When It Comes to Motherhood, It's a Small World

Toight, skip the DVR or the magazine and after the kids go to bed get online and see the new exhibit, “Mama: Motherhood Around the Globe,” presented by the International Museum of Women. It’s thought-provoking, moving, and is sure to broaden your perspective on what it means to be a mother in today’s world.

The exhibit has several components–there are art galleries of paintings, drawings, photos, and other works; essays on motherhood; and profiles of women working toward improving women’s rights around the world. The exhibit is also divided into themes. The first topic covers reproductive rights and the decision to have a child (or not); future themes include “Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby,” “Mama’s Work,” and “Mama in Many Ways.”

The part of the exhibit I enjoyed the most were the “Meet the Mamas” videos, which consisted of interviews of mothers around the world. The short videos were fascinating to me–not just in their stories, but also in the universality of certain shared concerns by mothers the world over. I could relate to the mother of twins in China who was exhausted from working while she was pregnant, and the Nigerian woman who was struggling with infertility. Others were eye-opening, such as the Afghani mom of four who was forbidden by the Taliban from going to the hospital for the birth of her first child, and spoke movingly of how she worried about her children as they walked off to school because they could inadvertently set off a land mine. I’ve bookmarked the site so I can visit again, to be educated and to be inspired.

 

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