On May 10, 1913, the House of Representatives called on all federal officials, including the President, to wear white carnations in observance of Mother's Day. Its whiteness is to symbolize the truth, purity and broad-charity of mother love; its fragrance, her memory, and her prayers. The unshed brown petals of a dead carnation may remind us of the dark side of smothering mother love. A later innovation was wearing a white carnation if one's mother was dead, and a red or pink one if she was still alive, the colour evoking the blood pumping through the body.
The ideals that influenced the invention of Mother's Day extend beyond Christianity. The appeal to mothers to heal the wounds inflicted by war reaches back to the ancient world. The confused but pervasive expectation is – perhaps always was – that because mothers are passionately committed to saving their own children, they will indirectly save the world. Of course, there have always been mothers falling short of the ideal: bad, 'unnatural,' even murderous mothers – Euripides offers us Medea, too. But the existence of these anomalies, in legend, literature and life, serves only to strengthen the ideal.
Dismantling the ideal is Jacqueline Rose's purpose in Mothers: An essay on love and cruelty. Motherhood, she argues, 'is the ultimate scapegoat for our personal and political failings, for everything that is wrong with the world.' Her critique begins with a question: 'What are we doing to mothers when we expect them to carry the burden of everything that it is hardest to contemplate about our society and ourselves?' The central contention running through Rose's book is that 'unless we recognise what we are asking mothers to perform in the world – and for the world – we will continue to tear both the world and mothers to pieces.'
On this account, saving the world starts with saving mothers: rescuing them from unreasonable expectations, both practical and emotional. Instead of hanging out the flags one day a year, or wasting money on cards and flowers to demonstrate (or simulate) reverence, it would be more constructive to analyse the proliferating hopes, needs and demands that attach like barnacles to the rock of basic biological fact: until further notice, the future of humanity depends on a radically unfair division of labour. We are all of woman born.
Rose argues that “we should never underestimate the sadism that mothers can provoke”, as they are praised for birthing the next generation of soldiers and workers, yet criticized for straining society’s resources. Searching always calmly and intelligently for reasons behind extreme feelings, Rose draws on a wide range of literary and philosophical sources. She suggests that motherhood disconcerts people because of its “uneasy proximity to death”. Birth and the mother who made it possible are frightening because after birth, sooner or later, comes death. The same thought is dramatized by Thomas Hardy when Tess of the d’Urbervilles notes her birthday, the birthday of her dead baby.
Rose notes that mothers are expected to be as fearless as lionesses in defending their children, and “never mind the brute disregard this implies towards all other children in the world, the children of different class, colour or creed”. Furthermore, a lioness “will instinctively protect her cubs because she has no internal life of her own to grapple with”, she is “all” for her offspring at the cost of herself. What, Rose asks, were we, are we, doing to mothers in burdening them with such undeliverable and contradictory expectations? How can mothers be beacons of both primeval instinct and civility?
原文链接
重点词汇
carnation [kɑː'neɪʃ(ə)n] n. 康乃馨
observance [əb'zɜːv(ə)ns] n.（对法律、习俗的）遵守，奉行；（节日的）纪念
when someone obeys a law or does something because it is part of a religion, custom, or ceremony
shed [ʃed] v. 脱落，掉落
if a plant sheds its leaves or if an animal sheds skin or hair, they fall off as part of a natural process
The trees were starting to shed their leaves.
smothering ['smʌðərɪŋ] adj. 令人窒息的
evoke [ɪ'vəʊk] v. 产生，引起；唤起
to produce a strong feeling or memory in someone
appeal [ə'piːl] n.（尤指慈善机构或警方的）呼吁，吁请，恳求
an urgent request for something important
~ (to sb) (for sth) | ~ to sb to do sth
fall short of 不足； 缺乏； 达不到； 不符合
anomaly [ə'nɒm(ə)lɪ] n. 异常事物；反常现象
something that is noticeable because it is different from what is usual
In those days, a woman professor was still an anomaly.
dismantle [dɪs'mænt(ə)l] v. 拆开，拆卸（机器或结构）
to take a machine or piece of equipment apart so that it is in separate pieces
Chris dismantled the bike in five minutes.
contention [kən'tenʃ(ə)n] n. 竞争，争论；争夺；论点
argument and disagreement between people
The issue of hunting is a source of contention.
on this account 因此；于是
simulate ['sɪmjʊleɪt] v. 模仿，仿真
to make or produce something that is not real but has the appearance or feeling of being real
Interviews can be simulated in the classroom.
proliferating adj. 不断增加的
proliferate [prəu'lifəreit] v. 迅速繁殖（或增殖）；猛增
If things proliferate, they increase in number very quickly.
barnacles ['bɑːnəklz] n. 藤壶（小甲壳动物，附着于水下岩石或船底等）
further notice 另行通知
sadism ['seɪdɪz(ə)m] n. 施虐狂
behaviour in which someone gets pleasure from hurting other people or making them suffer
disconcert [.dɪskən'sɜː(r)t] v. 使不安； 使为难；使慌张； 使窘迫
to make someone feel slightly confused, embarrassed, or worried
proximity [prɒk'sɪmɪtɪ] n. 接近，邻近； 接近度，距离； 亲近
nearness in distance or time
cub [kʌb] n. 幼崽
the baby of a wild animal such as a lion or a bear
creed [kriːd] n. 宗教信条
a set of beliefs or principles
primeval [praɪ'miːv(ə)l] adj. 出于原始天性的
primeval feelings are very strong and seem to come from a part of people’s character that is ancient and animal-like
civility [sɪ'vɪlɪtɪ] n. 礼貌；客气
polite behaviour which most people consider normal
