother. The ancient European act based on 1908 occurrences Maclean's, 112, 80-80. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218525626?accountid=45049
Jackson, M. (2010, Sep 27). Family: Motherhood: The Third Act: A lot of people are wringing their hands over grown kids sticking closer to home. The 1946 case. Maclean's, 123, 67-67. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/758392886?accountid=45049
