American Mothers

It is true that women have represented America for many years. "Liberty" and "Freedom" and Pocahontas are some examples. Still, I have to wonder if the type of women that represented America still exist today. Obviously there are many different types of people and there are surely women that fit the traditional characteristics, but I think that motherhood and what that entails has changed dramatically in the United States. Rayna Green mentions in the Pocahontas Perplex that "the Indian woman began her symbolic, many-faceted life as a Mother figure - exotic, powerful, dangerous, and beautiful - and as a representative of American liberty and European classical virtue translated into New World terms" (pg. 19). These are admirable characteristics, but, in my opinion, fail to accurately describe American mothers. In general, there are two types of moms - the loving stay-at-home housewife, and the busy professional. Housewives tend to be nurturing and caring, not powerful and dangerous. Perhaps businesswomen are powerful, but only in a professional sense. I think that the women that once represented America are no longer accurate symbols.