Mothers are often associated with conservatism. They may be linked to overly sentimental cultural values or portrayed as victims of patriarchal abuse.
The 19th-century middle-class mom was portrayed as “the angel in the home” while in the boom years following the Second World War, she was described as a dedicated homemaker living in a suburban castle.
Second-wave feminists criticized the delegating of women to the childrearing role in the 1970s. Some women were left with the impression that being a mother was an old-fashioned or even politically regressive decision.
In fact, there’s a long history of radical motherhood in Australia. As often as they kept the house fires burning, mothers have been on the street fighting for change. The tradition continues today, as was seen when thousands of mothers joined the March4Justice in protest against gendered abuse.
The mothers of feminism, the first wave in Australia, were strong advocates of social change.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, feminists like Louisa Lawson or Rose Scott led a “woman movement.” The feminists used their motherhood as a basis for demanding that married women be granted rights to property, custody, inheritance, and voting.
In 1894, the effectiveness of these mothers activists was proved when South Australia became the first electorate to grant women the right to vote in the world.
In 1912, the Commonwealth government passed the Maternity allowance. It was radical to use government funds to support mothers as citizens and undermine the authority of their spouses.
In the 1960s and 1970s, while women’s liberation movement activists such as Merle Thornton, Marcia Langton, and Zelda D’Aprano were demanding equal rights for women, middle-class mothers around Australia were quietly rebelling against the medicalization of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.
Nursing Mothers Association of Australia, later the Australian Breastfeeding Association, adopted guerrilla tactics to spread through suburban kitchens across the country. The NMAA, led by women such as Mary Paton, formed volunteer-based local groups where veteran mothers would offer cake, support, and advice to new mums. The NMAA almost single-handedly reversed the declining breastfeeding rates.
The so-called Natural Childbirth Movement also sought to combat the medicalization of birth. Reformers, such as the Childbirth Education Association (CBA), fought for women to have more choices and information about childbirth. The reformers also tried to make childbirth less scary by creating welcoming birthing rooms and allowing people to be present during labor. All of these changes are now taken for granted.
The legacy of these women continues to this day through groups such as Birth for Humankind, which offers childbirth support for disadvantaged women, and Birthing on Country for Aboriginal women.
In the 21st century, maternal protests are still going on. Mothers, grandmothers, fathers, and grandparents are all prominent in the growing ranks of environmentalist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Australian Parents for Climate Action. These women, like the maternal activists before them, have based their political claims on their relationships with their children.
Knitting Nannas Against Gas began in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales and has spread to other parts of the world. The “Nannafesto” explains how they are based on their grandmothers’ position and want to “save land, air, and water for their children.”
Mothers have a rich history of political activism not only in Australia but all over the world. Of course, the care that mothers provide for their children is paramount. To assume that mothers will be apathetic, passive, or uninterested beyond their homes is to underestimate their potential.
Not only are mothers politically active, but their causes are diverse, from economic and political rights to childbearing and reproductive reforms to environmental concerns.
As philosopher Sara Ruddick argues, it is time to view mothers as being naturally political and future-oriented.
They are concerned about the future and present worlds of their children.