Why is it the word “motherhood” conjures up milquetoast, flowery, frilly images? It’s bonnets and aprons and saccharine adages. In reality, I find motherhood to be exactly the opposite. Sure, there’s joy and love, but in such terrifying concentrations that you can hardly conceive of them – they are awe-inspiring and fearful in their intensity. There is also fear of all kinds and doses and challenges to the body, mind, and spirit that require Herculean strength to confront.
It’s blood and vomit. It’s milk, yes, but intricate, complex milk gained through persistence and even pain. Motherhood is visceral in every way – it starts deep inside of you and that bursts forth, alien-style, only to forever keep a stranglehold on your heart and mind.
I love it when our fandoms get this. Most recently the Handmaid’s Tale has shown just how incredibly strong June can be as a mom and especially as a mom of two kids, but there are many others. Even Marilla Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables, which can be considered sweet to the point of treacle, is bad ass in her own way. She is not Anne’s biological mother and she is not similar to her in temperament, but she manages to quickly form a deep connection with her that is fertile with growth for them both.
Here are a few of my favorite bad ass moms of fandom. We can get into Goddess Pose for each of them, resolving with a spirit of determination to do the very best we can for our daughters and our sons, bringing out every ounce of power and strength we possess.
Thoughts...?!