{"id":2711,"date":"2021-12-13T16:32:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T21:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/?p=2711"},"modified":"2021-12-13T18:09:36","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T23:09:36","slug":"children-of-my-own-to-be-fed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/bhaskar\/children-of-my-own-to-be-fed\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cChildren of my own to be fed\u201d: A Look at Working Mothers’ Responsibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Published in the February 1971 issue of Up From Under<\/em>, Rhoda Gaye Ascher’s “Friday Night Program” establishes the struggles of a working mother. This poem highlights a mother’s state of exhaustion because of societal expectations.<\/p><\/div>\n

The poets of the Women\u2019s Liberation Movement unify readers through their candid recounts of their shared experiences as both a mother and a worker. In Up From Under<\/em>\u2019s second issue\u2019s editorial statement, published in September 1970, the editors describe the struggles of women, who are mothers and workers. They state \u201cif a woman works outside the home because of economic need she is forced to have two full-time jobs, as she still must fulfill her primary function as housewife and mother\u201d (Albert et al. 2). In the February 1971 issue of Up From Under, the editor featured Rhoda Gaye Ascher\u2019s poem titled \u201cFriday Night Song,\u201d which explores this burden. The speaker details a mother and wife\u2019s labor following her own full day of work. She considers:<\/p>\n

Kitchen on my own to be scrubbed so white
\nChildren of my own to be fed
\nMan of my own waitin\u2019 for me tonight
\nSo much to say. (Ascher 24)<\/p>\n

Ascher emphasizes that many women work full time jobs to support their family; however, unlike their husbands, they do not have the privilege of relaxation when returning home. Instead, women, particularly mothers, are expected to clean and maintain the house while also raising the children. In this piece, Ascher highlights that she must do all her household work \u201con my own…with my weary, weary feet\u201d (Ascher 24). Here, she underlines her exhaustion, which her state of constant service perpetuates. Even though she returns home for the weekend, the only reprieve she receives is from her societally-approved job. Society treated motherhood and housework as women\u2019s obligatory duties. They did not value the dedication required to raise a child and tend to a family\u2019s needs. Yet, feminist poets, like Ascher, strive to overcome society\u2019s failures. In their poetry, they endow recognition of a mother\u2019s hard work. Therefore, readers, many of whom are mothers, feel heard and understood. Up From Under<\/em> unites the readers, invigorating them to upend society\u2019s disregard for mothers\u2019 arduous experiences.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

Albert, Marilyn, et al., editors. Up From Under, vol. 1, no. 2, 1970, pp. 1\u201369.<\/p>\n

Ascher, Rhoda Gaye. \u201cFriday Night Song.\u201d Up From Under , vol. 1, no. 3, 1971, pp. 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The poets of the Women\u2019s Liberation Movement unify readers through their candid recounts of their shared experiences as both a mother and a worker. In Up From Under\u2019s second issue\u2019s editorial statement, published in September 1970, the editors describe the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2642,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bhaskar"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2711"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2795,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2711\/revisions\/2795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/engl113-f18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}