THE UNMARRIED MOTHER

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13180, 8 October 1914, Page 6

THE UNMARRIED MOTHER

In-an on"<;tho !fTJjinmj-rigd "'• Mother" in'tho lilifgiinli Roviqw, I ' "Mrs . Walter Gallicliah notes that u-chungo isfining over tfio social conscicnco in many countries.' She. refers to ian nml'Now Zealand legislation regarding tho unmarried,, liiotherr arcing morally a'riil; economically in- (^vanco of European.laws! -In pointing out the importance to the community of curing for Illegitimate children, alio Baysirr~{/'One! of.the. most, praaiifg;QUCHtioiia. - that we shall havc-.to f/K'O ill tllQ;pi'oßcut stage of social awakcnhig is tiio relationship of tho State to the uniiiarricd mother and her child. It really, is impossible to evade it much longor. There is obviously something ridiculous/ at a time when tlie fateful' importance of motherhood > coming to bo more and more recognised, to continuo our. hypocrisies, anil rcinuin in tho stiong* hold of our sexual prejudices. We'cannot raise panegyrics ; t0,., motherhood, prating of this being 'tho century.of . tho while at the same time wo nmkc of uuwedded liiiitcrnity ut branded disgrace.' 1 *. . .• ■ .. She holds decided. -viQwa ao. to the supposed origin- of tho unwritten laws that make tho unmarried mother a social outcast, "Our attitude to tlie unmarried.mother is very plainly founded on the patriarchal idea of women as tho property of man, The question how such a viow came to bo embodied in our laws may be answered very-briefly., To the line logacy left us/by the Roman law was added a new iniluonco with the growth of ascetic idealj 1' or centuries the forces liavo been at work iji this new outlook, on moral values. Christianity considered tho aoxual lifo as impure; true purity was attained only in celibacy, In. the twelfth century we lind the capture of marriage by the church, and the. establishment of canon law, whereby, the idea of t' l P teinptations of the sexual life became incx- ■, trieably mingled as a saeram'ent. But .what the church gave .to women with ouo hand it'took back With the other. The ancient world looked on sexual love as a joy and, a duty. The . Pauline Christianity allowed lovo as a necessity, but only within tho inarriage bonds, and as a relief from, temptations,,. ' -Aud when these, even love and parentage, BBuetiliod by the church in marriage, came to be looked on as a lower state, it inevitably followed that whoii wo-' man, outside of marriage, became a mother, she was damned without ,pity. She had tempted man to uneimstity; she was looked upon, to use the strong 1 expression- of an Apostolic, father,, as the'gate of:the,devil.. . . This puritan doctrine left the heaviest burden of payment upon women.. Here we find the explanation of , the pillory and the whipping-post, and of all the penalties devised by men's conscicnco for women's digression,from tho path of virtue. Certainly- ; our bastard laws reflect this viow. And. I do not think that men will very readily free themselves from, the hateful ascetic .ideal of woman as sin."