Mother's Day

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Mother's Day
Observed by Many countries
Type Historical
Date Varies regionally
Related to Father's Day, Parents' Day

The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis as a day for each family to honor its mother,[1] and it's now celebrated on various days in many places around the world. It complements Father's Day, the celebration honoring fathers.

This holiday is relatively modern, being created at the start of the 20th century, and should not be confused with the early pagan and christian traditions honouring mothers, or with the 16th century celebration of Mothering Sunday, which is also known as Mother's Day in the UK.

In most countries the Mother's Day celebration is a recent holiday derived from the original US celebration. Exceptions are, for example, the Mothering Sunday holiday in the UK.

Contents

[edit] Historical antecedents

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.[citation needed]

One school of thought[who?] claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece, which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of Greek gods. This festival was held around the Vernal Equinox around Asia Minor and eventually in Rome itself from the Ides of March (15 March) to 18 March.

The ancient Romans also had another holiday, Matronalia, that was dedicated to Juno, though mothers were usually given gifts on this day.

In addition to Mother's Day, International Women's Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on March 8.

[edit] Spelling

In 1912, Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases "second Sunday in May" and "Mother's Day", and created the Mother's Day International Association. [1][2]

"She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world."[1]

This is also the spelling used by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson on the law making official the holiday on the U.S., by the U.S. Congress on bills,[3][4] and by other U.S. presidents on their declarations.[5]

Common usage in English language also dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Mother's Day" is the preferred spelling.

[edit] Dates around the world

Mother's Day is celebrated on different days throughout the world. Examining the trends in Google searches for the term "mother's day" shows two primary results, the smaller one on the fourth Sunday in Lent, from the British tradition of Mothering Sunday (it is also called ladies day and women's day), and the larger one on the second Sunday in May.[6]

The extent of the celebrations varies greatly. In some countries, it is potentially offensive to one's mother not to mark Mother's Day. In others, it is a little-known festival celebrated mainly by immigrants, or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture (compare the celebrations of Diwali in the UK and the United States).

Note: Countries that celebrate International Women's Day are marked with a cross '†'.

Islamic calendar
Occurrence Dates Country

20 Jumada al-thani[n 1]

June 23, 2008

Flag of Iran Iran [7]

Gregorian calendar
Occurrence Dates Country

Second Sunday of February

February 8, 2009
February 14, 2010

Flag of Norway Norway

February 2

Flag of Greece Greece

Shevat 30
(Falls anywhere between January 30 and March 1)

Flag of Israel Israel

March 3

Flag of Georgia (country) Georgia

March 8

Flag of Afghanistan Afghanistan
Flag of AlbaniaAlbania
Flag of Armenia Armenia

Flag of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
Flag of Belarus Belarus
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina

Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Flag of Laos Laos
Flag of the Republic of Macedonia Macedonia

Flag of Moldova Moldova
Flag of Montenegro Montenegro
Flag of Romania Romania

Flag of Russia Russia†*
Flag of Serbia Serbia
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine

Fourth Sunday in Lent

March 22, 2009
March 14, 2010

Flag of Ireland Ireland
Flag of Nigeria Nigeria

Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom

March 21
(vernal Equinox)

Flag of Bahrain Bahrain
Flag of Egypt Egypt
Flag of Iraq Iraq

Flag of Jordan Jordan
Flag of Kuwait Kuwait
Flag of Libya Libya

Flag of Lebanon Lebanon
Flag of Oman Oman
Palestinian flag Palestinian Territories

Flag of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
Flag of Sudan Sudan
Flag of Somalia Somalia
Flag of Syria Syria

Flag of the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates
Flag of Yemen Yemen (All Flag of the Arab League Arab countries in general)

March 25

Flag of Slovenia Slovenia

April 7

Flag of Armenia Armenia

Baisakh Amavasya (Mata Tirtha Aunsi)

Flag of Nepal Nepal

First Sunday of May

May 3, 2009
May 2, 2010

Flag of Hungary Hungary
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania

Flag of Portugal Portugal
Flag of Spain Spain

May 8

Flag of Albania Albania (Parents' Day)
Flag of South Korea South Korea (Parents' Day)

