Whaaaaaaat? You may be asking yourself. A “family of four?!” But you’ve written about being one and done. Hell, you even published an essay about it in a book, and for Time Magazine. You liar! You hypocrite! Aw, calm down. … Continue reading
As you may have noticed, the blog took an unexpected hiatus over the summer. No excuses, no real big reasons beyond sunshiny days, splashing around in pools and oceans, and general laziness. I’m okay with it. But Fall is around … Continue reading
I fund abortions. This really shouldn’t come as any surprise. I’ve written about my pro-choice stance before, and I’ve even written about how I’ve bowled alongside my son as we raised money for abortion access (to the shock, awe, and anger … Continue reading
You know it’s a good summer when you can find things to swoon over. For instance…we’re headed on a bit of a vacation for a week, and I’m already swooning. Sand, surf, and even sharks. I can’t wait. I feel … Continue reading
Last summer, my pal Sarah and I started scheming up a way to speak at the Civil Liberty & Public Policy annual conference. Both Sarah (who incidentally happens to be one of the founders of the conference, oh-so-many years ago) and I … Continue reading
That is the newest phrase in our house…this week.
There is an article in this month’s The Atlantic that attempts to make a case against breastfeeding. Before discussing the article, I will be upfront and “out” myself as a lactivist. Perhaps you are already rolling your eyes, certain that I can’t be objective about an article making its case against breastfeeding, when I am such a staunch supporter of breastfeeding and breastfeeding rights. I am not here, however, to take Ms. Rosin’s article apart point by point and explain why I feel “breast is best”. Instead, I want to look at the overall point of her article, without even delving into the actual argument over breast vs. formula because I do not believe that is truly the point of Ms. Rosin’s article in the first place.
Ms. Rosin begins her article by painting a picture of her play group basically shunning her after she declares that she wants to stop breastfeeding her infant son. She then goes on to stereotype and judge the women who she feels have stereotyped and judged her. The rest of the article sees her bitterly grasping at straws, attempting to build a flimsy case against breastfeeding. Despite the title of the article, Ms. Rosin even comments that she will miss breastfeeding and more importantly that, “…so overall, yes, breast is probably best.”
What Ms. Rosin really seems to have a problem with is judgement, and I do not fault her for that one bit. Yet, at the same time, she seems to dole it out in heaps in her article. She plays the “feminist card” and whines that breastfeeding does not make for an equal marriage; That in taking on the burden of breastfeeding, women are then opening up themselves to take on the rest of the domestic agenda. If there is inequality in a marriage, I highly doubt that it stems solely from the choice to breastfeed. That seems too simplistic of an argument that gives little credit to women as well creating an extremely slippery slope as far as defining parental roles. Further playing into her concept of the feminist ideal, she laments that as she has aged she sees less of her female friends in positions of power or success, assuming they somehow disappeared when they had children. Both of these assumptions make me cringe because it pits women against each other. To say that success is only merited by what occurs in the workplace is narrow minded and further fuels the flames of the so-called “Mommy Wars.” Why say that because a woman decided not to go back to work once she had children she disappeared? Why feel sorry for her if that is her choice. On the flip side, it is not right to attack mother’s who do go back to work either. Neither side is right, yet when we lash out and judge the other side, then what is the point anymore?
In my mind, being a feminist gives me the power and the choice to decide what I will do with my life. My choice works for me and my family, and that does not mean it is any better or worse than your choice, it is just different. And to bad mouth one choice in order to push an agenda seems spiteful and bitter to me, especially when that agenda is full of holes and weak arguments.
There is plenty of guilt that weaves its way through parenting and we do not need yet another article to further plant seeds of doubt and guilt into anyone’s mind. I have more to say, but I have a son who needs to nurse 😉
While I love to write and can write about this topic for days, I sometimes wish there was a way to have an ongoing dialogue about it as well. That is what I loved about my Master’s thesis. I was able to interview a wide range of women in their 20s about what was important to them, how they felt about feminism and we could have a discussion. Sometimes it sparked heated debate, other times it caused me to question my own ideals, and at times it was just great fun talking about one of my favorite topics with interesting women. While the blog-o-sphere is a fabulous tool, and allows me to publicly ponder and process ideas, it lacks that immediate give and take you get when surrounded with people as eager as you are to dissect and discuss.
