What I learned About Mothers...
By Meredith Wollenman
At the beginning of the semester, I have to admit, I was a little nervous and unsure about what this class exactly entailed. I knew the class pertained to mothers and the media, however I was in the dark about everything else. When the semester begun, and we first began reading "The Feminine Mystique," even though I found the book to be very insightful and interesting, I was a little skeptical on wether or not I would enjoy this class. At the time, I believed that everything we would study would pertain to the history of women and how they have evolved over the years. Much to my surprise, I completely misread the situation, for we soon began to study current day mothers. This immediately grabbed my attention, for we were now learning all about mothers presented in our current generation. Sure, at times, we would look into mothers presented in a particular form of media from the past (ex: magazines, movies, etc.) but for the most part the class focused mainly on present day situations. This allowed me to look at motherhood from a completely different light, and ultimately gain more respect not just for my mother but for all mothers. It taught me to become more aware of the content that I am watching, and to really look at the mother figure portrayed. With the various projects assigned, it showed me that mothers are everywhere, wether we know it or not. I would have never guessed how many different forms of media contain mothers if it wasn't for this class. Overall I have been pretty successful with my assignments and have really enjoyed this class and all that has come with it. I have learned a great deal on how to and how not to be my own idea of "the perfect mother." Not all mothers are the same, but from this class I have learned that they do not need to all be the same. Everyone has their own technique on how to be a mother and motherhood is about adopting and adapting which characteristics you which to posses when you become a mother.
Disney Moms
During the semester, I learned a great deal about the presence of mothers in Disney movies. When I was a child, I was a frequent viewer of Disney movies, never noticing that, in a majority of the films there was never a presence of mothers. I also became aware that in many of the movies, if there was a mother present, she was usually killed off at the start of the film. This typically then resulted in the father figure, who was generally loving, caring, and protective, to marry an evil women, thus giving his child an "evil step mother." After studying Disney moms and Disney films I also became aware of the large presence of fairy god mothers and supernatural creatures that served as a parental figure and companion for the main character.
Moms in Films
During the semester, I also learned a great deal about the way in which mothers are portrayed in films. This varied from the way in which mothers we're portrayed in Disney films, for these mothers varied a great deal, wether it pertained to their social class, ethnicity, or relationship status. For my movie I chose to analyzed the mother in the popular pixar film "The Incredibles." Here the mother was a strong, protective woman who would stop at nothing to ensure the safety and happiness of not only her children, but of her family as well. This differed from some of my other classmates movies, for some of their mothers were seen as controlling and manipulative. I really enjoyed this section of the course for it gave us the opportunity to examine a vase amount of mothers from a wide range of years. It allowed us to study the mothers behaviors and witness how mothers have changed from generation to generation.
TV Moms
Like "Moms in Films" TV moms was very interesting section of the course as well for it gave us the opportunity to examine mothers on television within a specific decade. I particularly enjoyed this project for I was really able to see how much mothers that are portrayed on television can change in just a short number of years. This project forced me to really dig deep into my favorite TV shows and evaluate how the mother is really portrayed. Much to my surprise, not all of my favorite TV shows included positive and encouraging mothers for at least half of my mothers chosen were controlling and always butting into their children's lives. Comparing my project to one of my classmates who had selected previous decades was very interesting and eye opening. In some of their television shows, the mothers were seen just like the mothers on my shows, that were aired many years later, however these mothers were more upfront and outspoken. Compared to my classmates TV moms, my moms were more passive aggressive and conniving about their particular motives.
Magazines
During our study over women magazines, I was not too surprised that women magazines have undergo a dramatic change throughout the years. For my magazine project, I studied Redbook magazine in the year 1969. While investigating Redbook, it was very common to see articles pertaining to being a housewife. This was probably the most common type of articles we noticed from issue to issue. Another popular genre of articles we noticed was articles pertaining to beauty and health. During this era it was very common for women to be very conscious and focused on their physical appearance. Many women wished to be what they considered to be the "perfect housewife." Just like I would have guess, magazines today are mainly focused on fashion, gaining the "perfect" body, beauty, relationship tips, and sex advice. From what I observed, many magazines today are still focused on being the perfect "companion" to their significant other, however I believe that magazines today contain more mature content.
Mom in News
Even though this was a fairly simple assignment that took place over the course of the entire semester, this was probably one of my favorite assignments. I am not one to typically keep up with current events, however this project allowed me to do so. The current events that both my classmates and I presented throughout the semester involved a variety of reactions and emotions. It was so shocking to see the way many mothers treated their children, many of them mentally and physically abusing their children. (sometimes even resulting in the death of her children) Not always though did we view articles about poor mothers, for many of the articles presented mothers who were uplifting and caring. These articles illustrated mothers who viewed their children as the apple of their eye and would do anything for their child.
