Creativity and procreativity

This picture, of Georgia O’Keeffe by Alfred Stieglitz, was the first page of my thesis. I love the way the image speaks of creativity and procreativity, of the tension and symbiosis between them.

The news of Kim Clijster’s US Open win – remarkable because she was the first unseeded winner but also, more notably, because she is the first mother to win in almost 30 years – reminded me of my thesis. Of all of the endless debate – perennial or boring? – about motherhood and creativity, motherhood and career, broadly defined. Take the leap with me, please, from tennis court to writer’s desk … it’s not really that far-fetched.

As I did in 1996, I reject utterly the notion that women must choose one or the other branch of the tree – I believe that while motherhood requires certain compromises on the part of the mother/artist, it also enriches the content of the art incalculably. That statement is hardly inflammatory now, but it’s important not to forget that until the mid 20th century it was quite unusual for a woman to be both a mother and an artist.

The history of female artists is filled with women who sacrificed their potential as mothers to succeed as writers: Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Stevie Smith, Marianne Moore are just a few examples. I am more familiar with writers, but this is also true of visual artists, Georgia O’Keeffe being a primary example.

It was my thesis poets (Rich, Kumin, and Sexton) who represented the first generation of women unwilling to accept this binary view of the world. In the poetry these women wrote, and in the art of other of their contemporaries, we see the ongoing negotiation of the border and relationship between creativity and procreativity. For every woman, every mother, every artist this negotiation is unique, of course, but out of its struggle true art is made.

I believe that parenthood, broadly defined, is a source of rich inspiration for artists of either gender. For women who give birth to their children, perhaps, this is even more visceral, given the raw exposure pregnancy and childbirth provides to physical regeneration and reproduction. The tensions between the two roles, while irrefutable, may also provide a vein of deep emotion, conflict, and thought for many artists to tap. The impact of Sexton, Kumin, and, especially, Rich was profound: these women removed the taboo on the territory of motherhood (and, in truth, daughterhood), exposing its complexities and darknesses as poetic material that is not only valid but deeply moving. These poets gave a generation of writers permission to explore the sources of emotional conflict and the complex forest of identity. I for one am grateful.