Maternalism and Truncated Professionalism — Historical Perspectives on Kindergarten Teachers

Abstract

Women’s care for children is associated with several related but distinct concepts. Mother and motherhood refer to the objective fact of having a child of one’s own. Maternalism and motherliness, by contrast, are subjective, culturally constructed concepts referring to the qualities associated with a mother’s care for her child. Maternalism can be understood as a social and cultural strategy of dealing with motherhood. The concept of maternalism stems primarily from traditional relationships between genders and generations in specific societies and cultures. However, maternalism can also be seen more generally as a particular kind of cultural understanding of motherhood and as a specific way of dealing with mothers and their form of work and competence that is characteristic in Germany (Randall, 2000). Motherliness means having the personal qualities required to be a (good) mother. More generally, this is considered to be a gendered habitus — a gender-specific (female) trait that enables one to feel, think and act in a motherly way. These terms are distinct, but the boundaries around them are not hard and fast, so they overlap each other in a way that has a significant impact on the professionalisation of responsibilities traditionally associated with women, such as child care.