As our thoughts turn to next week’s Mother’s Day, moms might like to study the very useful website of The Motherhood Project, a group that’s advancing things close to every mother’s heart: connectedness, stewardship, non-commercialism, and workplace flexibility.
The group’s website says: “In our view, society’s dismal failure to value mothers and mothers’ work is inextricably linked to the fact that every facet of our lives is dominated by ‘bottom line’ thinking and market values. Quite simply, the United States values market work — the production of goods and services and profit-making — much more that it values care work — the nurture of human beings. We want to change that.
“We are working to transform the culture so that the values that are dominating our lives — radical individualism, consumerism, relentless work, the quest for material success — yield ample room for care, connectedness, stewardship, and other values necessary for raising healthy, caring, ethical human beings.
“In our search for solutions to value and empower mothers, we favor measures that give mothers choices and flexibility. We oppose ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions. We favor policies that enable mothers to choose different paths based on what they deem best for themselves and their children and families. We favor policies that enable fathers as well as mothers to spend more time with children.”
Key works in progress include a campaign against the commercialization of childhood, and a book by founder Enola Aird that explores how to raise children in an age increasingly shaped by the values of commerce and technology.