BlogHer - Parent - Comments

Enfranchising

Jill Miller Zimon — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:11:05 -0600

If I read correctly what you're writing, you like including people who are impacted and I agree. I do like having father's input - after all, although I know it's easier to take care of my kids sometimes when the spouse is away, I still appreciate that he exists and DOES do plenty of the parenting. So for sure they should be addressed in magazines and have a seat at the table, as we're asking for at news roundtables - though these are not exactly apples to apples.

I think you're probably right re: having women at the roundtable regularly v. having the moderator job only or having that be something where we'd then be told, ok - you are the moderator, no need for women on the panel. Obviously that's not okay.

I have a friend who left a comment at my blog on this topic re: Meet the PRess who stressed that we have the best and brightest and that should hopefully take care of it in a perfect world, but the problem is, right now, there is no trust that people who don't look like us or live our lives will by default remember to include us when analyzing situations. Until then, we have to keep being vocal.

So in that sense, yeah for the dads getting on the parenting mags' staff and yeah to the women getting on the roundtable shows.

JillWrites Like She Talks

Dads and parenting

BarbD — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:20:17 -0600

I move more in an online than print world, and with a 22-year old, I'm past the age where I read parenting magazines, anyway!

Still, I welcome fathers' voices to the world of parenting publications. It was pretty lonely going for my family in the mid-80's with a non-traditional parenting arrangement (stay-at-home dad and working mom). I find it refreshing to hear more from dads, and think it's great that sites like MyParentingSource include a father as one of its parent coaches.

As for Meet the Press, I'm much more interested in women getting a seat at the table -- regularly. It seems to me that the television media doesn't do a very good job of seeking out qualified women for these kinds of roles. Just another reason why I tend to get my news and commentary from NPR. I don't think you can beat The Diane Rehm Show for inclusive, topical discussions.

Great expression of the one hand and the other hand

Jill Miller Zimon — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:52:58 -0600

Laura, you totally nail the conundrum. I felt the same way watching David Gregory this weekend on Meet the Press. Did anyone else catch this?

There he was, the new moderator, when we know there were a couple of women in the running for the moderator (at least a couple) and NBC really could have made itself stand out for a Sunday morning news show by having a female moderator.

But no - they picked Gregory. Ok - he's fine - he's done the time. Whatever.

But then who was on his roundtable?

Four women.

So - i started to think - would we as women, rather have the female moderator and a crap shoot for roundtable participants, or not have the moderator but be slam-dunk guaranteed that the roundtable will always have at least one or two women?

I don't actually know!

Jill Writes Like She Talks

Feminism on an Uncomfortable Type

rebellious thinker — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:19:35 -0600

From the purely feminist angle, this is a good thing--as there should not be "male" jobs so there should not be "female"jobs. But on a non-ideological level, enough guys--back off and let us have some places where we can still reach the top (okay, as high as we can go until the big boss says "stop"). So we are supposed to applaud a man taking a woman's job? Is there an opening over at GQ for a woman editor?

Laura, www.RebelliousThoughtsofaWoman.com

thanks

hb — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:07:25 -0500

Thanks KarlyP. I needed this article.

Trying to insert the trailer - it didn't work in the post... :(

NewMoonGirlMedia — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:28:31 -0500

WOW!

Claudia Broome — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:13:48 -0500

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!!

www.ClaudiaBroome.com

www.LadiesDontQuitYet.com

www.ToHaveAndToHoldHostage.com

Three things that make me

gleamy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:10:51 -0500

Three things that make me happy are good writing, intimacy and somebody else minding the baby while I lounge around on the sofa sipping tea and watching Grey's Anatomy.

As for motherhood...

I think happiness is too simple a term to sum up for me the complex experience of motherhood. Yes, I felt immense joy with my son. I also felt immense rage and dissapointment and despair.

Sometimes the experience of motherhood uplifted me and made me want to dance and sing. Sometimes it left me wanting to kill myself and punching walls. Happy is an easy word. Parenthood isn't. It's too bittersweet for that.

I am delighted my son exists. I would be devastated if I lost him. But happiness is too tame a word for something that wrings your heart out for better and worse. :)

Happy because of what we are inside!

Claudia Broome — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:10:32 -0500

I so agree with you! Nobody is responsible for anyone else's happiness! Not husbands or children and the list goes on and on...Maybe the only exception is our dogs!!

www.ClaudiaBroome.com

www.LadiesDontQuitYet.com

www.ToHaveAndToHoldHostage.com

Happy as a Mother

rebellious thinker — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:02:07 -0500

I think that there is a difference between my children making me happy and being happy as a mother. Maybe it is best for us that our children don't make us happy because that would make us too dependent on them. I would say that I am happy to be a mother. The moment my older daughter was born I could feel a patience and restfulness enter into me that had never been there before. Not to say that I am the Mother Teresa of calm, but I certainly changed--for the better--once the responsibility to love, cherish, educate, feed, and care for my daughters became the foundation of my life. This is not to say that I live for them, but that role is now a part of my essence. Part of what makes me happy.

Laura, thinking about the ups and downs of as a woman, mother, married womanm, divorced woman, and daughter at www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com.

Teen Mags are garbage

candeelady — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:38:05 -0500

why could'nt you say "no" when they asked for those mags and substituted others ? American Girl has been around since the 1920's , Discovery Girl came out in 2000, Girl's Life (my favorite) has been out for 14 years, and has won numerous parent sponsered awards. They cover fashion, relationships, AND BUILD self esteem and image. These magazines are the perfect antidote for the junk mags like Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Glamour., etc. The junk mags are so trashy now days its shocking to read the covers and beleive thys were written for girls 10 and up. Even if your daughters read the junk mags at friends homes, the fact that you have banned them from your home tells them that you believe these mags are worthless, and sends an important message. As their mother you beleive women are too valuable to read that crap and then let it destroy their self image. Can you tell this is a hot topic for me?

Candeelady

Raising Tweens to be Fantastic Women and Easy Crafts

http://www.gogogluegunfun.com

Turning Angry Moments into Teaching Moments

WickedStepmom — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:53:38 -0500

I try to remember to APOLOGIZE to my kids when I yell or blow up at them - so, while I am teaching them that Mommy gets angry sometimes (but I still love them very very much), I also know how to apologize when I make the wrong choice.

Cate
The WickedStepmom
http://wickedstepmom.blogspot.com