Fabula Perfectionis Hydrangea

Piece of silk pongé 08 painted with the technique of the guta and stone on support of iron and wood. "The myth of perfection". Over the years, a certain ideal of a good mother has become widespread, characterized by self-denial and sacrifice. The mother at the service, first, of the child and, secondly, of the husband. The myth of the perfect and devout mother, married, monogamous, sacrificed for the creatures, happy to do so, who has always put the interests of her sons and daughters first because she was not supposed to have her own. A myth that has been presented as timeless, when in reality its pillars are specific to Western modernity. The patriarchal and capitalist system, based on this ideological construction, has relegated us, as mothers, to the private and invisible sphere of the home, has underestimated our work and has consolidated gender inequalities. Women had no choice but to give birth, as dictated by biology, social duty and religion. An argument, that of biological destiny, which has served to hide the huge amount of reproductive work that we carry out. Patriarchy reduced femininity to motherhood, and woman to the condition of being a mother. Contrary to the myth of perfection, "failure is part of the task of being a mother". However, this possibility has been denied in the idealized and stereotyped visions of motherhood. The myth of the perfect mother, in fact, only serves to blame and stigmatize the women who move away from it. Mothers are considered sources of creation, those that give life, but also scapegoats of the evils of the world when they do not respond to the established canons. They are responsible for the happiness and failures of their children, when neither one thing nor the other is often in their hands, and they depend more on a series of social conditions. Patriarchal motherhood has made many mothers, throughout their lives, feel, as Adrienne Rich wrote in her classic “Women’s Birth”, “crime, powerless responsibility for human lives, trials and convictions, fear of their own power, guilt, guilt, guilt.”. Vivas, Ester. (2022). Mother Disobedient. A feminist look at motherhood. Now Books. Piece of sizes 34 x 140 cm. October 2023. To buy this piece, contact us. Send us an email to hola'morganaseda.cat and we will manage the payment and shipping methods. Picking it up in the workshop is free.