On paper, it does not have a good press, this Mother's Day, ridiculed by feminists for as long as it has existed, castigated (wrongly) for having been created by Marshal Pétain, regularly accused of being the work of the capitalist system, sellers of household appliances and other florists (who record on the last Sunday of May more than 20% of their annual turnover all the same). In fact, it continues to be widely celebrated by 8 out of 10 French people!
“Despite the preconceptions, this festival is very important for our current society where there is a lack of social ties. Especially at this time, we all need festive, “extraordinary” moments. Especially since we tend to talk mainly about issues around the parent-child bond,
(the child-king, the failure of parental authority, etc., Editor's note), deciphers Christine Castelain-Meunier, sociologist at the CNRS and author of
And if we reinvented the education of boys ?
, Editions Nathan.
The role of the holidays is to move towards something a little transcendent.
Moreover, Mother's Day has its origins in Antiquity.
»With the Greeks, who honored Rhea, mother of Zeus (him, being much less focused on Father's Day for reasons we know).
Then, over the centuries, Christians have also dedicated a Sunday to motherhood.
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Mother's Day was proclaimed at the end of the 19th century in the United States on the initiative of activist Julia Ward Howe, who wanted to invite mothers around the world to unite for the peace. Then, Anna Jarvis will institute the movement of Mother's Day through clubs having the same objective in the years 1910. In France, one dates the first festival of its kind in 1906 in the village of Artas where two mothers of nine children are awarded the prize for high maternal merit. The initiative gained ground after the First World War, while, as part of its natalist policy, the government formalized a mothers day in 1926. Obviously, our contemporaries would have especially remembered the intervention of Marshal Pétain in 1942 addressing to mothers in France on the radio:
“You alone know how to give everyone that taste for work, that sense of discipline, of modesty, of respect which makes healthy men and strong peoples.
You are the inspirers of our Christian civilization. ”
Finally, in 1950, the law of May 24 sets the date for the fourth Sunday in May (unless Pentecost falls on the same day, which postpones the event for a week).
Thirty glorious
In the midst of the post-war boom, the aforementioned festival becomes that of the necklace of noodles made at school and of traders who compete creatively in their advertising praising filial love. Thus, ritually,
Le Figaro
devotes a few columns to it. On May 23, 1961, the page “Chez vous Madame
”
lists the gifts for less than 100 new francs and asks a few readers, including rugby player Pierre Albaladejo, dad of Denis, 3 years old and Françoise, 18 months old, who explains:
“ I think my wife will be very happy to have a picture of her children… with their father. I propose to do it, naturally, to frame. "
On May 24, 1967, a selection at the level of a piggy bank contains an electric crumb collector at 14 francs sold at the Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville and other fleur de lys photo holders in Gien earthenware. On May 22, 1979, the renamed “Feminine” section relays the testimony of Valentine, 10, who buys from Galeries Lafayette
“a Winston refillable gas lighter, the brand my mother smokes”
at 30 francs. On May 22, 1980, change of tone, we no longer speak of schoolchildren's presents, but of "
the son-who-succeeded-in-life
", whose gifts become proportional to his bank account ... And, in this case, at the dawn of this Yuppie decade: the crocodile bag (including a Hermès pouch pictured, at 7,200 francs - we dare not tell you the price of an equivalent model at the saddler nowadays ).
The imperative of the good mother is stronger than ever, due to several factors such as the demographic decline, the lengthening of the life or the obligation of educational excellence.
Christine Castelain-Meunier, sociologist at the CNRS
Also in the newspaper, advertising is keeping up with mothers with advertisements of all kinds, especially in the 1960s, from "
the wall clock in Odo formica
" to
"the crustavette, the bib allowing you to eat" without misfortune. "Shellfish",
and the essential Westinghouse dishwasher which
"will save your mother the daily chore of washing dishes, a very tiring and tedious job".
A domestic gift under the guise of emancipation?
“This is exactly the approach of an event such as the household arts fair in 1965, sponsored by the CNRS, where we explain how a vacuum cleaner or an iron, all this domestic technology, is freeing up women. And will allow them to be more available and dolled up for their husbands when they come home in the evening
, recalls Christine Castelain-Meunier.
Half a century later, the domestic imperative is not the same at all. On the other hand, that of the good mother is stronger than ever, due to several factors such as demographic decline, lengthening of life or the obligation of educational excellence.
“Indeed, among the worst gifts in the eyes of moms, according to a Toluna poll in 2017, we find the iron, the vacuum cleaner and the steam generator.
Conversely, perfume, jewelry and spa voucher are at the top of their choice.
Nothing new under the maternal sky… If it is not the recrudescence of the small present manuals.
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How the pasta necklace marked the creators
While the question "
should we make a gift at school?"
divides parents and teachers, the young generation shows a surprising inventiveness in the age of all-virtual. “
More and more children, girls and boys, are developing creative love stories. If we are no longer so much in the necklace of noodles that refers to the image of the stay-at-home mother and cheap macaroni, we see all kinds of homemade creations, which are freed from the consumer society
, decrypts the researcher.
Even among the very young generations, we can measure the impact of awareness of consumption on the planet. Some people continue to buy a little jewel but it is less systematic and in any case we have come out of this thought that we prove our love by spending money. "