May 10

Flag of El Salvador El Salvador
Flag of Guatemala Guatemala

Flag of Mexico Mexico

Second Sunday of May

May 10, 2009
May 9, 2010

Flag of Anguilla Anguilla
Flag of Aruba Aruba
Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of Austria Austria
Flag of the Bahamas Bahamas
Flag of Bangladesh Bangladesh
Flag of Barbados Barbados
Flag of Belgium Belgium
Flag of Belize Belize
Flag of Bermuda Bermuda
Flag of Bonaire Bonaire
Flag of Brazil Brazil

Flag of Brunei Brunei
Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Flag of Canada Canada
Flag of Chile Chile
Flag of Colombia Colombia
Flag of Croatia Croatia
Flag of Cuba Cuba [8]
Flag of Curaçao Curaçao
Flag of Cyprus Cyprus
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Flag of Denmark Denmark

Flag of Ecuador Ecuador
Flag of Estonia Estonia
Flag of Finland Finland
Flag of Germany Germany
Flag of Ghana Ghana
Flag of Greece Greece
Flag of Grenada Grenada
Flag of Honduras Honduras
Flag of Iceland Iceland
Flag of India India
Flag of Italy Italy
Flag of Jamaica Jamaica
Flag of Japan Japan

Flag of Latvia Latvia*
Flag of Malta Malta
Flag of Malaysia Malaysia
Flag of Burma Myanmar
Flag of the Netherlands The Netherlands
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan
Flag of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea
Flag of Peru Peru [9]
Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China[10]
Flag of the Philippines Philippines

Flag of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico
Flag of the Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)
Flag of Slovakia Slovakia
Flag of South Africa South Africa
Flag of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
Flag of Saint Lucia St. Lucia
Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Flag of Sint Maarten Sint Maarten
Flag of Singapore Singapore
Flag of Suriname Suriname
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland

Flag of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
Flag of Turkey Turkey
Flag of Ukraine Ukraine
Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Uruguay Uruguay
Flag of Venezuela Venezuela
Flag of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe

May 15

Flag of Paraguay Paraguay

May 26

Flag of Poland Poland "Dzień Matki"

May 27

Flag of Bolivia Bolivia

Last Sunday of May

May 31, 2009
May 30, 2010

Flag of Algeria Algeria
Flag of the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic

Flag of France France (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)
Flag of France French Antilles (First Sunday of June if Pentecost occurs on this day)

Flag of Haiti Haiti [11]
Flag of Mauritius Mauritius
Flag of Morocco Morocco

Flag of Sweden Sweden
Flag of Tunisia Tunisia

May 30

Flag of Nicaragua Nicaragua

June 1

Flag of Mongolia Mongolia† (The Mothers and Children's Day.)

Second Sunday of June

June 14, 2009
June 13, 2010

Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg

Last Sunday of June

June 28, 2009
June 27, 2010

Flag of Kenya Kenya

August 12

Flag of Thailand Thailand (the birthday of Queen Sirikit)

August 15 (Assumption Day)

Flag of Antwerp (province) Antwerp (Belgium)
Flag of Costa Rica Costa Rica

Second Monday of October

October 12, 2009
October 11, 2010

Flag of Malawi Malawi

October 14

Flag of Belarus Belarus

Third Sunday of October

October 18, 2009
October 17, 2010

Flag of Argentina Argentina (Día de la Madre)

Last Sunday of November

November 29, 2009
November 28, 2010

Flag of Russia Russia

December 8

Flag of Panama Panama

December 22

Flag of Indonesia Indonesia

[edit] International history and traditions

In most countries, Mother's Day is a recent observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in North America and Europe. Many African countries adopted the idea of one Mother's Day from the British tradition, although there are many festivals and events celebrating mothers within the many diverse cultures on the African continent that long pre-date colonisation.

[edit] Japan

Mother's Day in Japan was initially commemorated during the Shōwa period as the birthday of Empress Kōjun (mother of Emperor Akihito). Nowadays - as in the United States - the holiday is a heavily marketed concept, and people typically give flowers such as carnations and roses as gifts.

[edit] China

In China, Mother's Day is becoming more popular, and carnations are a very popular gift and the most sold type of flower.[12] In 1997 it was set as the day to help poor mothers, specially to remind people of the poor mothers on rural areas such as China's west.[12] In the People's Daily, the Communist Party of China's journal, an article explained that "despite originating in the United States, people in China take the holiday with no hesitance because it goes in line with the country's traditional ethics -- respect to the elderly and filial piety to parents."[12]

In recent years Communist Party of China's member Li Hanqiu began to advocate for the official adoption of Mother's Day in memory of Meng Mu, the mother of Mèng Zǐ, and formed a Non-governmental organization called Chinese Mothers' Festival Promotion Society, with the support of 100 Confuncian scholars and lecturers of ethics.[13][14] They also ask to replace the Western gift of carnations with lilies, which, on ancient times, were planted by Chinese mothers when children left home.[14] It remains an unofficial festival, except in a small number of cities.