It’s been a long, long while since I’ve last posted. I could use the excuse that I’ve been too busy being a mom and a wife but that would be wrong. I could just use the blanket excuse that life just got too hectic. And, while that is true it is no real excuse either. There is always some time here and there.
I think I just lost steam for a bit. Perhaps it was because I was more tired than usual due to lack of sleep. Maybe it was due to the winter blues or being cooped up inside for a many months while the temperatures dropped. Maybe I just lost my spark for a bit. Whatever it was, the fog is slowly dissipated and my creative juices are flowing back.
I missed them.
I think I got a jump start when my son got accepted into preschool for next year. He’ll be going three days a week for a couple hours a day. Immediately, after first congratulating us, people started asking, “so…what will you do with all that time off?!”
I’m not sure that nine hours a week constitutes a ton of time off, especially when you factor in driving to and from school to drop off and pick up the kid. It’s clearly not enough time to get a “real” job, so…what am I going to do with that time?
I’ve decided to start writing again. Now the trouble is sorting through all of the ideas that I have. One idea kept repeatedly popping up in my mind and I realized it connected to this sadly forgotten about blog.
While I was writing my thesis statement I was in my mid twenties and curious to see how my peers felt about feminism and its place (or lack there of) in their lives. Now, I’m married, a year away from thirty and the mother of a two year old. I am still curious about this topic but my shift has changed in accordance with my own life circumstances. Where is the space/place for feminism in motherhood? I am aware it is different for every mother, and that is what I am curious about. Just as I went and interviewed many young women in their twenties about their relationship (or lack there of) with feminism, I feel the urge to do so with my fellow mamas. I’ve already touched on this topic briefly in a previous blog post, but I would like to delve deeper and really understand the different perspectives surrounding this phenomenon. I’ve dubbed my foray into this subject “MamaFesto” – this idea that motherhood and feminism can exist together – the key is to find out how. I hope those who are interested join me on this journey and share their own experiences along the way.
On a small side note – while I still love the name “The 33rd Flavor” (for this indeed is truly the next step in my own research) I’ve dubbed this section of my blog “MamaFesto” and have added a graphic that expresses that. The graphic was created by the extremely talented Kym Bixler.
While I haven’t really even begun to delve into the whole concept of feminism as it pertains to women in their 20s(I’m getting there, I promise!), I wanted to take a second to write about an issue that concerns all women – feminist or not. In my previous life as a social studies teacher I did my best to impart to my students how precious the gift of democracy is. I urged them all to register to vote when they turned eighteen and that their vote did in fact matter. I wish I could scream from the rooftops to let everyone know that with this election, it is even more important than ever to get out and vote and make sure your voice is heard.
I go back and forth between being deathly afraid and outrageously angry at the so-called vice presidential pick of Sarah Palin. I am afraid that people will see something in her that they feel will be a positive thing and vote her into office. With all the glaring evidence that screams the opposite, I still fear that people will vote against women and for Sarah Palin.
Just to drive home my fear, let me share some articles that shine the light clearly on what I mean:
Sarah Palin’s sex-ed stance
Women paying for own rape kits under Sarah Palin’s term as Mayor of Wasilla.
Fiscally irresponsible
and if you need any more convincing, let other Women Against Sarah Palin show you what I mean.
The fact that a woman in office could essential end rights that other women so valiantly fought for scares me. And, like I mentioned before, angers me as well! I have never been this fired up about an election before. I want to encourage others who may be intrigued by Ms. Palin because she’s a female candidate to do research and see what she is truly all about. How she is not for women in every sense. Please, read the wise words of Eve Ensler, Gloria Steinem and heck, even Margaret Cho on this one…
The Mamafesto 