Table of Contents

The following articles are available for reading on-line:

Editorial

MAW Report

 Dear Homebase - an expanded edition of letters from our readers

The remaining articles in list form: Myths of Motherhood, Herbs 'n Stuff, MAW Resource Manual, The Park, Grandma's Street, Ah!! Autumn, Healthy Outlook,Awakenings, Self-Discovery, Off the Wall, Greenspace, Musings, Intergalactic Guide, Notes from a Broad, Web Info, A Mom by any Other Name, Will that be Charitable Donations, or?

Editorial

 Maternal Instinct 'a lie' roared the headline above new mama, Madonna's photo in the September 11, 1998 issue of the Ottawa Citizen. Finally, I thought, someone was going to validate my experience in childrearing. I always knew that women (and girls) did not instinctively know how to change diapers and breastfeed. The perpetuation of this myth was just society's way of ensuring someone other than men did these tasks... wasn't it? My bubble quickly burst when I realized the article didn't address my issues. Rather, it dealt with whether or not women have a "biological yearning" to bear children.

 The article discusses the book, Motherhood Optional, A Psychlogical Journey, by psychoanylyst Dr. Phyllis Ziman Tobin. In an effort to help her childless patients feel better, Dr. Tobin says that childbearing is and always has been a choice, no more, no less. Women have been duped into believing that they have an instinctual, biological "need" to have a baby in order to achieve fulfilment. As far as Dr. Tobin is concerned, instinct and biology play no part in what is essentially a societal pressure to have babies. That realized, women who have chosen not to have babies can feel perfectly at ease.

 "By conceptualizing motherhood as a choice, Dr. Tobin empowers women to pursue their lives free of expectations that limit their horizons," says Dr. Dorothy Cantor, a former president of the American Psychological Association." (Citizen, A14) 

On one level, I am inclined to applaud Dr. Tobin. Of course childbearing should be a choice. Of course society should support the choice of women who put off or forgo childbearing altogether - just as it should support women who make the choice not to have children and nurture them at home.

 On another level, I want to scream that she is missing the very thing that makes this choice so profound. There is a lot more going on here than rational choice and societal expectations. I, and many of my closest women friends, have had extraordinary freedom to choose to be mothers - or not. We are educated, independent, and definitely aware of social pressures. And yet, we have wanted, in a visceral way to have children. Biology is involved. To ignore this fact is to trivialize the hugely important personal decision to have children or not.

 The many myths of motherhood are further explored in pieces written by Lisa Zanyk, Lorraine Underell-Mason and Roxanne Higgins. From the tone of these articles it was quickly apparent that this is not a humourous topic but rather one which involves a lot of soul-searching and big questions. This issue of Homebase also welcomes several new writers. Thanks to all who helped. Time to go out into the warm autumn sunshine and get my garden ready for the snow.

 Cheers,

 Lisa Menard

MAW Report

Evelyn Drescher

And now for the question you all have been wondering about, but have been too busy to ask.

What is the purpose of the MAW Report?

Okay, this question is probably not one you have been asking yourself during the past summer months; hopefully you have been at the beach or lake or at the very least in the backyard with your feet in the wading pool. Sometimes, however, it is useful to reflect on why we do things the way we do. In that spirit, I thought I would provide a space for an explanation of the role of the MAW Report and why it is a part of every Homebase.

The MAW Report is the primary vehicle through which the Steering Committee can inform the members of MAW about the regular activities of the organization. The MAW Reports have varied in length over the years depending on the Steering Committee member who undertook the responsibility of writing the report on behalf of the Steering Committee, and on the particular point of organizational development of MAW. In the earlier years, the MAW Reports were broad in scope and included descriptions of local Ottawa workshops and the activities of each MAW Committee. As MAW developed a higher public profile and its membership became clearly national (with more members outside of the Ottawa-Carleton region than in it) an conscious attempt was made to be less locally oriented and to attempt to reflect the organization's activities on national issues and larger organizational efforts such as the virtual e-mail lists we are currently working on. We also began to encourage members from across the country to provide updates on provincial issues that other MAW members might be interested in and are relevant to our concerns as feminist mothers.

 Because MAW has always sought to balance our advocacy work with the grassroots support we offer mothers at home, some reporting of the support activities that we do in Ottawa find their way into the MAW Report. Not only do these activities keep us grounded, but we hope that our members might be inspired themselves to hold a MAW workshop or establish their own local MAW discussion or book group: we have had, on several occasions, women's groups or centres request permission to use the idea of one of our workshop for their own members.

 In the most recent period, it was judged important that members have some feeling for the women on the Steering Committee themselves. In other words, we want to be more than just a collection of names. This is done in two ways. First, there is an effort to "invite" members figuratively to the meetings so that a sense of the atmosphere and process of the meetings can be read in the report. As well, Steering Committee members are encouraged to contribute to Homebase as writers or artists in order that we become more real to our members as women who have children, do housework, volunteer work, and sometimes paid work as well. We live lives of joy and sorrow, laughter and frustration, passionate engagement and little time.

 One of the things that the Steering Committee is committed to in relation to its members is providing ongoing information about the advocacy activities it undertakes on behalf of the members of MAW. The Committee feel strongly that it must hold itself regularly accountable to you on the issues, the parameters of the advocacy and the working strategies we develop. While MAW spokeswomen of necessity respond to government and the media on an ongoing basis, major policy development occurs as much as possible through consultation with the membership. At least part of that consultation process occurs through the MAW Report with the implicit understanding that our members will write us if they are concerned with the issues or activities that are being reported on. We make an assumption that silence on your part is agreement.

 The MAW Report plays another role. It also provides a record of MAW as an organization and the interests and concerns of feminist mothers-at-home in Canada. In looking back over the MAW Reports since the mid 1980's, the Reports show the evolution of the organization from a local Ottawa support group to a national feminist organization taking a lead in "the kitchen table revolution" on unpaid work.

 The MAW Report is for you as a member. It is meant both to keep you informed, but also to engage you in the work we are doing. For the Steering Committee, the MAW Report makes us accountable to you on a regular basis. It keeps us focused on our responsibilities to you. The MAW Report is for also for the herstory of women in Canada... so that our collective voices and efforts in working towards social and economic justice for women as mothers are recorded.

 Is the MAW Report fulfilling its mandate? Let us know.

 And remember: MAW Steering Committee meetings are open to all MAW members. They are held approximately every month and you need only phone the MAW line at (613) 722-7851 or e-mail info@mothersarewomen.com to find out where and when. If you are visiting the area from elsewhere, let us know and maybe we will hold a meeting just for you!

Homebase Magazine 1997 ©

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