8-10 Merrion Square Lower
Dublin
We are very pleased to invite you to our next talk which will be delivered by journalist and author, Mary Kenny. She will speak on the topic, ‘Does feminism hate motherhood?’
The talk will have a particular focus on De Beauvoir, who was the most influential feminist intellectual of the 20th century. Her most famous book “The Second Sex” gradually became the seedbed of all the other major feminist tracts which followed.
Mary will argue that De Beauvoir’s hostility to motherhood is a cornerstone of her work. De Beauvoir claimed that pregnancy made women a “plaything of nature”, and thus robbed women of their entitlement to be as free as men. The talk will interweave the narrative of De Beauvoir’s life with a critique of her ideas especially in relation to maternity.
The place of motherhood in society is still a raging topic. Is it an obstacle to the advancement of women? Should the amount of time mothers spend with their children be minimised? Should fathers do far more? Should children spend far more time in day-care? Should we have children at all given debates about the future of the planet?
Mary Kenny is a veteran journalist, author and playwright, writing in Ireland and Britain. She has been published in over 30 newspapers and magazines, and is the author of several books on the themes of feminism, faith and social history. Mary rose rose to fame in the 1970s when she was a founding member of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement.
If you would like to attend the talk please email: [email protected] or phone 01 6619 204.
Refreshments will be served after the talk.
