Mother's Day and Consumerism

Mother's Day is tomorrow, and it is quite a worthy holiday. But I can't help but wonder if our country misses the point of such holidays. It seems like all of these "Hallmark holidays," while well-intentioned, ultimately just become excuses for crass commercialism. This is a shame, but it should be expected, given the rampant materialism in a hyper-capitalist society such as ours.

I'm sick of hearing all of the radio ads about having to buy your mother something for Mother's Day. Corporations want us to think that we have to buy people expensive things to show we love them. Now, I do buy presents from time to time. There's nothing wrong with that. But what is troubling is the way we have been programmed to buy things all the time to demonstrate our affection. I heard on the radio that the traffic around malls was terrible today. It's just rather disgusting how many people seem to buy into the propaganda of advertisers.

There are lots of other things you can do to show your mother that you care. Make her a nice card. Make her a craft. Simply spend some time with her and show her that you care. It often seems that we lack creativity, and that we feel the need to buy, buy, buy! What a shame.

On another note, The Nation just had a cover story about Moms, called "The Motherhood Manifesto." Joan Blades, one of the co-founders of Move-On.org, has also founded a new site called Moms Rising. She points out that being a mother is difficult in America today, as moms are discriminated against at the work place. On this Mother's Day, it's time to reflect on how much we value our moms, and to ensure that they get the respect that they deserve.