Mothers and the Middle East

By Jim | May 12th, 2008 | No Comments

I got to thinking yesterday about mothers and the Middle East. Katie Belliel’s story “Instant Mother, Just Add Tea,” a tale from Turkey about maternal affection and too much tea, explains the strength of the bonds that can be formed between mothers and their children, even those they informally “adopt” from faraway countries. For people who have lived some time in Turkey, Belliel’s story rings true and familiar in many ways. Motherhood is a role associated with hospitality, caregiving, nurturance. And maybe “associated with” doesn’t quite cut it descriptively. Mothers can be full-on venerated in Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The flip side of the coin, of course, puts women and mothers in Turkey, and elsewhere, in something of a double-bind: while the domestic sphere continues to be dominated by women, more and more young women throughout the country excel in Turkey’s schools, attend university, and develop the expectation of successful professional careers outside the home. For most of these talented young women–especially in more traditional Anatolian cities and smaller towns–marriage and motherhood remain on the horizon as life aspirations, but in a state of deferral until women finish school, establish careers, and, I suppose, find the right person. When the time is right for them to begin their own families, here’s hoping that some of the aforementioned and celebrated responsibilities traditionally associated with motherhood can be shared by others, so that women can continue to mother children with the love and energy necessary.