Note: This was written for Death and the Maiden
A mother’s connection to her child is visceral. If she birthed him, she felt the pains of her child’s tiny body struggling to escape hers and if her child came to her through adoption, she chose the child and wondered at the gift she was given. The connection is also deeply emotional as women groggily stumble through the house to answer a child’s midnight cries, feel the ache of his independence, and even when their children are adults answer midnight phone calls with trepidation. It is no wonder that with this deep connection, women are willing to take on tremendous burdens to advocate on behalf of their children. As we saw with the articles and movie this week, women who advocate on behalf of their children are celebrated by those who share their views and often demonized by those who wish they would just stay home.
Argentina’s Dirty War defines the period from 1976 to 1983 when the country’s military dictatorship turned against the country’s citizens and tortured, killed, and disappeared over 30,000 people who spoke out about the government’s activities or pointed out the social inequities within the country. It was against this backdrop that the mothers of the country began protesting to remember their children and to call for justice for those who had been disappeared (Blakemore, 2019). Las Madres were a powerful group who stepped out of the shadows of domestic life to fight for justice for their children. The government struggled with how to contain them without turning people against the Dirty War. The initial tactics included calling them crazy and disparaging their efforts, but when those tactics did not work, the government turned to violence and disappeared one of the leaders of the movement, followed others, and used other intimidation tactics Although these women were demonized and called crazy by the corrupt leaders of the Junta, their courage gave their counterparts strength to protest and stand up against the government (PORTILLO, 1986). .
While Los Madres were protesting against a corrupt government, it has been more typical throughout history for hegemonic governments to use the image of a Patriotic Mother who willingly sacrifices her child for the nation’s safety (Garner & Slattery, 2012, p. 5). During World War I, the United States Government routinely deployed the Patriotic Mother to propagandize for the government by showing them as willing to sacrifice their sons for the love and honor of country (Garner & Slattery, 2012, p. 7). Historically when mothers step out of their role as Patriotic Mother into a role of protesting the war and arguing that the government should stop a war and bring the country’s sons and daughters home, it has been treated as an aberration. One of the most recent examples of this is Cindy Sheehan who lost her son in the Iraqi War and was driven by her grief to become an advocate for ending the war. The vitriol against her brands her a crazy traitor (Franklin & Lyons, 2008). She has also been personally attacked with trolls calling her ugly and fat and one article suggesting that the reason she became an activist was to avoid her dirty house (Stitt, 2010).
What is interesting about the attacks against Sheehan and other mothers who enter the political fray is that they are often not only demonized by the government and the political machine, they are often disregarded by feminists as well. Even though these women are speaking about something that is deeply personal to them, the deaths of their children, some feminists believe that by using their status as mothers they are second class advocates who are reducing themselves as nothing but mothers or accidental advocates (Stitt, 2010, p. 245). I disagree with this portrayal because even if they were driven to activism by the deep grief they felt, they are still CHOOSING to be activists. Los Madres, Cindy Sheehan, and all of the other mothers who advocate for justice for their children, for social reforms to better the lives of children, and other “women’s issues” are actively choosing to step out of their comfort zone to advocate for justice. All of the evidence about maternal activism leads to the conclusion that it is not an easy choice. It could not have been easy for Las Madres to speak out and risk a potentially fatal backlash, it could not have been easy for Sheehan to speak out and meet with such hatred. However, these women courageous persisted because it was important to them.
References
Blakemore, E. (2019, March 7). 30,000 People were Disappeared in Argentina’s Dirty War. These Women Never Stopped Looking. Retrieved from History.com: https://www.history.com/news/mothers-plaza-de-mayo-disappeared-children-dirty-war-argentina
Franklin, C. G., & Lyons, L. E. (2008). From Grief to Grievance: Ethics and Politics in the Testimony of Anti-War Mothers. Life Writing, 237-250.
Garner, A. C., & Slattery, K. L. (2012). Mobilizing Mother: From Good Mother to Patriotic Mother in World War I. Journalism & Communication Monographs, 5-77.
PORTILLO, L. (Director). (1986). Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza De Mayo [Motion Picture].
Stitt, J. F. (2010). A Gold Star for Grieving: Cindy Sheehan, Military Families Speak OUt and Gold Star Families Speak Out. Journal of Motherhood Initiative, 243-257.