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>When I hear people whining about how they really don't want to read stories about how mothers act just like people . . . I am reminded that most Americans (and, guessing from the recent article in Broadsheet re Germany, possibly many Europeans as well) don't want to believe that mothers are human.<
Er, no. (And the fact that you would call criticism "whining" says a lot about how much you respect people who don't think motherhood is the end-all be-all.) What people are reacting to is the incessant, constant underlying "Being a mother makes you a real person, an angel-on-earth, a responsible adult, and an all-around complete perfect valid person" message. When every other magazine, every other paper, every other news show has articles almost every freaking week about motherhood, motherhood, motherhood, there's every reason for those of us who don't want to have kids to get fed up--and suspect motherhood is being pushed as the ultimate ideal for women. It really seems as if no trends or events mean anything or are important unless they are child-related. One expects this kind of kinder-concentration in LADIES' HOME JOURNAL, for example, but why are we getting this stuff from everywhere? And one has to wonder--is this really all most women have come care about, endless minutae of childraising? Or is this just what editors and writers think that's what they care about? Given this society's rightward drift, people have every reason to wonder what the "24/7 baby-media deal" is.
