WOMEN, MOTHERHOOD AND WORK: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

Author(s): Kadoglou Triantafyllia, Sarri Katerina

The present study attempts to make an interdisciplinary approach to issues of associating motherhood and family with work and employment. Thus, in the perspective of discussing the specific theoretical construct in the context of social sciences and through the interplay of History, Literature, Sociology, Politics and Economics, the study examines women’s status, which, in the history of Western thought, is defined, in social, economic, political and cultural terms, within the framework of a production - reproduction system. Remarkably, the crucial issue of ideology or, as Beauvoir posits, of the religion of motherhood, in historic, social and economic terms, has always been associated with a policy of priorities concerning birthrate and family, which are considered fundamental factors for the development of the social fabric. It is demonstrated that the relationship of childbearing and childrearing, work and motherhood has been a recurring issue not only in the social scene, but also within feminist movements in Europe and America, depending on historical, political and economic conditions. This is a common economic, political and cultural context in social history, impregnated with patriarchal principles, and generating the glass ceiling effect, namely, barriers and disparities impeding women to rise to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder. Thus, in the name of deified motherhood, women have constantly been deprived of the possibility of pursuing career advancement or intellectual achievement on account of being forced to bear children. The specific premise has been variously reflected in literature since the time of Rousseau, Darwin and Freud, demonstrating that, in interrelation to work and employment, spirituality and idealization, motherhood ideology has still remained, in social and scientific terms, an open question.

Motherhood- Family, Work –Employment, Feminist Movements, Production - Reproduction System, Social, Economic, Political And Cultural Context- Social History- Patriarchal Principles, Spirituality- Idealization, Glass Ceiling.

Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.6007/MAJESS/v3-i1/1701     Pages: [28-51]