First of all, to all my single mother friends: Hi!  This post is not meant in way to detract from your experiences or to vilify you in anyway.  This is not intended to be a slight on any one of you in particular or all of you in general.  That said, I’d love your take on this subject, as you obviously see it from a different angle!

While I might use a question in a title rhetorically, in this case I’m not.  This is honestly the question I’ve been mulling over the last few days.  In light of the imminent nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, I’ve heard some talk about how she is the product of a single-parent home, and how that’s a boost to single mothers everywhere.  I remember some of the same type of talk about President Obama as well.

Stories about single mothers are often told in a sympathetic way, and I agree with that.   Being a single mother can’t be easy, and mothering is one of the greatest responsiblities there is. 

However, are we discounting how someone became a single mother?  In some cases, the mother holds no blame (e.g., widowhood), while others the father has sole responsibility (e.g. leaving the mother of his child, or she leaves an abusive situation).   Yet, I imagine, in a large number of cases, the mother herself is the cause, in part or in whole, of her situation.  I don’t believe that this gives us reason to put them down or castigate them–after all, I don’t want someone else flinging my own sins back up into my face–but it is something to consider when pondering this question.

So, what do you think?  Does our culture unduly idolize single mothers?