Surveys
Out of all the projects we were assigned this semester, this was probably one of the most stressful projects, mainly due to the fact that many mothers are busy and do not respond to my survey. With that being said, I still enjoyed reading the responses from actual mothers that I know. It was very eye opening to see how these mothers feel and think when they are asked questions pertaining to motherhood. Overall the answers submitted were pretty evenly spread out, however we did see a shock in some respondents answers. I think that one of my favorite parts of this project was looking at how my mother responded to these questions. For the most part, I was able to guess how my mother would respond, however some of her answers were very suppressing and even at times comical.
Mothers in Advertising
This was a very fun and humorous project that I enjoyed working on during the semester. Even though it was very difficult to receive 15 responses (I literally threatened people to respond I am pretty sure) I really enjoyed being able to select my own advertisements and create my own survey questions. Since I was able to be more specific and detailed oriented in my questions, I feel that out of all the surveys conducted throughout the semester, the mothers I asked were the most honest in this survey. I do not know if it is due to the fact that they were able to view a specific content before they were asked the questions or not, but the majority of the moms were very open and true in their answers, one mother even admitting to leaving behind her child quite often and not relating to any of the commercials because she is unemotional.
Mothers in Music
This was surprisingly a really fun assignment that we did this semester. As an avid listener of all genres of music, I never really actually stop to listen to the words the artist is singing. Yes I know the words and can sing along, but I have never stopped and analyzed what is actually being sung. This project allowed me to stop and do so and really evaluate what Martina McBride was saying in her hit song "In My Daughters Eyes." Since I was instructed to create a music video of images relating to the lyrics of the song, the message portrayed by McBride really hit home with me. Even though this is quite an emotional song of a mother explaining how she is viewed in her daughters eyes, it really taught me to appreciate my mother and all that she has done for me.
Children and Teen
I found this portion of the semester to be very fascinating and captivating, mainly do to the fact that many of the TV clips we watched pertaining to teenagers, are shows that I quite often watch. I found it very common for many of the shows to include violence, drugs and alcohol, and sex. Many of the teens in the shows were very independent and rebellious, quite often doing whatever they please. This more times than none lead to sexual activity, both willingly and unwillingly. Many of these teens participated in drugs and alcohol (obviously underage), however rarely ever received serious punishment. These clips allowed me to think of my life as a teenager and draw similarities and differences. As a result, I found that my life was ultimately nothing like the lives shown on TV. Shows like Gossip Girl proved to not be authentic and relatable to normal a teenager's life. With this being said, it does not seem to be a major issue by the CW and the production companies, because in the end SEX SELLS.
Mothers in Novels
I know that I have said this a lot now, but I also really enjoyed this assignment. Typically I am not a big reader (probably the biggest struggle of the project was finishing the book) but I really appreciated how we were able to select our own novel. Not only did this allow me to select something that I had not already read, but it also allowed me to select something that sounded interesting to me. From my book, I was shocked to learn abut how selfish mothers can be. In my book "The Rest of Her Life" the main character Leigh's daughter accidentally runs a stop sign resulting in killing a pedestrian walking home from school. Instantly one would think that Leigh would be compassionate and loving towards her daughter and concerned for her own well being, however that is not the response we received. In the novel, it was quite shocking to learn that Leigh was more concerned with her own social status and how her community would now perceive her. This taught me exactly what NOT to do if I were ever put in this position.
The Feminine Mystique
Starting off the semester reading "The Feminine Mystique," in my opinion was a very good introduction to the evolution of women. It exposed me to the mental and physical symptoms many women faced during previous decades. Like I'm sure so many individuals are, I was completely oblivious to the difficulties many women went through. Looking back at pictures, I always believed that these housewives were the happiest of all women, living a perfect life. After reading "The Feminine Mystique," however, I now know that is wrong. I found it quite shocking that many women were under the influence of drugs, on a daily basis, just to cope with their everyday lives. I also found it quite interesting when the book talked about women and their education. I would have never guessed in a million years that many women reported it being more difficult to be a stay at home mother if they were educated. Fortunately the content presented in the book was not completely and totally foreign to me for I was aware that many women, from a very young age, began searching for a husband and planning their lives, often putting their careers on hold. This book not only taught me a lot about women but it also taught me a lot about myself. After reading, I became very appreciative and thankful for the era I live in. I do not think that I could have been the type of housewife to sit at home all day cooking and cleaning. This just makes one appreciate even more the respect and recognition women are receiving as the years progress.