The Radical History of Mother’s Day

[flipper]

The Radical History of Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was born in the aftermath of the Civil War, as a rallying cry for women worldwide to oppose war and fight for social justice.


One of those moms was Kristen Howerton, a family and marriage therapist who blogs at Rage Against the Minivan, wrote, “We don’t need photos of the girls or interviews with the parents to prompt us to care . . . we just need our humanity. We need to see these girls as daughters, sisters, nieces, and friends. We need to imagine this happening in our own community… [because] girls matter. Everwhere.”

“Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts.”
Sarah Bessey, a Canadian blogger and the author of Jesus Feminist, Sarah Bessey offered a prayer, “[God] We know that your heart is for rescue and for life. May we move with you, however we can, to rescue, restore, and redeem our girls and their neighborhoods from this evil still stalking the land.”


You see, long before Mother’s Day became an international celebration of cards, bouquets, brunches, and gifts—a one-day momfest that here in the U.S. has grown into a $20-billion-dollar-a-year industry—this holiday was rooted, at least, here in America, in “radical feminism” and progressive Christianity.

Arise then...women of this day! Howe, a Boston poet and the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was likely pissed off the day she wrote those words, the first line of a poem called “A Mother’s Day Proclamation.” In 1870, the well-known abolitionist, still grieving over the Civil War and angry about the start of the Franco-Prussian War, began to envision a new cause, a rallying of the world’s women to rise up and unite for peace.

The opening stanza of poetic challenge went like this:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

The Radical History of Mother’s Day - The Daily Beast

 

[Burnt State]

It's an interesting separation, when the boys are pulled away from their matriarchal teachings and taught carnage instead of compassion. Whenever we have Aboriginal elders come in to speak I am always fascinated by the teachings that these older men bring to youth. They explain the roll of the drum as the heartbeat of mother earth, how when we are born and give our first warrior's cry our mother holds us to her chest so we can hear the beat of life. That first moment stays with us throughout our lives as we honor the mother in our drumming circles, paying respect to both mother and grandmother.

This one particular elder, called Blue Star Man, taught a group of youth how what's wrong in our society today is we do not make space to allow for boys and men to cry. They have forgotten their mother, her teachings and their connection to her heartbeat.

In those early matrilineal Aboriginal societies, before white man claimed discovery of the Americas, traditional male identities were that of masculine warriors but their approach to war was very different. And when you married into Turtle clan a man would leave Bear clan to be with his wife's family. In any future conflict between Bear and Turtle clans the man would have to choose to fight against his parent's family or his wife's family. In this way the third option of peace was most often chosen.

So honor your mother, honor the earth, and promote peace.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

 

[LeBombette]

It's nice to think of Mother's Day as radical feminism, but it was more an effort to heal a deeply scarred country. The "mother" of Mother's Day is a title most likely owed to Ann Jarvis. She worked to organize and promote women's groups that worked to improve health and sanitation standards before, during and after the Civil War. She saw her own state (Virginia) divided during the war and ended up on the West Virginia side. The women's groups she organized sought to aid people regardless of their loyalties. After the war her community wanted to heal the rift that existed. Mrs. Jarvis was called upon to help and decided that honoring "Mom" was something everyone could get behind. The first official "Mother's Day" celebration saw the Moms of the women's clubs dressing in both blue and grey and the playing of Dixie and The Star Spangled Banner so as to give equal weight to both sides. I would love to say it was a "radical feminism", but I think it was really just folks trying to move on with life in the best way they knew how.
Julia Ward Howe was quite the radical feminist for her time...in fact, her husband couldn't deal with the subject matter of her writings (himself a social activist) and they were separated for much of their married life. She really didn't start Mother's Day, but wrote her proclamation as part of the women's suffrage movement. Ann Jarvis's daughter was the person who really pushed to make Mother's Day a national holiday. Finally in 1914, it was made into a national holiday by President Wilson.
The article above was a really nice thought...but, as usually happens when reporters write about history fairly uninformed. Happy belated Mother's Day regardless of the history!
By the way, a few years ago I played Julia Ward Howe in a PBS documentary.

 

[flipper]

It's nice to think of Mother's Day as radical feminism, but it was more an effort to heal a deeply scarred country. The "mother" of Mother's Day is a title most likely owed to Ann Jarvis. She worked to organize and promote women's groups that worked to improve health and sanitation standards before, during and after the Civil War. She saw her own state (Virginia) divided during the war and ended up on the West Virginia side. The women's groups she organized sought to aid people regardless of their loyalties. After the war her community wanted to heal the rift that existed. Mrs. Jarvis was called upon to help and decided that honoring "Mom" was something everyone could get behind. The first official "Mother's Day" celebration saw the Moms of the women's clubs dressing in both blue and grey and the playing of Dixie and The Star Spangled Banner so as to give equal weight to both sides. I would love to say it was a "radical feminism", but I think it was really just folks trying to move on with life in the best way they knew how.
Julia Ward Howe was quite the radical feminist for her time...in fact, her husband couldn't deal with the subject matter of her writings (himself a social activist) and they were separated for much of their married life. She really didn't start Mother's Day, but wrote her proclamation as part of the women's suffrage movement. Ann Jarvis's daughter was the person who really pushed to make Mother's Day a national holiday. Finally in 1914, it was made into a national holiday by President Wilson.
The article above was a really nice thought...but, as usually happens when reporters write about history fairly uninformed. Happy belated Mother's Day regardless of the history!
By the way, a few years ago I played Julia Ward Howe in a PBS documentary.

Thank you for giving the correct history of Mother's Day. This history is also very radical, that is, healing instead of hurting, bringing them together instead of dividing them. I am not sure how you would define radical feminism but I would define as those who want to correct injustice or an imbalance of power. I remember reading The Female Eunuch and thinking how Germaine Greer was also concerned about she was also concerned the welfare of men.

By the way, a few years ago I played Julia Ward Howe in a PBS documentary. You are here, in the forum among some very creative people. It seems the paranormal is connected to creative people.

 

[dyingsun]

And I forgot to call my Mom.....

 

[Burnt State]

Feminism doesn't have to be radical to be in support of men. Feminism by definition means equality between the genders. I can't think of a better way for people to groove together & be healthy and happy than when they are truly experiencing equality. Simultaneous equality is even better.