Are all women born to be mothers? The GOP plarform in 2012+ Op-Ed from WaPo

[irisblue]

Last edited Mon Jul 25, 2022, 11:11 AM - Edit history (1)

Source-https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/are-all-women-born-to-be-mothers/2012/08/31/b5df2f0e-f2b1-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html

Are all women born to be mothers?
By Jessica ValentiAugust 31, 2012

snip-"But given the GOP’s extreme antiabortion platform, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest, focusing on motherhood as a gateway to women’s hearts and votes seems misguided. After all, no matter how many platitudes are thrown around, this is the party that wants motherhood not to be a choice, but to be enforced."

snip-" In 2006,[during Shrubs' term my addition] the term “pre-pregnant” was coined in a Washington Post story about a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending that all women of childbearing age care for their pre-conception health. The agency said all American women — from the time of their first menstrual period until menopause — should take folic acid supplements, not smoke, not “misuse” alcohol, maintain a healthy weight, refrain from drug use and avoid “high risk sexual behavior.”

The CDC was asking women to behave as if they were already pregnant, even if they had no intention of conceiving in the near — or distant — future. For the first time, a U.S. government institution was explicitly saying what social norms had always hinted at: All women, regardless of whether they have or want children, are moms-in-waiting.


snip..."In fact, most American women spend the majority of their lives trying not to get pregnant. According to the Guttmacher Institute, by the time a woman with two children is in her mid-40s, she will have spent only five years trying to become pregnant, being pregnant or in a postpartum period. So to avoid getting pregnant, she would have had to refrain from sex or use contraception for 25 years. That’s a long part of life and a lot of effort to avoid parenthood."

The article is not paywalled.


The GOP has always always been misogynistic and clear that women are just incubators.

[irisblue]

1. A bit more

"American culture can’t seem to accept the fact that some women don’t want to be mothers. Parenting is simply presented as something everyone — a woman especially — is supposed to do.

This expectation is in line with the antiabortion movement and the Republican ethos around women and motherhood. No matter what women actually want, parenthood is perceived as the best, and only, choice for them."

[DBoon]

2. as with all republican platitudes, this one sounds better in the original German

Women in Nazi Germany were subject to doctrines of Nazism by the Nazi Party (NSDAP), which promoted exclusion of women from the political life of Germany as well as its executive body and executive committees.[1][2] On the other hand, whether through sheer numbers, lack of local organization, or both,[2] many German women did indeed become Nazi party members. In spite of this, the Nazi regime (officially) only permitted and encouraged women to fill the roles of mother and wife; women were excluded from all positions of responsibility, notably in the political and academic spheres.
...
The ideal woman in Nazi Germany did not have a career outside her home. Instead, she took delight in - and was responsible for - being a wife, the education of her children, and keeping her home. Women had a limited right to training of any kind; such training usually revolved around domestic tasks. Over time, Nazi-era German women were restricted from teaching in universities, working as medical professionals, and serving in political positions within the NSDAP.[3] With the exception of Reichsführerin Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, no women were allowed to carry out official functions. However, there were some notable exceptions, either through their proximity to Adolf Hitler, such as Magda Goebbels, or by excelling in particular fields, such as filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl or aviator Hanna Reitsch. Many restrictions were lifted once wartime necessity dictated policy changes later in the regime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Nazi_Germany

[Delmette2.0]

3. Then there is my maternal grandmother.

She had three babies. Gave them all up. My mother was relinquished before she was born. The other two months after they were born. So I guess she tried, but could not handle motherhood.

[Bayard]

4. I've always found it intrusive and insulting

For people to ask newlyweds--when are you going to have kids?

I did not want children. Too many bad family genetics. And my ex was DEFINITELY not daddy material, with an evil temper.

[livetohike]

5. I never wanted children. I just turned 70 last week and

Have been married 47 years. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked why I didn’t have kids. I can count the number my husband has been asked. It’s zero.

[sanatanadharma]

6. My wife was never a mother, a rejected role from youth

She has good reasons. Not all born are gifted with well-graced home lives.

She is asked 'the question'.

I suggest as answer that she (and others), while born into birthing bodies, is (are) karmically advanced beyond the inherent human selfishness manifest in the root-desire to reproduce the self.

Some are born to repeat the familiar and well practiced past; others to reveal the unknown and practice now for the future.

[CousinIT]

7. Hell no.

Society, families and damn religions and medical profession (doctors who don't listen/believe women) need to stop trying to force it on them.

I've been a lifetime witness to this crap. It's inhumane, degrading, and disgusting.