Dawn Novotny

"Bastard Child"



Posted: Tuesday, January 31, 2012

by Dawn Novotny
Dawn Novotny LCSW

Young people of today have little if any of the stigma illegitimacy brought to bear upon the shoulders of children born outside of marriage. It was not until the early seventies that a series of Supreme Court verdicts eradicated the common-law disabilities of bastardy. For the most part, the term "illegitimacy" has been replaced by the phrase "born out of wedlock" or not acknowledged at all.

Even while the laws were changed, there remained embedded within the culture notions that children born out of wedlock were marred, tainted in some way. To be illegitimate was to be shammed and shunned.

The stain of the title "bastard" imprinted a type ofpermeate deformityinto the very soul of such children. I know because I was one of those children, as was Marilyn Monroe. I write about our collective experiences in my book, Ragdoll Redeemed: Growing Up In the Shadow of Marilyn Monroe. “Shameful, embarrassing, defective,” became the standard by which everyone, myself included, measured me. After all didn’t the Bible say, “The bastard shall not enter the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation”(Deuteronomy23:2).

Here are some little known facts about being a bastard child.

1). "Illegitimacy" The term designated unmarried mothers, unmarried fathers, and their unlucky children as deviants

2). As a label, illegitimacy described their collective status as outcasts who were legally and socially inferior to members of legitimate families headed by married couples.

3). Unmarried birth parents and children suffered penalties ranging from confinement in isolated maternity homes and dangerous baby farms to parental rejection and community disapproval.

4). Before the 1960s, unmarried mothers were usually considered undeserving of the public benefits offered to impoverished widows and deserted wives. They were generally denied mothers’ pensions, which virtually all states granted beginning in 1910, and Aid to Dependent Children, a federal program created by the Social Security Act of 1935. (Divorced women and non-white women were also excluded.)

5). Eugenicists were also dismayed by illegitimacy because they considered it a major factor in the reproduction of mental deficiency, disease, and anti-social behavior. "

According to their view, "feeble minded" Children were more likely to be born to unmarried women because illegitimate pregnancies were byproducts of retardation, insanity, epilepsy, or other mental defects. (The Adoption History Project)

Besides Marilyn and me, there was;

Oprah Winfrey (our national treasure)

Sarah Bernhardt (great actress)

Sophia Loren (actress)

Eric Clapton (musician, singer)

Jack Nicholson (actor)

Bobby Darin (singer, politician)

Sir Paul Nurse (Nobel Prize winner in Physiology and Medicine)

Ted Bundy (serial killer)

Charles Manson (American criminal who led Manson Family)

Shaquille O'Neal (Former NBA champion basketball player)

Steven Paul Jobs (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Apple Inc)

Leonardo da Vinci (famous painter, sculptor)

Etc,etc,etc.

Today there are no adverse labels or stigmas placed upon the child born out of wedlock. I can't help but wonder, how, in the span of 40-50 years our culture has grown to accept, even "legitimize" such an event that was once considered so disgraceful that the child would be relegated to hell for the "sin" of his/her parents.

What do you think about children born to unmarried parents from a moral standpoint?
Dawn DeLisa Novotny MSW, LCSW, MTS, CDP, CP, Is a clinician, teacher, author, spiritual director and national workshop leader. She is in private practice in Sequim, WA. Since 1987. She specializes in systems theory focusing both on the “external" (family, cultural, roles) as well as the “internal" family system (internalized roles, parts, archetypes, ego states, internal conflicts, etc.). As a clinical practitioner of psychodrama, sociometry and group therapy, Dawn utilizes a variety of action methods. She conducts workshops in CA. and WA. She holds Masters Degrees in Clinical Social Work, Theology and is State Certified in the field of chemical dependency. She completed a two year post-graduate program in Spiritual Direction sponsored by the Jubilee community for Justice and Peace and the Vancouver school of Theology. She was an adjunct professor at Seattle University and past instructor at Peninsula Community College. She is a nationally certified psycho-dramatist.

http://thefaceswelive.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)
» left by Ron Kelley
 110 days 11 hours ago.
8 fans.
--

Dawn,

You bring up a good reminder of the past. Today the problems seem to be more centered on unmarried mothers and a fatherless home. How times change!

RonK
» left by Dawn Novotny 110 days 5 hours ago.
19 fans.
Boy, have times changed. Thank God.

Take care and be safe out there on the roads Ron.

dawn
» left by Abolghasem Rajabi
 109 days 20 hours ago.
9 fans.
I lost my father in Iran-iraq war when i was 11 month child. I always feel i missed something important in my life.I can't imagine any substitute for complete family so i think government policies must enforce family life.
» left by Philip Martin 109 days 14 hours ago.
6 fans.
It is hard to believe that this concept was in place in my generation, I've forgotten that it was prelevent in my earlier years. The big danger is that perception is so very powerful and majority perception or herd mentality more so. People believe the majority view, without thinking.

I trust that at least you have changed your perceptions about yourself.
» left by Dawn Novotny 109 days 11 hours ago.
19 fans.
Hi Philip,

I like what you said about "herd mentality". It is scary though.

Yes, I feel pretty squared away with my self-perception. Thanks for the inquiry.

Kind Regards, dawn
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