Mother’s Day is a celebration of motherhood and everything that this entails! So Mother’s Day 2019 is no difference!
So why don’t we find out some things about this celebration!
- Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family
- As well as motherhood, maternal bonds
- And the influence of mothers in society
- It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May
- It complements similar celebrations honoring family members
- Such as Father’s Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents Day
- The modern Mother’s day began in the United States
- At the initiative of Ann Reeves Jarvis in the early 20th century
- This is not (directly) related to the many traditional celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands of years
- Such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration
- However, in some countries, Mother’s Day is still synonymous with these older traditions
- The U.S.- derived modern version of Mother’s Day has been criticized for having become too commercialized
- Founder Jarvis herself regretted this commercialism and expressed views on how that was never her intention
- The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908
- When Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia
- St Andrew’s Methodist Church now holds the International Mother’s Day Shrine
- Her campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905
- The year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died
- Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War
- And created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues
- Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started
- And to set aside a day to honor all mothers
- Because she believed a mother is “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”
- In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday
- Joking that they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law’s Day”
- However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday
- With some of them officially recognizing Mother’s Day as a local holiday
- The first being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state, in 1910
- In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May
- As a national holiday to honor mothers
- Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother’s Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday
- By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother’s Day cards
- Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother’s Day
- And that the emphasis of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit
- As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother’s Day
- And threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved
- Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude
- Instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards
- Jarvis protested at a candy makers’ convention in Philadelphia in 1923
- And at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925
- By this time, carnations had become associated with Mother’s Day
- And the selling of carnations by the American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis
- In 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase “Second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder”
- And created the Mother’s Day International Association
- While the United States holiday was adopted by some other countries, existing celebrations, held on different dates
- Honouring motherhood have become described as “Mother’s Day”
- Such as Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom or, in Greece
- Both the secular and religious Mother Day are present in Greece
- Mothering Sunday is often referred to as “Mother’s Day” even though it is an unrelated celebration
- In some countries, the date adopted is one significant to the majority religion
- Such as Virgin Mary Day in Catholic countries
- Other countries selected a date with historical significance
- For example, Bolivia’s Mother’s Day is the date of a battle in which women participated
- Some ex-socialist countries, such as Russia, celebrated International Women’s Day instead of Mother’s Day
- Or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine
- Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mother’s Day
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