Indeed, for the majority of the population in the
Caucasus, the family has continued to be the repos-
itory of what was left of tradition and culture. In
the post-Soviet period of socioeconomic and polit-
ical collapse, Caucasian woman have been better
able to adapt to the new realities. In the face
of great unemployment and pervasive poverty,
mothers have the responsibility for children and
family survival.
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Feride ZurikashviliIran, Afghanistan, and South AsiaIn this area, motherhood is at the very center of
female identity, activity, and construction. “Paradise
lies at the foot of the mother,” a ™adìthstates.
Motherhood brought status to females, and accept-
ance from parents-in-law. Newly married women
were expected to have children as soon as possible.
With the birth of her first child, especially if it was
a son, a bride began her ascent from the lower end
of family position. Her position generally contin-
ued to improve with the birth and growing up of
more children. Motherhood could bring many
rewards and resources. Girls desired motherhood
as a mark of becoming an adult woman, and for the
iran, afghanistan, and south asia 513ability it gave them to enter into respected social
relations. Despite this, motherhood and attitudes to-
ward it were also fraught with danger and difficulty.
Until recent decades, motherhood began early.
Parents and relatives arranged marriages for girls at
relatively early ages. Even after governments raised
the legal age of marriage for females, families found
ways of ignoring age requirements. Having chil-
dren was the main goal of marriage. Becoming a
mother outside marriage constituted perhaps the
greatest disaster which could befall a female and
her family. In some places, an unmarried mother
could face severe punishment or even death.
A woman’s in-laws, her own parents, and the
community expected her to produce a child as soon
as possible after nine months of marriage. The
mother-in-law watched carefully for signs of preg-
nancy. For the bride, these early months of mar-
riage might be all the more stressful as she knew her
continued position in the household rested on her
ability to produce children. If she failed to become
pregnant, suffered miscarriages, lost young chil-
dren, or failed to produce males, she might well be
divorced and sent home, or her husband might
marry an additional wife. Few husbands tolerated
remaining childless.
Because of early marriages, girls often bore chil-
dren at early ages, which had serious medical con-
sequences, including a relatively high maternal
death rate, relatively low birth weight, and high
infant mortality. After gestation and childbirth,
nursing and caring for an infant also took a heavy
toll on immature bodies. Becoming a mother,
though necessary to join the community of adult
women, also brought a lifetime of hard work car-
ing for the household and children.
Until recent decades, women did not have access
to birth control. In any case, husbands generally
wanted large families. High child mortality rates
also caused women to have many children in order
to ensure that a good number would survive. Al-
though hard on the body and health, and requiring
a great deal of work, women’s status generally rose
as they had more children.
Brides and families valued male children far more
than females, and for their own status and benefit,
women hoped for boys. Young women were prone
to feel terribly disappointed, and shamed, upon
bearing a daughter. Although male children held
authority over their mothers from an easrly age and
might disobey and harass them, sons could also be
a main source of defense and support for a mother.
Because they often had little else as a means to gain
power and influence, women catered to their sons.