Considering Her Purpose

I have been wanting to write a certain blog post for this class, but had yet to find the right time where my thoughts would be relevant until now.

Over spring break, on a run with my sister, I remembered how I had read or heard somewhere that media is constantly trying to communicate to women that we should be smaller,take up less space in the world, and even make parts of ourselves disappear: waist-trimming, wrinkle-vanishing, etc. As someone who enjoys working out and maintaining my fitness, I was worried that I was submitting to this. I don't want to be duped into thinking that I deserve less literal as well as figurative space in the world. And with that, I wanted to ensure that my purpose in working out how I was was not to "shrink my waistline" or to look tiny. I decided, and I wanted the campers I was leading over the summer to see, that I was trying to become stronger. I wanted to be stronger for practical purposes in daily life as well as for my health.

With that said, I was so discouraged and saddened by the young girl responding that she wanted to grow up to be a mother to as many children as possible. That is not to discount the value of motherhood. I think motherhood is an essential role that must not be undervalued and is probably the most influential person on the formation of a human physically and mentally. However, this young girl follows the teaching of her father blindly, wanting to be a mother, obey her husband and do little else (131). If her purpose in life is to give birth, what kind of life does she have, especially considering that she is likely to die in childbirth? In light of the passage on the page just before this quotation, I would invite each of us to examine our actions more closely and ensure that we are not submitting to some societal principle that we do not actually believe: "Blind or blinded, they rush to sacrifice themselves on the altar of motherhood, to the glory of a god who gave them nothing but ovaries to justify their existence" (130).