[edit] Greece

Mother's Day in Greece corresponds to the Eastern Orthodox feast day of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. Since the Theotokos (The Mother of God) appears prominently in this feast as the one who brought Christ to the Temple at Jerusalem, this feast is associated with mothers.[citation needed]

[edit] Iran

Celebrated on 20 Jumada al-thani, the birthday anniversary of Fatima, Muhammad's daughter. [7] It was changed after the Iranian revolution, the reason having been theorised as trying to undercut feminist movements and promoting role models for the traditional model of family. [15][16] It was previously 25 Azar on Iranian calendar during the Shah era[citation needed]

[edit] United Kingdom and Ireland

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday (March 22 in 2009). It is believed to have originated from the 16th century Christian practice of visiting one's mother's church annually, which meant that most mothers would be reunited with their children on this day. Most historians believe that young apprentices and young women in servitude were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families.[17] As a result of secularisation, it is now principally used to show appreciation to one's mother, although it is still recognised in the historical sense by some churches, with attention paid to Mary the mother of Jesus Christ as well as the traditional concept 'Mother Church'.

Mothering Sunday can fall at the earliest on 1 March (in years when Easter Day falls on 22 March) and at the latest on 4 April (when Easter Day falls on 25 April).

[edit] United States / Canada

A selection of handmade Mother's Day gifts.

North America celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May (May 10 in 2009). In the United States, Mother's Day was inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace.

Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mother's Work Days. She organised women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

Frank E. Hering, President of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, made the first known public plea for "a national day to honor our mothers" in 1904. [18][19]

When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia—one for each mother in the congregation. The first Mother's Day service was celebrated on 10 May 1908, in the same church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day.

Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912, beginning with West Virginia. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. [20][21] On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, [22][20] as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. [20]

Carnations have come to represent Mother's Day, since they were delivered at one of its first celebrations by its founder. [22] This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. [18] The founder, Anna Jarvis, delivered a single white carnation to every person, a symbol of the purity of a mother's love. [23][1][24] She chose the carnation because it was the favourite flower of her mother.[25] In part due to the shortage of white carnations, and in part due to the efforts to expand the sales of more types of flowers in Mother's Day, the florists promoted wearing a red carnation if your mother was living, and a white one if was dead; this was tirelessly promoted until it made its way into the popular observations at churches.[23][18]

In May 2008, the US House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day, [3][4], the first one being unanimous so that all congressmen would be on record showing support for Mother's Day.[citation needed]

[edit] Commercialization

Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as an abuse of the celebration.[1]

Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mother's Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time.[24][1] She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother's Day, and she finally said that she "wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control ...".[24]

Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially-successful U.S. occasions. According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother's Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.

For example, according to IBISWorld, a publisher of business research, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on flowers, $1.53 billion on pampering gifts—like spa treatments—and another $68 million on greeting cards.[26]

