baby love: feminism and motherhood

I just picked up (as in haven't started reading other than the first page) "Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence," written by Rebecca Walker. Walker, who also wrote "Black, White and Jewish" and is the daughter of author and feminist Alice Walker, uses a journal form to explore the choice to become a mother. It's looking to be a good book, and I'll let you know how it goes, but it also got me thinking about motherhood and feminism.
It seems as though motherhood and feminism have almost become mutually exclusive terms in our society, which really makes very little sense to me. While motherhood used to almost be a compulsory requirement, it now seems that though we have the choice to become mothers (or not, because the choice is a key element), our society place little value on the choice to have and stay home with (heaven forbid) one's children. While past feminist action has created a sense of equality that did not once exist, it seems as though in the process women have not been given the choice as to what they want to pursue (education, career, family), but rather have been expected to do it all.
Hence, when women choose to pursue the family option and stay home with their children, we (and I purposefully use we because it sometimes seems feminists are those least accepting of this choice) ask why they don't want to pursue a career, or why they're settling to be a 'housewife.' The value of raising children, of choosing to devote one's full attention to the nurturing of the next generation, is given far too little thought in my opinion. I'm inclined to believe that having the choice to be a full-time parent, if it is made out of a woman's (or man's, though the way our culture treats full-time father's is an entirely different story) free will, is a truly feminist choice.
So have we scorned motherhood in our attempt for equality? Have we lost sight of the value in having and raising children? It's a tricky question, but I would venture to say that for all those mothers and fathers who choose to raise their children, we should maybe show a bit more gratitude for the nurturing of the next generation.

have you been burned?

I am a bit curious. Since it seems like feminism and things associated with it get a bad rep., I am curious as to why that is, and more specifically what were those times where you have been burned by feminism? (if of course you want to share). However on the flip side, personally I can't think of a time specifically, and in turn have had really positive interactions with feminism. Are these times where people have felt hurt, or intimidated or frustrated with feminism in turn given the movement a negative tint for them? Is there anything we should be aware of in planning gswa activities to help these things not to happen again? are there issues that we should discuss? At least in my opinion feminism is a really vibrant and life giving thing, yet in the midst of that energy it can have a tendency to burn people and hurt people just as any social movement/construction does. how can we as gswa and as young women be more attentive to this?

on a side note, the book "full frontal feminism" by jessica valenti is worth checking out. she is the founder of feministing.com (the link is on the right) which is a great feminist blog to check out. she addresses many myths of feminism and has a very informal conversational writing style that makes it a fast read and incredibly entertaining. she is definitely not afraid to say what she thinks, which i think we all too often take for granted and never seem to completely do. i own it and in the fall would be glad to lend it out.

aaand we are currently in talks with courtney e. martin who wrote another fab book entitled "perfect girls, starving daughters" (of which i'm 3/4 of the way through) to come and speak on campus in october. i am really excited about this opportunity and think it will be a great way to discuss the important yet taboo topics of body image, eating disorders etc. on campus. courtney and jessica were both at the NWSA (national women's studies assoc.) conference this summer in illinois and i hope are planning to attend next year.

and again, we are welcome to any and all of your ideas related to gswa and how to make it a place for everyone to feel welcome and place of authentic community for goshen college women.