tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142743576584523533.post5455217528862555706..comments2023-09-28T19:10:43.760-06:00Comments on The Feminist Agenda: Either/Or or Both/And?Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08203151255248154129noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142743576584523533.post-83639711164848583242009-06-18T13:26:53.341-06:002009-06-18T13:26:53.341-06:00I think we are on the same page, I just came at it...I think we are on the same page, I just came at it from a different direction...Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15951999523806556478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142743576584523533.post-18273710116112219182009-06-18T10:28:41.884-06:002009-06-18T10:28:41.884-06:00Steven,
I can't speak for anyone else, but I&...Steven,<br /><br />I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm actually very critical of Mother's Day. There's a lot of implicit biological determinism in the rhetoric surrounding Mother's Day that I think is harmful to both women and men. It's simply not the case that all women are more nurturing than all men, for example, or that all women are intuitively better at parenting. It's certainly true that we've been socialized in dramatically different ways when it comes to parenting, but the whole there's-nothing-like-a-mother's-love shtick is really irritating to me and a patriarchal way to deny women full equality in other areas due to the social attitudes they will always face.<br /><br />And I'll be the first to point out that dads in our culture are second-class parents. Nothing irritates me more than all the snickering and expectations of disaster whenever Dad is left in charge of things and all the disproportionate praise dads get for correctly doing something simple like changing a diaper and the persistent habit we have of labeling childcare done by fathers as "babysitting." All of this hurts both men and women, even though it's supposed to look like a show of respect and appreciation for the work of mothers. It actually ends up being incredibly restrictive and harmful. So I'm with you on this one, although perhaps for different reasons.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08203151255248154129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142743576584523533.post-25353028098711817992009-06-17T23:01:50.544-06:002009-06-17T23:01:50.544-06:00What about a post about Mother's Day?
Many fe...What about a post about Mother's Day?<br /><br />Many feminist blogs I frequent from time to time are all about mother's day. Often times they wonder why Mother's Day is limited to one day, so forth and so on.<br /><br />But when it comes to fathers day, slow down, its time to evaluate implicit 'this' and 'subtly' that.<br /><br />An even more complete evaluation would look at Mother's Day and Father's day together, and not just comparing and contrasting the two, but putting them in a larger sociological frame work.<br /><br />Looking at one without the other is like ignoring an elephant in the room.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15951999523806556478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142743576584523533.post-9953762900582721372009-06-17T15:43:02.687-06:002009-06-17T15:43:02.687-06:00I often think that the "celebrating fatherhoo...I often think that the "celebrating fatherhood" event at my parents' church every father's day has really strong undercurrents of "you must stay married so your kids won't be damaged by being fatherless no matter what issues you might have with your husband." Maybe it's just me reading into it, but it's always bothered me.Heathernoreply@blogger.com