Mother's Day will generate about 7.8% of the U.S. jewelry industry's annual revenue in 2008, with custom gifts like Mother's rings.[27]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Since the Islamic Calendar uses the lunar year, which is shorter than the solar year, the day will migrate throught the seasons. Every year it will correspond to a different day in the Gregorian Calendar, so it's listed separatedly.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Louisa Taylor, Canwest News Service (2008-05-11). "Mother's Day creator likely 'spinning in her grave'". Vancouver Sun. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c942370c-cdbb-43b2-af59-71ad4b546854. Retrieved on 2008-07-07. 
  2. ^ Larossa, 1997, page 72(footnote 51)
  3. ^ a b House Vote #274 (May 7, 2008) H. Res. 1113: Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day (Vote On Passage)
  4. ^ a b House Vote #275 (May 7, 2008) Table Motion to Reconsider: H RES 1113 Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother’s Day
  5. ^ Presidential proclamations from The American Presidency Project:
  6. ^ "mothers day (sic)". Google Trends. Google. http://www.google.com/trends?q=mothers+day&ctab=0&date=all&geo=all. Retrieved on 28 May 2006. 
  7. ^ a b "Ahmadinejad highlights women's significant role in society". Presidency of The Islamic Republic of Iran News Service. 2008-06-24. http://www.president.ir/en/print.php?ArtID=10405. Retrieved on 2008-07-19. "(...) the occasion of the Mother's Day marking the birthday anniversary of Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra (SA), the beloved daughter of Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him). The day fell on June 23 [2008]." 
  8. ^ "Principales efemérides. Mes Mayo". Unión de Periodistas de Cuba. http://www.enlace.cu/efemeride/mayo.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-07. 
  9. ^ "Calendario Cívico Escolar". Dirección Regional de Educación de Lima Metropolitana. http://www.drelm.gob.pe/index.php?p=art&menu=49. Retrieved on 2008-06-07. 
  10. ^ Xinhua from China Daily (2006-05-16). "It's Mother's Day". SCUEC online. http://news.scuec.edu.cn/english/viewtext1.php?id=556. 
  11. ^ "Haiti: Main Holidays". discoverhaiti.com. http://www.discoverhaiti.com/history_holidays.htm. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.  * "6310.- Fêtes et Jours Fériés en Haiti" (in french). http://www.haiti-reference.com/histoire/calendrier-fetes.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.  (French)
  12. ^ people.com.cn, sina.com.cn (2008-06-17). "Researchers and Experts Propose a Chinese Mother's Day". All-China Women's Federation. http://www.womenofchina.cn/Issues/OPINION/204586.jsp. 
  13. ^ a b "Do we need our own Mother's Day?". China Daily. 2007-05-16. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ezine/2007-05/16/content_873529.htm. 
  14. ^ Shahin Gerami (1996). Women in Fundamentalism. New York: Garland Publishing. ISBN 0-8153-0663-6. http://www.dhushara.com/book/zulu/islamp/wiff/wif.htm. "To this end, to counteract the Mother's Day of the previous regime, the state first moved it to December 16 [that was the date for that year?], to coincide with Fatemeh's birthday. Then it was expanded to a week with festivities, celebrations, speeches, gifts, prizes, and honors for achieving women."  online version
  15. ^ Ali Akbar Mahdi (2003). "Iranian Women: Between Islamization and Globalization" (DOC). Iran Encountering Globalisation: Problems and Prospects. Ali Mohammadi. London and New York: Routledge/Curzon. ISBN 0415308275. http://www.owu.edu/~aamahdi/globalization-final.doc. "Other role models for women often cited by the officials and ideologues of the IRI are Khadijah, the prophet Mohammad's wife, and Zaynab, daughter of the first Shi'i Imam Ali. In fact, the IRI replaced the universal Mother's Day with Fatima Zahar's birthday." 
  16. ^ "Mothering Sunday". Religion & Ethics (bbc.co.uk). http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-05-28. 
  17. ^ a b c "Annie's "Mother's Day" History Page". http://www.annieshomepage.com/mothershistory.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-26. 
  18. ^ "Fraternal Order of Eagles: The History of Mother's Day". http://www.foe.com/about-us/mothers-day.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  19. ^ a b c Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler (1915), Mother's Day: Its History, Origin, Celebration, Spirit, and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse. New York: Moffat, Yard and Company. Anna Jarvis and Philadelphia, p. 6; Mother's Day bill in Congress, pp. 4-5

    in 1914 Congress passed a law, which Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, "designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day," and authorising and requesting that Wilson issue a proclamation "calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

  20. ^ 71 - Mother's Day Proclamation, Franklin D. Roosevelt, May 3, 1934.
  21. ^ a b Today in History: May 9 Library of Congress
  22. ^ a b Leigh, 1997, pag 274
  23. ^ a b c AP (2008-05-11). "Mother's Day reaches 100th anniversary, The woman who lobbied for this day would berate you for buying a card". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24556903/. Retrieved on 2008-07-07. 
  24. ^ Leigh, 1997, pag 260
  25. ^ Recession or not: Mom comes 1st (phillyBurbs.com) | Local Business
  26. ^ Barnett Helzberg (2003). John Wiley and Sons. ed. What I Learned Before I Sold to Warren Buffet. p. 80. ISBN 0471445398. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vq-UzfJhqYAC&pg=PA80&dq=%22mother%27s+ring%22&lr=&client=opera&hl=es. 

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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