tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post6123569954734694455..comments2023-10-19T07:42:41.912-04:00Comments on Afrogeek Mom and Dad: Rebecca Walker's Baby Love (or, How Pregnancy Can Apparently Short Circuit Your Brain)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-53455548508460871112007-12-12T21:31:00.000-05:002007-12-12T21:31:00.000-05:00Hi,Just wanted to say that I love your blog. I agr...Hi,<BR/><BR/>Just wanted to say that I love your blog. I agree with everything re: Rebecca Walker. Have you read Black, White Jewish? After that one I knew she was troubled but came away thinking Alice Walker was a horrible mother. The whole family sounded terribly sad which probably explains Rebecca's current state of being.<BR/><BR/>Rock On Afrogeek!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-72432543597704557972007-12-11T12:42:00.000-05:002007-12-11T12:42:00.000-05:00Yay! for your post. Her comments have bugged me si...Yay! for your post. Her comments have bugged me since the book came out (although I must concede that I haven't read the book yet). So if a woman adopts a child instead of bearing one, that means that she's "developmentally incomplete?" What crap. I know <B>plenty</B> of developmentally incomplete women who bore children!<BR/><BR/>It seems like Walker is intellectually "acting out" as a way to get attention. Thanks for providing a truly thoughtful take on motherhood.<BR/><BR/>Also, this is my first visit to your blog, and it rocks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-91776566863036591002007-12-11T07:33:00.000-05:002007-12-11T07:33:00.000-05:00I share the "sadness" expressed by most of the pre...I share the "sadness" expressed by most of the previous posters. Actually "disappointment" might be a better word (smile). Thanks for having the nerve to put into words so much of what I thought upon reading excerpts and hearing RW's statements about the book.Lorihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09792085144824685369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-66987137860941883782007-12-04T20:41:00.000-05:002007-12-04T20:41:00.000-05:00Shut up, Biffle.Rebecca Walker makes me sad. "Bec...Shut up, Biffle.<BR/><BR/>Rebecca Walker makes me sad. "Becoming the Third Wave" is such a great essay--every time I read it, I want to get out there and change the world. And then she went downhill from there.<BR/><BR/>And I find it odd that she can claim that women should/do immediately love the unborn child. The abortion clinic I went to had a wonderful essay from Rebecca Walker on the wall, talking about her own experience of having an abortion and how grateful she was/is for having the choice not to give birth when she wasn't ready. So she KNOWS you don't automatically love the fetus.Alison Piepmeierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17972854288403934814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-39232052628149317672007-12-04T13:19:00.000-05:002007-12-04T13:19:00.000-05:00your description of you being pregnant gives me th...your description of you being pregnant gives me the willies a la alison.Bifflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13965722716159392121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-10421266059399372302007-12-04T09:40:00.000-05:002007-12-04T09:40:00.000-05:00Cassie's right about that "natural" comment people...Cassie's right about that "natural" comment people make about women holding babies -- a comment that men never get, just showing that Conseula is right -- men are never going to thought of as having these deep bonds with their childrenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35503001.post-33879558288119442792007-12-04T08:46:00.000-05:002007-12-04T08:46:00.000-05:00Ugh ugh UGH. I applaud you, Conseula, for respondi...Ugh ugh UGH. I applaud you, Conseula, for responding in such a sane and thoughtful manner. I haven't even read the book, and these conclusions got me completely steamed. It's the same old B.S. that says if you're not married, you're not a "real woman," only the adventure continues because now you can't be a "real mother" or a "full woman" because you don't reproduce. It also demeans all the other kinds of care-giving and *parenting* (not just mothering) men and women do every day--for their partners, their parents, their sibs, their friends, their friends' or partners' children, their pets, their colleagues, themselves even. And while I think it's probably true you love each child differently, that doesn't mean you love them less meaningfully, whether they're all or mixed biologically conceived, adopted, fostered, etc. <BR/><BR/>Just...UGH.<BR/><BR/>The sad part is, she's not alone in these sentiments. I've had horrific moments at family gatherings or wedding or baby showers where I got versions of these arguments launched at me as everyone goo-goo'd over brides or new moms. "So...when are YOU going to 'settle down' [ed note: hate that phrase] and get married to some nice boy?" "You look like a natural holding that baby. When are YOU going to find someone nice and have kids?"<BR/><BR/>Hello, people! I'm perfectly fine, thanks, and I'm not going to "settle" just to get hitched and pop out a baby because it's getting late on your timeline. I want to do that with the right person, at the right time. And I want to validate the choices other people make not to do those things. <BR/><BR/>Surely we can do better than this as a society. <BR/><BR/>Okay. Rant over. ;) Thanks for your post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com