Complexities of Motherhood

Mother knows best. Motherhood involves the relationship between a mother, her child, and her family. It begins from the conception of the child through birth, and continues till after the mother’s death. How do we form our ideas of motherhood and how do depictions of motherhood in art transform the universal idea of motherhood?

In Disney’s 2010 animated movie, Tangled, Rapunzel’s mother is depicted as this overbearing figure who keeps strict tabs on Rapunzel and her whereabouts in order to preserve the mother’s own youth and beauty. The motherly figure in this representation is not flattering and is clearly dramaticized for entertainment. This contemporary light-hearted representation of the mother actually has a dark beginning: Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

The Grimm brothers wrote the classic tale of Rapunzel in 1812 and completely abandoned the traditional idea of motherhood. In the original tale, the mother irrationally craves a forbidden fruit, which forces her to give up her daughter to an evil witch. Rapunzel’s mother represents the duality of the Mother archetype: bringing in life into this world but also causing social upheaval as her personal desires overshadow her commitment as a mother. However, this complicated relationship between mother and child is severely contrasted in other global depictions. Let’s travel across the globe to Japan in order to further develop our universal understanding of motherhood.

Japan. Meiji Era Japan. Complete with a rich, unique, and complicated culture, Meiji Era Japan transformed ideals of motherhood through art long governed by deep Buddhist roots and further altered by Western imperial influence. During the Meiji Era, the mother was portrayed as the best care-taker and educator of her children. Her position was highly respected and deemed as honorable. Women were venerated and motherhood was a badge of honor, one to be pridefully displayed.

Ukiyo-e prints serve as a direct connection to the Meiji Era. Ukiyo-e prints are often made from thick wood cuts, embellished with intricate patterns, vibrant colors, and deeply cultural Japanese stories. Now, you may be asking, how does the concept of motherhood tie into Ukiyo-e prints? Fetal growth, an 1889 Ukiyo-e print, in particular depicts 10 different women progressing through different stages of fetal development. We can clearly see how each woman is delicately featured and positioned: each woman looking at one another with a soft gaze, one with high regard. Each woman also holds a flower, adding to the notion of fertility and nature. The combined effect of this guides the viewer to think of the mother as the center of growth and beginnings.

Ukiyo-e prints directly translates to pictures of a floating world, a Buddhist conception of the emphermality of existence. Using the Ukiyo-e print to depict the chronology of fetal development lends to the idea that motherhood is a timeless endeavor. A mother incurs a lifelong obligation to her child and family when she commits to nourishing life in accordance with the Buddhist foundation of Ukiyo-e prints. These Buddhist influences served as a formative structure on which Japanese artists could use to fully illustrate the role of a mother. This is clearly seen in Fetal Growth with one woman used to represent each month of fetal growth in one frame, rather than 10 separate frames. This adds to the everlasting nature of motherhood as described in Buddhist beliefs. The mother’s body is not a separate entity, but rather a continuous entity with her child. 

Fast forward to the late Meiji Era, when Fetal Growth was painted, and when Imperialist influence started to diffuse across the country of Japan and transform the position of “mother” from one on a pedestal to one in a position of subordination. The preservation of the mother figure as one that is highly respected, as depicted in Fetal Development, however, speaks volume to the tendency for Japanese society to resist change and express their traditional beliefs through art form during the period of Imperialism at the end of the Meiji Era. The Japanese ideals of motherhood maintained its unique, non-Westernized, perspective throughout the Meiji era, while there was an overwhelming push for the subordination of women in the household. Preservation seems to be a foundational component of Japanese culture, as we see the preservation of the use of bright pigments to paint the ten women in Fetal Development. There was a heavy emphasis placed on preserving the body of the mother as seen in traditional Japanese culture: one of reverence and respect. 

The mother is an ancient and complex structure. Mother is depicted as this eternal and powerful figure, in both Rapunzel and Meiji Era art, however, in completely polarizing ways. One is overbearing, controlling, and selfish, while the other is gentle, caring, and protective. Mothering is so universal, yet so restricted by cultural norms. How can we reconcile these depictions of motherhood? Ultimately, it might be foolish.