Confession: I decided on the headline Mother Lovers for this month’s letter almost entirely so I’d have an excuse to link to this video.
And a fun fact: Anna Jarvis, the woman who organized the first modern Mother’s Day celebration in America, eventually became so disgusted by its commercialization that she denounced it. In fact, she spent the last decades of her life in the early 1900s lobbying to have it removed from the country’s calendar. (You can read more about the history of Mother’s Day here.)
Not that I’m suggesting that you don’t buy the mothers in your life cards or flowers this year, but you might want to call instead. Or offer to babysit. Or take them out for a wild #MomsNightOut. Or remember that they’re still people, too.
We aim to honor and celebrate the mothers and mother figures in our lives every day, and the official holiday just serves as a good reminder of how important it is that we not take mothers for granted, that we listen to their stories and advocate for what they need to thrive and raise amazing feminist kids. And that we protect all of our choices to become mothers – or not.
This month, we also bring you funny lady Kelsie Huff, a new installment of feminist parenting, an aunt’s rumination on her niece’s birth and, as always, lots more book & arts reviews and features.
In Rebellion,
Karen
Pictured: Me & my mother, my Rebellious role model, at the Women’s March on Chicago in January. Photo by John J. Kim.