Comments on: Spinster aunt’s fake internet name rejected by Australian authorities

By: Spiders

Spiders — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:10:03 +0000

“Here’s the thing, moms: y’all are supported in your choice everywhere, all the time.”
Oh really? Except when we’re raising our kids outside of a patriarchy-approved framework.
You think you’re targeted for not playing the game? Try playing it by your own rules and see what fuckin’ happens.

By: Eibhear

Eibhear — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:43:22 +0000

Hmm.. The last study I read on the matter concluded that unusual names made children feel more special and unique.

By: TwissB

TwissB — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 21:28:21 +0000

Oops, T. Hattie, I should have checked back after offering my critique of “mahmhood” which I think you misinterpreted as me expressing contempt for mothers as full-time caretakers of children. As a mother of five actual children (not kids), I was speaking to the patriarchal ploy of pushing women out of paid work in away from the house workplaces that makes them competitors to men as co-workers and co-breadwinners with men at home.
Pronatalist policies and propaganda have always been used to confine women’s role to economic dependence on men while letting men opt out of that manly role if they choose to cast it off. As everyone on this blog knows, patriarchal provisions for shucked wives and children are generally shaky to downright malign, despite MRA whining to the contrary.
I think that feminist ears should hear the pushiness in the near obligatory references to mothers by the treacly, overly familiar and patronizing “maaahm” word, made even more disingenuous when it appends “stay-at-home” to “mom” to blank out the hard work of child care while suggesting a woman tied by one leg to the kitchen table.
The 19th Century concept of the public sphere for men and private sphere for women has never been defeated.
I should add that I am not talking about the words used in families to refer to parents. This is about blaming the patriarchy for one of its basic strategies.

By: sezhoo

sezhoo — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:08:42 +0000

I had to chuckle when I read that those parents had named their child Adolf Hitler. It reminds me of an Eddie Izzard skit.

paraphrasing: All Hitlers after old Adolf must have changed their names. Can you imagine owning your own business with that name? Adolf kind of ruined the Hitler name as a marketing took, don’t you think?

“Mr. Hitler makes exceedingly tasty cakes.”

Trust me, when said by a man in full makeup, leather pants, bustier and high heels, this is some funny shit.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:10:14 +0000

Jezebella, I could be wrong, but I thought Hattie was just saying that it isn’t like women who have children are suddenly doing it all right. At that point, you’re not nursing, or you’re nursing for too long, or you’re using the wrong diapers, or you’re letting the kid cry or you aren’t letting it cry enough, or whatever. It basically starts when you’re pregnant (“should you be eating that?”) and continues along, as though your parenting choices are there for others to comment on and critique.

So yeah, damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

By: Jezebella

Jezebella — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:51:52 +0000

Well, Hattie, I’d be happy with a little lip service in support of my choice, as opposed to the constant pressure to BREED BREED BREED WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY DON’T YOU WANT CHILDREN WHO WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU WHEN YOU’RE OLD WHO WILL CARRY ON THE FAMILY NAME BREED GODDAMMIT!!?? Which is the usual message us blorts receive day in, day out, night in, and night out. It gets old, ya know.

By: tinfoile hattie

tinfoile hattie — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:35:45 +0000

Here’s the thing, moms: y’all are supported in your choice everywhere, all the time.

HA! On paper, maybe. In reality? Not so much.

By: norbizness

norbizness — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:52:28 +0000

That's oz-WEE-pay!

By: RadFemHedonist

RadFemHedonist — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:29:31 +0000

What about giving a child a name like “assface” or “thing”?

By: Jezebella

Jezebella — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:18:36 +0000

Here’s the thing, moms: y’all are supported in your choice everywhere, all the time. Us non-moms have only one safe haven from being criticized for being non-breeders, and that’s feminist space (IRL and bloggy). Sometimes we get a little hinky about having to pay obeisance to the holy sanctitude of motherhood, since it seems like no one EVER pays any kind of respect to the choice NOT to breed.