Does this make me the anti-feminist? Some say it does. Some say I'm not living up to my potential Are women like me setting our generation back? Should I stick a bottle in their mouth, throw them in a daycare, and run wildly back into the workforce? Or better yet, should I have remained celibate to focus on my career? I think not.
It's empowering for me to be able to do what I do. Kind of an ego trip, actually. I could look at each of my babies up until around 6 months and say, "I made that." Sure, I had the help of a sperm cell from my husband, but other than that, it's all me. Every fat roll on them up until then came from my body.
As I have said before, I work from home and I home school. I don't depend on daycare or the public school system. My children are my responsibility. I didn't have them so that I could throw them at a stranger and run right back to work as if nothing happened. I'm here to protect them, to teach them, and to comfort them when they need it. I may have to split my attention between running a business, cooking a meal, nursing an infant, and teaching the older children how to read a clock, but at least it's my attention.
I see nothing wrong with how I'm feeding into gender roles. Sure, I cook and clean, but then again, so does my husband. I could leave the kids with him so that he could to the cooking, cleaning, and raising while I have a career, but I don't want to. First of all, he would suck at that. Second of all, what would I be doing? Sure, I'd have the self-fulfillment of my old career that I had before kids. But I wouldn't have that warm fuzzy feeling I get every time I teach one of them something new. I'd have the guilt that goes along with working outside the home. I've done it before and I hated every minute of it, so I made some sacrifices.
What are your thoughts? Is attachment parenting the antithesis of feminism or the embodiment?
Rock on Ayn Rand! LOL! Really though, I think the right and freedom you have utilized to make the choices you have in raising your children and running your household are the embodiment of feminism. It is all about individuality and the choices you make only demonstrate that brilliant individuality you have always had! I was totally a lactating commando with my first, but my second was allergic to just about everything. This was a total ego killer, since I thought I was Mom of the Century while working, going to school, and taking care of my first son.I used to question how a woman would deal with a loss of identity, when making her family her only focus. I used to think that I could never be happy that way. Now with my second and after a cross country move, I had to totally revamp my thinking. I am now a stay at home mom, and I completely get it! Maybe in the future I will go back to working and let that be a part of my identity once again, but until then I would rather sacrifice money and not miss a single moment. As long as I have control over my identity, whether it is spending every waking moment with my kids or working and parenting, or abandoning them to become a carny pornstar, I think that is the embodiment of feminism.
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