Motherhood: A journey beyond gender!

mother

/ˈmʌðə/

noun

a woman to her child or children.

Verb

1. bring up (a child) with care and affection.

2. give birth to.

Traditionally motherhood is a state of being a mother, a woman who did or did not give birth to you but nurtured you and brought you up. Relatively the definition evolved to a working mother, who constantly juggled and managed a work-life, caring for a child and taking household responsibilities as well. 

A mother can be a biological one, adopted, step-mother, single mother, or grandparent. Roles might change but the essence of motherhood remains the same. But motherhood is not about who one is. Instead, it is about what one does. It is about enduring the good, the bad, and the ugly from their children and always handing out hugs and kisses. It’s about supporting the children throughout the good and bad times in their life. 

We need to start thinking of “mother” as a verb rather than as a noun. We should focus on what it means to mother a child, rather than on the gender of the parent who does the nurturing. We should keep in mind that mothering is not limited to women only. 

Today, there are many men, married, single, gay or straight, who mother their children every day. They as well comfort the children when they get hurt physically or emotionally. They cook their food, clean their room, take them to school, celebrate their big and small achievements. Create a space for them to share, buy their hygiene products. They encourage their children to explore their passions breaking barriers of gender in society just like a woman would.

It’s quite clear both men and women are excellent caregivers of children.

Motherhood is no longer just a gender-specific role, it's rather a behaviour. Anyone who is taking care of a child is a mother. Period. Hence, the correct meaning should be reflected in the gender-neutral terms – ‘parenthood’ and ‘parent’.

But we still have a long way to go, for we are still paving the path for men to take charge of being the primary caregiver to children. Another crucial element is the idea of women to encourage them. A parent is the one who knows your deep dark secrets and without sharing anything can still embarrass you in front of all your friends at any given time.

In current times, parents do not want their children's future limited in any way by their gender. I hope that the current generation of children will want to be both mothers and fathers when they grow up. I cannot imagine a higher honor for a parent than to think that they helped teach their children how to be good "mothers”.