“The perfect woman, you see is a working-woman; not an idler; not a fine lady; but one who uses her hands and her head and her heart for the good of others.”
Thomas Hardy
This painting tells the story of our female ancestors. This poor and slight woman is tough. She guards her children cautiously. She works hard all day with them near her side. This is the kind of woman that has held the world together for all of human history. Our female progenitors were anything but weak. They should be honored for their strength, not pitied or seen as a lesser version of our modern “empowered woman”. Millions of women, like the one depicted in this painting, toiled, and loved, and toiled more – so we, their children, can live and flourish. We owe it to them to continue the tradition of hard-working mothers.
-Ally
The Philosophy of Motherhood 
As we face the world today, I’ve been thinking of the word “hearty,” and asking myself if I have what it will take to face true hardship like women of the past.
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The more you look the more you see. Thanks – this painting is a new discovery for me (also a single mother, although my 3 are slightly older)
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