In the journal “Sex Roles,” a study was done regarding “attachment parenting.” Apparently, feminists are more likely to defend “attachment parenting” than people who identify as “non-feminists.” And you know what I have to say about that? Hogwash … I call hogwash on all of this. I do not think that feminists are definitively for “attachment parenting” all across the board, and I’m going to keep using quotes because I find that title for that behavior ridiculous.
Personally, I’m pretty sure this is just a pack mentality situation. Feminists are so used to fighting and protecting women doing what they feel they need to do that they’ve lost sight of some of the actual issues. Attachment parenting will never be okay with me. Seeing a 5-year-old boy with his mouth on his mother’s breast will never be okay to me. Buy organic, people! Or frequent a farmers market if you are so concerned about the nutrition your kids are receiving.
“Attachment parenting” is causing a whole bunch of mental issues that no one seems to want to discuss or own up to. I’m in a baby book under what not to do because my mother rocked me to sleep. She said I was her last baby and she was going to rock me no matter what anyone said. Doctors and friends told her that if she didn’t let me gain independence I would have a hard time leaving her and they were right. I had horrible separation anxiety from my mother and my home. There were several times in my life from ages 6-22 that I couldn’t leave my house because my anxiety was so bad it was the only place I ever felt safe. It took a lot of work to get over that and sometimes I still feel the need to get on a plane and hole up in my mother’s house, and yes, I blame a lot of that on the rocking to sleep and the coddling that my mother defended so vehemently. So what exactly would breast feeding ’til age 7 done to me?
Feminists just want to protect women and that is a noble fight, but sometimes you have to choose your battles. Just because a woman does it, it doesn’t mean it’s right or it’s defendable. Everyone has a right to parent their child the way they see fit and society doesn’t need to be sticking their nose in people’s homes unless the child is in danger, but when you put it on the cover of Time magazine, you make it society’s business and that’s where the feminists come to protect. They’re like the cavalry. But feminists! Please stop and reconsider, or maybe I should just say “consider.” Consider the issue and the repercussions before you jump in and fight the good fight … some fights just aren’t worth having, and frankly, that’s because whatever you’re doing in your personal life may not be suitable for someone else. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander? Well. Not necessarily.
