The motherhood ‘maternal instinct’ is a capitalist implant. Not a biological destiny.
You were never given a choice for motherhood. You were drafted. Your body enlisted into a war you didn’t sign up for. Trained from birth to see pregnancy as victory. Your first toy wasn’t a truck, a sword, or a microscope. It was a fucking baby doll. Your first compliment was about how “you’ll make a great mommy one day.” Every time you imagined a life outside that script, they called it selfish. Unnatural. Broken. No maternal instinct.
“Your first baby wasn’t born. It was handed to you in plastic.”
Religion carved the first leash. The Bible made Eve the villain and Mary the virgin-mother saint. The Koran. The Torah. The hymns. The sermons. They glorify the womb as a divine machine. The church didn’t want women. It wanted breeders. Babies fill pews. Fund coffers. Guarantee new generations of believers before they can even speak. This isn’t faith. It’s forced enrollment.
Then came the nation-state. Colonial powers needed settlers. Empires needed soldiers. Governments needed taxpayers. So they pushed a “duty to reproduce” like it was patriotism. Your uterus became public infrastructure. Politicians still stand at podiums urging women to “save the birthrate” like they are managing livestock. Your body is a census project.
Men wrote the job description for motherhood. In their script, mothers are tireless. Forgiving. Endlessly available. And fuckable again within weeks. She’s a saint in daylight. A porn fantasy at night. The Madonna and the MILF are the same leash. You are holy if you are pure. And hot if you are maternal. But you are never free in either role.
Motherhood was industrialized in the 20th century. The nuclear family was a corporate fantasy. Dad at work. Mom at home. Kids as proof of stability. It sold mortgages. Appliances. Life insurance. Sedatives. It kept women dependent and men in control. This was not nature. It was a marketing campaign backed by bank loans and birth certificates.
“They don’t love mothers. They love free labor.”
Capitalism does not just profit off mothers. It eats them alive. From baby registries to “mommy wine culture.” It monetizes every stage of the process. Pregnancy is a content pillar. Labor is a photo op. Breastfeeding is a lifestyle brand. Postpartum depression is another excuse to sell supplements, apps, and therapy you cannot afford. Even your exhaustion is a market.
And the birth itself. They will never show you the truth. They will not show the blood flooding the bed. The smell of iron clinging to your skin. The stitches tearing when you stand. The acid burn of urine over the wound. The black bruises on your breasts from a newborn’s desperate latch. The permanent organ damage no one warns you about. The way your ribs shift when you breathe because the bones have been pried open from the inside. In the United States, the maternal mortality rate is 10 times higher than in other wealthy nations. Black women are three times more likely to die than white women from pregnancy-related causes. They call it the miracle of life. It’s a biological mugging.
They make sure motherhood ruins you just enough to keep you compliant. The U.S. is the only wealthy nation with no guaranteed paid maternity leave. The average cost of childcare is over $10,000 per year per child. In half of states, a single parent working full time at minimum wage earns less than the cost of daycare. No affordable childcare. No real parental leave. No social safety net. They want you broke. Tired. Emotionally chained. Your body is not just labor. It is a containment strategy.
And they punish you either way. Have kids and you are unhireable. Less valuable. A distraction. Mothers earn 75 cents for every dollar a father makes. Do not have kids and you are cold. Immature. Suspicious. Every path is a trap. Womanhood is a rigged game. Motherhood is the “prize” that keeps you in the cage.
“They don’t want babies. They want control of your motherhood.”
Now the trap is closing tighter. Abortion is illegal or severely restricted in over 20 U.S. states. Doctors delay treatment for miscarriages because they fear prosecution. Women have been jailed for self-managing abortions. States are pushing to ban IUDs and emergency contraception. Period tracking apps sell your data to law enforcement and anti-abortion groups. This is not morality. It is surveillance and control. And defiantly not maternal instinct.
The “maternal instinct” is not biology. It is centuries of psychological warfare. Cultural brainwashing. Sexual control dressed up as nature. You were taught to call it love. You were trained to call it purpose. But it is a leash. And every time you swallow the myth without choking, it tightens.
You do not have to cut it gently. You do not have to explain yourself. You do not owe them shit. Not your womb. Not your body. Not your obedience. Not your silence.
Let the system starve.
N. Fontaine