Memories and maternity in the landscape for a good womanThe relevance and subsequent interpretation of memories in relation to one's desire as a mother". . . the refusal to reproduce is a I refuse to perpetuate what one is, that is, the way one understands oneself to be in the social world." --page 84In reading Landscape for a Good Woman by Carolyn Kay Steedman, two themes became central: memories and motherhood. As the book continues, Steedman repeatedly emphasizes that childhood memories are used by individuals for various purposes; rather than objective memories dominated by facts, he proposes that they are more subjective in nature, capable of altering with time or according to circumstances. Therefore, facts have very little relevance, taking a backseat to the story we create for ourselves. "...childhood is a kind of history, the continually reworked and reused personal history that is at the center of every present" -- pag. 128Although he has examined sociological, political, economic, and psychoanalytic issues, one aspect that Steedman fails to address is the biological, as in the so-called "biological clock." Frankly, his argument could benefit from this phenomenon. Although women in their teens and early twenties often express an emphatic lack of desire for children, citing details from their personal history to support these decisions, years later the same memories are given the opportunity to fade, regress, or even disappear at all. Therefore, in light of this altered history, the individual in question feels more comfortable in reevaluating his choices (in light of these memories) and in considering motherhood a valid alternative. the story we tell about our lives is reshaped around them. But the point is not there, in the past, in the lost time in which they happened; the only point is in the interpretation." --p. 5Another point that Steedman touches only lightly is his sister's interpretation of the past. Personally, I find it fascinating to discuss childhood events with the siblings who participated to the same events. The meaning of seemingly unrelated experiences that occurred after the occasion in question, along with personal feelings, often cause siblings' recollections of the same events to differ It's easy to understand how children, raised by the same parents, given the same opportunities and sharing the same historical events, can end up with radically different memories...