In one of the scenes in the movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting where expectant women are having a session for sharing ideas and experiences, one of the speakers observes that pregnancy is far from what women are promised in the magazines because it makes them lose control of their body and emotions. The natural process, represents the begging of motherhood and parenting, which are two of the three crucial themes addressed in the film, the other being feminism and women empowerment. The film was released in 2012 and was produced by Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, and David Thwaites. It stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, and Rodrigo Santoro. The American romantic comedy movie revolves around the lives of five interconnected families and their experiences of expecting newborns. The challenges of motherhood and parenting amidst the need for self-development among women are presented to illustrate that plans do not necessary unfold as expected. The complexities in life go beyond such plans and expectations and must be embraced regardless of the prevailing circumstances. The movie portrays the integration of motherhood and parenting in relation to roles of both women and women and the contribution towards feminism and women empowerment.
The movie was conceptualized from the book by the same name authored by Heidi Murkoff and released in 1984. Heralded as the American bible of pregnancy, the book is considered to be among the most influential texts in the last twenty-five years. Therefore, one can argue that the movie depicts the dynamics of the 21st century American couples in their motherhood and parenting roles, and the need for balancing of family and career lives. This is notable in the case of both men and women through whom pregnancy and parenting are portrayed as necessary inconveniences. Women face the challenge of dealing with the natural developments beyond their control, while men must also contend with the difficult task of babysitting are they adopt increasingly more parenting roles contrary to mainstream conceptions of parenting. The movie depicts the changing roles of men and women as parents in modern societies as they struggle to balance between family and career life. The attempts to illustrate that success in the modern dynamic society can be realized through integration of family and career roles, a complex and challenging goal for most couples.
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Feminism and Women Empowerment
The movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting is a stereotypical, essentialist characterizations of men and women in the 21st century. The movie highlights the ideological clashes in perception of motherhood from the parental and feminist perspectives. In the movie, it is evident that women struggling with infertility and childlessness tend to adopt kidcentric professions to compensate for this gap. Notable examples of characters from the film who adopt the baby-crazy approach are the baby store Wendy, and Holly, a photographer who specializes in children photos. The two women feel that their failed attempts at conception portray them as lesser women; they will not be complete without the experiences of motherhood. Beatson (2013) argued that differential perceptions of motherhood may stem from exposure to a culture with different expectations of the process. However, the movie depicts experiences of interracial couples, implying that motherhood in this case, is constructed based on the ideals of the culture and society of the characters presented in the film. According to Beatson (2013), mothering practices are neither natural or innate despite depictions as such, which are shaped by western representations of motherhood as normative or appropriate. The concerns expressed by Wendy and Holly in the film have congruence with the theory that mothering practices potentially empowers mothers by liberating them from the regulation and isolation experienced under patriarchal motherhood. However, some factions have taken the concept of women empowerment in relation to motherhood to the extreme.
One can argue that the movie attempts to preserve the institution of motherhood by presenting it as non-prohibitive to women integration into the dynamic 21st century societies. However, contrary perceptions exist, and these are what the film tries to deconstruct. According to Drury (2017), the second-wave feminists inspire the scholarly debate on motherhood, which is contrary to traditional expectations. The faction seeks to abolish the reproductive essentialism of women roles on the precipice that “ women must be freed from the tyranny of their biology by any means available, ” with the intent to inspire rejection of their roles as mother, thus freeing women from the private sphere (Drury, 2017, p. 1). The theory contradicts expectations of women depicted in the film, who draw pride form mothering experiences, despite the challenges that during pregnancy and parenting. For instance, on realizing that they are pregnant, Wendy announces, “We did it! We're gonna have a baby!” The scene, especially the reaction of the couple, depicts the importance attached to motherhood and parenting. However, feminists, in their quest for women empowerment, seek to paint motherhood as prohibitive to this course. O'reilly (2010) observed the need to separate women empowerment from maternal empowerment by developing a politic in respect to the same. Maternal activists are of the consensus that motherhood as conventionally practiced in patriarchal societies is disempowering and to some extent oppressive because the society devalues mother work, the endless tasks of privatized mothering, and the high expectations of idealized motherhood. Therefore, it can be argued that the movie contributes to the theory of motherhood empowerment through depictions of potential for integration of the phenomenon with parenting and empowerment to counter and eliminate the demerits of patriarchal motherhood. It is important to adopt an objective approach towards motherhood empowerment to avoid inspiring complete disregard of the motherhood institutions in pretext of the quest for women empowerment. The movie indeed portrays motherhood as a challenge, but one that is manageable, hence no need for abolishment as advanced by some feminists.
Conclusion
The movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting highlights the integration of the institutions of motherhood, parenting, and the discourse of feminism. The characters in the movie conform to conventions in relation to motherhood that are dominant in the traditional mainstream society. Motherhood and parenting are perceived as transcendental experiences that give one the feeling of wholeness. Therefore, failure to conceive or have a baby, or assume parenting through other means such as adoption depicts one as an incomplete being. The discourse is contrary to the ideologies advanced by some categories of feminists and activists who perceive motherhood from only a subjective and negative position, hence seek to inspire boycott of the institution among women. The movie presents motherhood and parenting as challenging experiences, but those than can be surmounted through cooperation of couples and support of one another. Men have an important role to play in abolishing the patriarchal motherhood concept that is the precipice of perception of the institution as detrimental to the empowerment of mothers and women.
References
Beatson, E. (2013). Engaging Empowered Mothering. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research & Community Involvement , 4 (2).
Drury, S. (2017). Cultural Conceptions of Motherhood and its Relation to Childcare Policy in Canada. Prandium: The Journal of Historical Studies at U of T Mississauga , 5 (1).
Medavoy, M., Arnold, M., & David. (2012). What to Expect When You're Expecting. Lionsgate.
O'reilly, A. (2010). Outlaw (ing) motherhood: A theory and politic of maternal empowerment for the twenty-first century. Hecate , 36 (1/2), 17.
