In
shopping malls, the assistants try to push you into buying "a gift to thank her
for her unselfish love". When you log onto website, a small pop-up invites you
to book a bouquet for her. Commercial warmth and gratitude are the atmosphere
being spread around for this special Sunday in May. {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}The popularity of Mother's Day around the world
suggests that Jarvis got all she wanted. In fact, she got more—enough to make
her horrified. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}They
buy, among other things, 132 million cards. Mother's Day is the No. 1 holiday
for flower purchases. Then there are the various commodities, ranging from
jewelry and clothes to cosmetics and washing powder, that take advantage of the
promotion opportunities. Because of this, Jarvis spent the last 40 years of her
life trying to stop Mother's Day. One protest against the commercialization
Mother's Day even got her arrested—for disturbing the peace,
interestingly. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}As
Ralph Fevre, a reporter at the UK newspaper The Guardian, observe, traditionally
"motherhood is something that we do because we think it's right." But in the
logic of commercialism, people need something in exchange for their time and
energy. A career serves this purpose better. {{U}}
{{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}So they work hard and play hard. Becoming a
mother, however, inevitably handicaps career anticipation.
{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}According to The Guardian, there are
twice as many child-free young women as there were a generation ago. Or, they
put off the responsibility of parenting until later in their lives.
So, Fevre writes that the meaning of celebrating Mother's Day needs to be
updated: "It is to persuade people that parenting is a good idea and to honor
people for their attempt to be good people." A.Commercial
warmth and gratitude are the atmosphere being spread as early as 1905, by Anna
Jarvis, as a way of recognizing the real value of motherhood.
B.But what's more, commercialism changes young people's attitude towards
motherhood. C.Obviously, the best girl will be a phone call or
a visit. D.According to a research by the US card company
Hallmark, 96 percent of American consumers celebrate the holiday.
E.As a result, motherhood has suffered a huge drop in status since the
1950s. F.In addition, women are being encouraged to pursue any
career they desire.