the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

has a natural aptitude for motherhood, and thrs assumption
has resulted in the Mammy stereotype
1.3.3. Whlle polytheistic literature provldes evldence of
10
the ~nclus~on of women as well as men In almost every aspect
of temple llfe and popular cult as lnltlants, celebrants and
prlests, parts of the Blble represent men In a speclal and
closer relation to God than women
Many Brblical passages
express amblvalence towards women, and fear of thelr
sexuality and normal bodily functions
In comparison to
men, women are shown as less capable of moral 2udgement and
more tied to the materlal than the moral or splrrtual
aspects of exlstence
reflected ln then roles as mothers too
Thls amblvalence towards women 1s
The vlrtue of
women as wlves 2s deflned In terms of thelr roles as
economlc producers rather than mothers
Even when a woman
physically glves birth to Jesus, and thereby enables his
redemptive mlssion, she 1s shown as of relatively slight
account In that mission In early cult
It was only
centurles later that the central role of the Vlrgln blrth
was attested In both =he Western and Eastern churches
Gradually thls recognltlon of V~rg~n Mary attalned dlvrne
magnitude, and Mother Mary became the model of fem~nlne
Christian vlrtues
1.4.0. For centurles. the sugary cult of motherhood has
been ldealised by writers and thlnkers
Rousseau, for