Should Parenting Be This Hard?
We take it for granted in our society that parenting is hard. Really hard. But how did we get to this stage? Was it always this way?
We take it for granted in our society that parenting is hard. Really hard. But how did we get to this stage? Was it always this way?
The following is a talk I presented at the 2016 Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement Conference this past October in Toronto, ON on feminism, patriarchy, and mothering.
Dear Women of Childbearing Age, We regret to inform you that we have decided that you are no longer competent beings with a brain capable of making decisions about your life and how you live it.
I am a lactivist. It's not because I think women should be forced to breastfeed. It's because I think women ought to have choice and support.
Knowing your baby can't be done by reading books or hearing what other people think of how to parent. Knowing your baby means spending time with your baby and believing s/he is an individual. All parents need to do this.
Parents are being arrested for running into the store for 5 minutes and deciding to leave their child in the car. Is this really the society we've become? Instead of looking out for the child, we call 911 and have the parent arrested?