Betty Rollin Motherhood

The Dirty Deeds of Motherhood
No woman is required to build the world by destroying herself. ~Rabbi Sofer The famous reporter and feminist Betty Rollin wrote an Essay for Look magazine called “Motherhood Who Needs It?” it reflects on how motherhood is just a myth, and women don’t need to have children it’s a choice. Throughout the essay Rollin explains how a woman needing to have babies is something that is a psychological choice not biological. The author gives data from university studies explaining that women have the decision if they want to have children, and that if they choose not too then that’s fine as well. “What an expert cast of hundreds is telling us is, simply, that biological possibility and desire are not the same as biological
need”, (146). Rollin goes to give personal accounts on how women have been pressured to conceive and with that, came hardship that caused women to drift into a depressed state of mind.
The author explains that women need to take care of themselves before they venture off into a world that demands women become mothers. Ultimately Rollin gives alternatives to the situation saying that instead of having more children why not worry about the ones at hand, these statements I must say is nothing but the truth, to disagree with Rollin would be saying that one “has” to jump off the cliff with the rest of the gang. Rollin gives strong arguments throughout her essay, first by saying women are not putting in more “me” time, next she uses societies real view on motherhood, and finally she shows new ways to help the problem at hand. Now even though her essay is valid that does not mean some ideas are not put into
question. Rollin states that women are held back in their lives when having children, and this is true. For many years we have had the idea that we as women need to have children or we are not complete as humans. The author dishes out hard cold facts that we can still be true women by not having babies. In fact by not putting all of the attention on another and instead putting it on our self can help one find who they really are. If women were to focus more on themselves they could accomplish a variety of challenges, as it is shown within the essay, “interestingly, the woman who has been the greatest contributor to child therapy and who has probably given more to children than anyone alive is Dr. Anna Freud”, ( Rollin 146). By focusing more on oneself a woman can do so much more. All throughout the essay we see that this is more than just some biological demand, but in fact a manipulation tactic.
To understand this we must take a look at what society has been demanding from women since the beginning of time. Early in the years women actually had to reproduce to get the population flowing, so given the proper parts, and certain maneuvers women couldn’t help but have children, it’s just the way things were. Soon Rollin began to explore how feminist found the true answer to women and their purpose in life, and that wasn’t for making babies. Evolution and technology has opened our eyes and showed us that even though we can have babies doesn’t mean we should, “unfortunately, the population curbers are tripped up by the romantic stubborn ideological hurdle”, (148). What Rollin means is that even with proper data and tools women are still popping out babies left and right. So what does this mean for the rest of the overpopulated world? More
orphans. If we as women “need” to be mothers, then many women should find alternatives. Women across the globe have children, but most of the time the children are left to fend for themselves, “and who suffers most? The kids who have been so mindlessly brought into the world, that’s who”, (Rollin 147). Woman are gifted with a world full of beautiful children, why pass up the opportunity to love, and care for one, and no it may not be your blood, but you can form something trying to do the right thing for someone. Society’s female class are gifted in so many ways why not share it with the world. Now the last testament to motherhood, is it a bad thing? Of course not, a woman who chooses to bring life into this world and try to create something magnificent out of he/she, because they want too, then that’s fine, but one should not feel that it is there obligation. Finally, motherhood is something that has confused and questioned society, from cuffing chains to woman’s rights , controlling the thoughts of a woman’s mind, to making adjustments to a written in stone idea. We all have our ideas on how we want to live our lives, but Rollin told the tale of what this myth is, but like all myths it’s a lesson to be learned.