- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
It seems that so much of this debate is poised in some imaginary semi-perfect world, where people keep their word, where what women/men want in their hearts they can actually follow through on financially, where everyone has the same opportunities open to them.
Manjoo writes: "These days we even have a name for dads who don't fulfill their roles: We call them deadbeats, and we mete out severe legal punishment for their bad behavior." True, society has conveniently labeled such bad behavior and mothers have a legal option, but that legal option doesn't work a lot of the time, particularly for poorer mothers.
He further writes: "...we understand there's nothing more difficult in this world than being a mother, and nobody -- not the government, not her parents and not the man she slept with -- should force a woman into that role." A noble sentiment indeed, yet women are forced into motherhood every day, through lack of access to reproductive health care or knowledge about birth control, lack of money, lack of education, lack of opportunity or simply the awareness of an opportunity.
This debate is an interesting exercise, but it is an ivory tower debate. Until all women have equal access and options available to them there will be unwanted pregnancies and births. And as much as I'd love to see men have the same opportunity as women when it comes to birth, it's a moot argument until men can become pregnant and deliver a baby. We live in an imperfect world and while fairness is something to strive for, it will never be achieved on this issue.
