Roxana Dubon
You are a mother
Holy Men and Big Guns: The Cannon in Social Theory by Joey Sprague, discusses the canonization in social theory. Social theory has been structured to glorify certain social theorists, making them “super”, thus “supra human” compared with the other important people who have contributed to social theory. Sprague explains three critiques of social theory which make it biased. They are the Hierarchy of the Social, Dominant Analytic Categories, and The Social Role of Social Theory.
The Hierarchy of The Social is the critique of selective attention that creates the stratification in society. This identifies the theorists who get included and what gets studied, leaving out the important factor of individual experience. The Dominant Analytic Categories is the critique of logical dichotomies and abstract individuation. Logical dichotomies are the tendencies to describe social phenomena in one way or the other leaving no choice for the in between. Abstract individuation is the decontextualization of the individual from the intrapersonal, historical, or physical context. (Sprague p.92) This is a person thinking of themselves in terms of one social role—either in gender, race, or class, giving no mind to the other social roles they have to play as an individual. The Social Role of Social Theory is the third critique of social theory. It is the idea that social theory has been historically passed down without allowing change to descend.
These three critiques can be applied to women who play the motherhood role. Women have always been believed to be nurturing because they are child bearing. Because they are child bearing, women fall into an identity that does not allow them to move forward as individuals. From the day a woman has a child, every decision she makes will be based on how she made it as a mother and whether it was beneficial for her children or not.
In the hierarchy, motherhood is seen very one dimensional, as the critique of dominant analytic categories suggests that women are being judged based on the idea that they have to be caring, protective, and unselfish. In the stratification of good and bad mothers, women are judged on the decisions they make as mothers. So, how can a mother who decides to stay in an abusive relationship be understood if we don’t see or understand it from her standpoint? We cannot sit there and judge her as if she only has the choice to stay or leave.
As the critique of Dominant Analytic Categories addresses when these women are being judged, that judgment is based on the collective thought, the macro understanding, that bigger picture of society constructed of collective ideas and thoughts rather than a society built on individual experiences. Whether a woman leaves or stays she will be judged. If she leaves her children with the man that has abused her, she is a monster, who is to say he will not abuse them. If she takes the children she is a horrible being for putting the kids in what can become an abduction case against the mother leading to a custody battle that can be traumatizing to the kids. If she stays she is still a “bad” mother for keeping the in an unsafe environment.
In society she will not be viewed or judged on her individual experiences, she will be judged on what people believe is the right thing to do versus the wrong thing to do. Regardless of her situation, people will only believe she had two logical options. These ideas of women in motherhood have caused much controversy, especially when we see women who stay in abusive relationships and consequently the child is killed and/or abused. These women who stay in abusive relationships that have resulted in the death of a child get the longer sentence and the men who actually commit the crime have shorter sentences. Again, this is all rooted in the idea that a woman’s identity is only based on her being “motherly”--caring, protective, and unselfish. These ideas of women are those that have been passed down, oppressing women to play one role. Women in abusive relationships cannot be solely judged on how they play their roles as mothers, they have to be judged as individuals in individual situations and her choices in each situation have to be considered. The women are victims of ideas passed down from one generation of men to another.
You are a mother
Holy Men and Big Guns: The Cannon in Social Theory by Joey Sprague, discusses the canonization in social theory. Social theory has been structured to glorify certain social theorists, making them “super”, thus “supra human” compared with the other important people who have contributed to social theory. Sprague explains three critiques of social theory which make it biased. They are the Hierarchy of the Social, Dominant Analytic Categories, and The Social Role of Social Theory.
The Hierarchy of The Social is the critique of selective attention that creates the stratification in society. This identifies the theorists who get included and what gets studied, leaving out the important factor of individual experience. The Dominant Analytic Categories is the critique of logical dichotomies and abstract individuation. Logical dichotomies are the tendencies to describe social phenomena in one way or the other leaving no choice for the in between. Abstract individuation is the decontextualization of the individual from the intrapersonal, historical, or physical context. (Sprague p.92) This is a person thinking of themselves in terms of one social role—either in gender, race, or class, giving no mind to the other social roles they have to play as an individual. The Social Role of Social Theory is the third critique of social theory. It is the idea that social theory has been historically passed down without allowing change to descend.
These three critiques can be applied to women who play the motherhood role. Women have always been believed to be nurturing because they are child bearing. Because they are child bearing, women fall into an identity that does not allow them to move forward as individuals. From the day a woman has a child, every decision she makes will be based on how she made it as a mother and whether it was beneficial for her children or not.
In the hierarchy, motherhood is seen very one dimensional, as the critique of dominant analytic categories suggests that women are being judged based on the idea that they have to be caring, protective, and unselfish. In the stratification of good and bad mothers, women are judged on the decisions they make as mothers. So, how can a mother who decides to stay in an abusive relationship be understood if we don’t see or understand it from her standpoint? We cannot sit there and judge her as if she only has the choice to stay or leave.
As the critique of Dominant Analytic Categories addresses when these women are being judged, that judgment is based on the collective thought, the macro understanding, that bigger picture of society constructed of collective ideas and thoughts rather than a society built on individual experiences. Whether a woman leaves or stays she will be judged. If she leaves her children with the man that has abused her, she is a monster, who is to say he will not abuse them. If she takes the children she is a horrible being for putting the kids in what can become an abduction case against the mother leading to a custody battle that can be traumatizing to the kids. If she stays she is still a “bad” mother for keeping the in an unsafe environment.
In society she will not be viewed or judged on her individual experiences, she will be judged on what people believe is the right thing to do versus the wrong thing to do. Regardless of her situation, people will only believe she had two logical options. These ideas of women in motherhood have caused much controversy, especially when we see women who stay in abusive relationships and consequently the child is killed and/or abused. These women who stay in abusive relationships that have resulted in the death of a child get the longer sentence and the men who actually commit the crime have shorter sentences. Again, this is all rooted in the idea that a woman’s identity is only based on her being “motherly”--caring, protective, and unselfish. These ideas of women are those that have been passed down, oppressing women to play one role. Women in abusive relationships cannot be solely judged on how they play their roles as mothers, they have to be judged as individuals in individual situations and her choices in each situation have to be considered. The women are victims of ideas passed down from one generation of men to another.