How does the conscious act of feminist mothering transform the institution of motherhood?

1.1 Introduction
According to Tong (2018), on the one hand, motherhood is a source of personal fulfillment, growth, and joy, and on the other, fear, depression, and anxiety. Gouthro and Holloway (2013) also make it clear that early childhood education can lead to personal growth, hard work and financial burden. According to Glen (2018), research, especially feminist, has for many years focused on some of the unrealistic assumptions that relate to gender discourses that shape women’s lives. Green (2018) further stated that “the personal experiences of motherhood and motherhood are widely appreciated in relation to two observable or official discourses: the medical discourse and the natural discourse of childbirth, both of which give special attention to the most positive accounts of birth and motherhood Attention and highlight the stereotypes of the good mother (Glenn, 2018).
The empowerment of motherhood contradicts patriarchal motherhood. Allow women to define motherhood. Single mothers, low-income mothers, colored women, a foreign mother, a mother in the church, any mother who defends herself against white, the middle class, the heteronormative and the standard American family structure, strengthen motherhood. As we have seen, strong motherhood is not necessarily a deliberate feminist act. Moreover, activism does not have to be associated with motherhood with power. However, as O’Reilly (2008) says, empowered mothers are political activists.
Many feminist studies have shown that this relationship between motherhood and nature was constructed in historical, social, legal, political, and philosophical ways (Glenn, 2018, Ahikire, 2014). Feminists have refuted the general assumption that motherhood is feminine for women. They have shown that the association of motherhood with the “nature” of women confuses biological and social motherhood and denies that motherhood is a job. If motherhood is defined as “nature”, social motherhood (ie maternal care and the education of children) appears to be the “natural” responsibility of women and is exercised on the basis of “natural love” (Rodrigues, 1992). Feminists have argued that the blending of biological and social motherhood, the union of the two forms of motherhood with nature and the idealization of mothers’ work in the sense of love and motherhood were often seen as a means of creating, maintaining and legitimizing subordination Distinction between biological and social motherhood. Only this distinction can shed light on how social perceptions of motherhood are structured so that women can be exploited as carriers and caregivers. Social, economic and racial structures, ie patriarchy, capitalism and colonialism (Green, 2018), conceived as interconnected production systems.
Research on the work of feminist motherhood is an important area of research because it further promotes the theorizing of feminist motherhood originally postulated by Rich in 1976 (almost three decades ago), advocating the use of feminist consciousness in an effort to destroy the institution of motherhood. Glenn (2018), who saw the need for feminist consciousness to create a rewarding and disciplined expression of consciousness through motherhood. It is also necessary to examine the meaning and practice of feminist motherhood, given the great need to recognize and learn from the invaluable work that feminist mothers do to challenge the institution of motherhood and to guide the thoughtful work of children in helping them to socially conscious and challenge the status quo. In doing so, we can enrich our understanding of how some identified feminist mothers define, enrich, feminist motherhood and how and why it is a place of resistance to patriarchy and a place of social activism that can potentially transform families and society.

1.2 Research Objectives
• To do a critical literature review of feminism, and feminist mothering
• To determine the effect feminism has had on conscious mothering

1.3 Assumptions
• The researcher had access to relevant information to the study
• Regulations pertaining to access of electronic media did not change during the study period.

1.4 Delimitations
Theoretical scope – The study will be focused on how feminist mothering has transformed mothering
Methodological scope -The study will adopt a pragmatic research design making use of both primary secondary data sources.

1.5 Limitations
• The researcher made use of exploratory design hence results would be different if the same research is done using descriptive research design.
• Time- the time that the researcher had to complete the study was about 4-6 months, thus it was difficult for the researcher to get all the necessary information given a short time.

1.6 Research Methodology
Research methodology marries literature review to the research objectives in any research process. It aims at giving sense to the study and it elaborates on approaches needed to provide answers and solutions to the research questions. Research methodology influences the choice of the approaches and techniques used to answer the research questions. The research methodology section starts by giving an overview of the objectives set out in Chapter 1, which are meant to intertwine the literature. This helps explain the reasons behind the choice of the research approach chosen. This section further explains the research philosophy guiding the research process. The research philosophy essentially reflects on the data collection approaches adopted.
1.6.1 Data Collection Instruments
Questionnaire
Primary data will be collected from respondents using a self-administered questionnaire. This will create anonymity leading to responses that are more valid as well as allowing respondents to fill them at their convenience. The questionnaire will be designed according to the objectives and study variables and the responses to the questions anchored on a five (5) point Likert scale ranging from 5 = strongly agree to 1 = strongly disagree. Prior to the survey administration, the researcher will distribute twenty questionnaires for pre-testing.
A questionnaire is simply a ‘tool’ for collecting and recording information about a specific circumstance of interest. Flick (2015) views a questionnaire as a data-collecting instrument, encompassing checklists, attitude scales, projective techniques, rating scales and so on. The advantages of a questionnaire are:
a) Respondents have adequate time to respond
b) Easy to administer to many people
c) There is guaranteed anonymity

Interview
According to Kumar (2019), personal interview refers to a survey for gathering information using face-to-face interview with subjects. In this study personal interviews are preferred for their rigor as they allow for further inquiry and instant responses. Just like any other research instrument, interviews in qualitative research have their own advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages are that they provide useful information when you cannot directly observe participants, and they permit participants to describe detailed personal information. When compared with questionnaires the interviewer also has better control over the types of information received, since the interviewer has the privilege of eliciting further information.

1.6.2 Data Analysis
After collecting all the necessary data, it will be coded and edited, analysed and rephrased to eliminate errors and to ensure consistency. The analysis process involves categorizing, discussing, classifying and summarizing of the responses to each question in coding frames, basing on the various responses. Data collected from the field with the use of study instruments will be classified into meaningful categories and stored in a computer and analysed using statistical packages for social science (SPSS).

References
Glenn, E.N., 2016. Social constructions of mothering: A thematic overview. In Mothering (pp. 1-29). Routledge.
Green, F.J., 2018. Empowering Mothers and Daughters through Matroreform and Feminist Motherlines. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research & Community Involvement, 9(1).
Swenson, A.R. and Zvonkovic, A.M., 2016. Navigating mothering: A feminist analysis of frequent work travel and independence in families. Sex Roles, 74(11-12), pp.543-557.
Rodriguez, C., 2016. Mothering While Black: Feminist Thought on Maternal Loss, Mourning and Agency in the African Diaspora. Transforming Anthropology, 24(1), pp.61-69.
Tong, R., 2018. Feminist Thought, Student Economy Edition: A More Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge.
Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner’s guide to doing a research project. Sage.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications Limited.

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