Sunday, May 09, 2010
Sunday Reflection: Mother's Day
Secret: I'm kind of an eavesdropper. I love listening to conversations, particularly between parents and children. Last fall, in early October, I heard the following in a restaurant:
Mom: Are you sure you don't want to be a Princess for Halloween?
Girl (about 7): I want to be Spiderman!
Mom: They have the cutest princess costumes at...
Girl: Spiderman shoots webs!
Mom: But he doesn't have a wand.
Girl: Do you have a wand?
There is a lot in that conversation. One thing (which I love) is that the Mom quite clearly is about 19% 7-year-old girl; she really wants to be a princess. The second thing is deeper.
The mother's love that we appreciate and idealize is a selfless love. It is without a wand; rather it is wrought with hard work and sacrifice. It is, for many, one form of Christian love, of course, in part because of those qualities. And, like other forms of selfless love, it too often goes unrecognized.
Which is why we have today.
Mom: Are you sure you don't want to be a Princess for Halloween?
Girl (about 7): I want to be Spiderman!
Mom: They have the cutest princess costumes at...
Girl: Spiderman shoots webs!
Mom: But he doesn't have a wand.
Girl: Do you have a wand?
There is a lot in that conversation. One thing (which I love) is that the Mom quite clearly is about 19% 7-year-old girl; she really wants to be a princess. The second thing is deeper.
The mother's love that we appreciate and idealize is a selfless love. It is without a wand; rather it is wrought with hard work and sacrifice. It is, for many, one form of Christian love, of course, in part because of those qualities. And, like other forms of selfless love, it too often goes unrecognized.
Which is why we have today.
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Sounds to me like some gender stereotyping going on. I mean, apart from the "-man" suffix, why CAN'T she be Spiderman?
# posted by 
: 10:30 PM
: 10:30 PM 
The mom's insistence that her daughter be a princess and her opposition to Spiderman actually bugged me a little. That's both because (1) Spiderman is objectively cooler than any princess and (2) the stereotyping was so blatant. I was waiting for the obligatory: "but you can be whatever you want in life dear."
With that sad, moms are generally awesome and are to be congratulated on Mother's Day and year round.
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With that sad, moms are generally awesome and are to be congratulated on Mother's Day and year round.
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