This submissive role of mothers often made them economically and financially vulnerable when the male was no longer present in the household due to divorce, death, etc.: “ The language of the nuclear family continues to influence our discourse, displacing equally valid life models” (Hochman 320). These are important aspects of motherhood, which define the gender bias of patriarchal marital institutions and the resulting burden that often makes it very difficult for women to be “fit” mothers when they have limited employment and/or financial opportunities to raise their children and support the family. family