Motherhood: What is it? How do we define it?

                                                                                    dictionary.com

According to the dictionary, motherhood is simply the state of being a mother.  Well what is a MOTHER? Who's definition of a mother is correct? What defines a mother?

                                                                                                                                                                                       dictionary.com

I wanted to dig deeper than the shallow dictionary definition of a mother. I wanted to find out what a mother is in the eye's of the world. I asked ten people what their definition of a mother is and here is the results:

It is very obvious that as a society we have some similarities and some differences in what we define motherhood as. The common ground is a mother is someone that loves their child and wants to provide everything they can for that child. As we learned by reading Beloved , some mothers take their motherly responsibility to the extreme. In the case described in Beloved the mother literally does everything she can do to protect her child and in her case it meant killing her child to keep it from living a predestined life of struggle, sin, and evil. I do not agree with killing your child to prevent them from having to go through hardships but it is an example of how a mother should want to do anything to protect their child. A mother is not confined to someone who has physically given birth to a child. A mother is simply the one that takes the responsibility of a child's life. It is someone that provides for that child mentally, spiritually, and physically.

In today's day and time media such as movies and television are staples in our society. Here are two movies that have examples of different types of mother's.

MATILDA

                                                                                                                                       http://weheartit.com/entry/1979923

In this movie Matilda goes through some very hard times with not really fitting into her family. She is not really loved by her parents as much as she ought to be loved. She is later discovered by her teacher Miss. Honey who connects on an entirely new level of love than her or Matilda had ever seen. In the end Miss. Honey ends up adopting Matilda and becoming the mother that she never had. This is an example of someone being a "mother" without actually having a child physically.

ERIN BROCKOVICH

                                                                                                                                                      http://assets.kaboose.com

 Erin Brockovich is an example of a single mother who does anything to help provide for her children. She struggles throughout the movie to be able to do simple things such as feed her children but through her hard work and her perseverance she pulls through and succeeds as being an incredible single mother.

I have defined what motherhood and what a mother is by using the dictionary. I have also gotten ten normal everyday people to give their definition. Last but not least I have shown two out of thousands of movies that show what a mother is. Taking into consideration the definition of a mother through the dictionary, our society, and our media what is the true definition of a mother? To me a mother is one who loves unconditionally; one who is always there no matter what; one who provides in good times and in bad times as well. 

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new."  ~Rajneesh

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."  ~Honoré de Balzac