Feminism vs. Motherhood

It's still Heather, though a slightly darker shade of red. I thought it would be easier on the eyes.
I'm currently re-reading The Da Vinci Hoax (highly recommended!), because the first time wasn't enough. There's a lot of meat there. I'm struck by the idea of the "sacred feminine."
I've already mentioned the Church has one: Virgin Mary. What feminists try to do with Magdalen is turn her into Peter in drag, and the idea of her with Jesus' child is a footnote. Does that seem to denigrate motherhood, or is it me?

But that is what modern feminism seems to want to do to all women, not just Magdalen: turn us into men in a dress. Sure, we can be just as good or bad as men at just about anything. I believe that. We can be just as altruistic, just as selfish, just as smart or stupid. Really. I might not watch much news, but I do watch enough to know that.

Once upon a time, feminism was a good thing. We couldn't vote, own property, keep our children after a divorce (or even widowhood, possibly). We weren't allowed into institutions of higher learning. The list of injustices could go on and on. Now we can, at least here in the U.S.
All of these to get women equal importance. What has been forgotten is that "equal" is not synonymous with "identical." We aren't the same as men. The native American proverb is, "Women hold up half the sky." It's not the same half as men. It's the complementary half.

What can women do that distinguishes them? Have babies. Become mothers. (On a related note, why does "mothering a child" involve an interminable list of activities, while "fathering a child" involves just one?) Our society gives lip service to motherhood, but in reality does not much to support it. Just about any stay-at-home mom will tell you that.

I think feminism found a foothold in that societal denial of women's importance and it's perpetuating itself by cutting off the head of the hydra it's purporting to fight.
So women can't be men and we keep trying and get frustrated. If we could let ourselves just be women, and our society realized our importance, I think the feminists would find their meetings a lot lonelier.