Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Mary Alexander: Domestic Goddess

Mrs A (no relation) writes about the comeback of the homemaker. Well, actually she never left. But she took a pounding for a long time, and it really wasn't fair.

http://againstallheresies.blogspot.com/
Credit: Acclaim Images

"Somewhere along the way I got a clue, married the prince from Cinderella and began to have children. A fair number of them... Just when the feminists thought that they had driven every housewife from the shores of the new land something very strange happened. Home Comforts, Martha Stewart, Desperate Housewives, Crafts, Scrapbooking, and homestyle honest-to-goodness- from scratch cooking... Housekeeping is nearly all the rage..."

This writer has no quarrel with women in the workplace, earning the same as men and all that. But until they find a way for men to get pregnant -- one that doesn't involve unnatural surgical procedures, or is dangerous, or is just plain stupid -- sooner or later it's gonna come down to this.

12 comments:

Denise said...

You can follow the links in these posts as several of us Catholic homemakers show off our aprons and our kitchen sinks.

Unknown said...

Pregnancy only lasts nine months. After that, a man can do everything else connected with children.

David L Alexander said...

Everything? I should have tried nursing Paul when I had the chance.

mrsdarwin said...

I should have tried nursing Paul when I had the chance.

Man, many's the time I wished Darwin could nurse the baby in the middle of night...

Unknown said...

Actually, I've read of a couple who did just that - the mother pumped some of her milk, and the father nursed the baby with a strap-on nozzle on his chest.
Or one could go the formula route as well....

David L Alexander said...

Narwen:

There is that school of thought, largely the product of radical feminism, which maintains that biology is merely incidental to any fundamental difference between men and women. If you have to rig an artificial harness in a vain attempt to make those differences go away, there is obviously some larger issue at work.

In my weaker moments, I worry about people like that. Fortunately, it passes.

CMinor said...

Actually, about 18 years ago, some guy in the DC area marketed an item he called the "baby bonder:" a poly fleece neck-hung pouch with a hole in the bottom into which one inserted a bottle. His design, unfortuntately, was based on flawed understanding of a famous monkey bonding study. He tried to hit us up at a trade fair, but we didn't buy. Pretty much for the reason you cited.

Aside to MrsD: Well, you know, one can always nurse in one's sleep. That just leaves persuading Darwin to get up and bring you the baby.

mrsdarwin said...

CMinor --

Oh, absolutely, the baby can nurse in her sleep. But she's a noisy eater and likes to pinch and grab and pull hair while she's chowing down. Fortunately she sleeps through the night now -- and so do I.

Unknown said...

You say artficial like it's a bad thing. Why ? Isn't artifice one of the great things about being human ?

David L Alexander said...

Truthfully, I believe artifice is one of the great things about being a toaster oven. (Can a woman intervene here? I'm having trouble keeping a straight face.)

mrsdarwin said...

I'm not even going to touch a discussion about "strap-ons".

(For the record, my husband is standing next to me reading over my shoulder, and is most emphatically NOT keeping a straight face.)

Histor said...

About kids and women: how come almost every paid babysitter is female?