Free Essays - Memories and Motherhood in Landscape for a Good Woman :: Landscape for a Good Woman Essays

Memories and Motherhood in ornament for a Good Woman    The relevance and subsequent translation of memories as they relate to atomic number 53s desire to mother . . . refusal to reproduce oneself is a refusal to perpetuate what one is, that is, the way one understands oneself to be in the social world. -- pg. 84 In reading Carolyn Kay Steedmans Landscape for a Good Woman, two themes took center pose Memories and Motherhood. As the book unfolds Steedman repeatedly points out that childhood memories argon employ by individuals for various purposes rather than objective recollections dominated by facts, she proposes that they are to a greater extent subjective in nature, likely to alter with time or as circumstances dictate. Thus, fact has very little relevance, taking a thorn seat to the history we create for ourselves. . . . childhood is a benignant of history, the continu wholey reworked and re-used personal history that lies at the heart of each sit -- pg. 128 Though she examined sociological, political, economic and psychoanalytic issues, one aspect Steedman fails to address is the biological, as in the so-called biological clock. Frankly, her argument may return from this phenomena. Though women in their teens and early twenties frequently express an exclamatory lack of desire for children, citing specifics of their personal histories to support these decisions, years later the aforementioned(prenominal) memories are given an opportunity to soften, recede or even evaporate al together. Thus, in light of this altered history, the individual in question feels more at ease reassessing her choices (in light of these memories) and considering motherhood a viable alternative. We all return to memories and dreams . . . again and again the story we tell of our own bread and butter is reshaped around them. But the point doesnt lie there, back in the past, back in the lost time at which they happened the only point lies in interpretation. - - pg. 5 Another point Steedman only touches on lightly is her sisters interpretation of the past. Personally, I find it fascinating to discuss childhood events with siblings who participated in the kindred events. The significance of seemingly unrelated experiences, occurring after the occasion in question, together with personal feelings, frequently cause siblings recollections of the same(p) events to differ. In light of Steedmans work, it is easier straight to understand how children, raised by the same parents, offered the same opportunities and sharing the same historical events, may end up with radically different memories.