Hi Cornflower
Gloria Stein did a lot of work, as have many feminists, on clearly defining feminism. With Marilyn Waring, from NZ, and Robyn Morgan, she was in an international network, established at the Mexico conference, to advance the ability of women to live full and happy lives. Marilyn went back and entered Parliament, eventually crossed the floor on the nuclear issue and has changed the face of the world as a result. The definition I memorised (please check it) was that “feminism is about enabling men, women and children to reach their full potential”. This has been the touchstone of my life.
Mothering is very much a part of men’s, women’s and children’s lives. “To promote the physical and psychological health of mothers and children” is core to enabling all people to reach their full potential. It is at the core of feminism. To be free and satisfied, women and men express ourselves in the fullness of our biological being. Perhaps it’s time for me to write that book “Sisters, It’s ALL about biology”. Cheers

Those male posters that have expressed their annoyance that this article and subsequent approving posts by women dont address the fathers perspective, really should pull out a finger and write an article on fatherhood. I'm serious. You have a valid point, but you cant expect a woman to write about the experiences of fatherhood, so you are just going to have to do it yourself. Actually particularly interesting would be from a single father. If my own father was more literate, I'd see if he'd write one - he raised 3 girls on his own, an absolutely mammoth job. His attempts to explain the mysteries of "cycles" was hilarious and touching (although somewhat embarassing for both of us at the time) - I got left to do the two younger girls.

So come on, I'd love to see it.

Country Girl good suggestion, one I've pondered at times but lacked the confidence in my writing skills to tackle.

I have no expectation of the author to write about mens experience but do consider that her dismissal of mens experiences in the article was unnecessary.

The tone of the article and the subsequent post suggest to me that the author is the type of feminist who sees men through the lens of stereotype and feels that the way to address womens issues is to kick men down.

R0bert

KerryMcG

Whilst i might not disagree with you opn what feminism should be -in particular it should be inclusive of men and it should be more tolerant- that is not the view of the feminist intellectual elite who post here. I would suggest that modern feminists are hung up on gender and the rights of the individual (as opposed to obtaining some community benefit).

You mentioned midwives and I am aware of the feminist interest in this area. I would not agree that their intrusions to date have always been helpful and intending consumers should be aware of certain policies of such units, including cherry picking only the best (young, healthy, likely problem free births). Such intrusions have also served to create distrust between medical professionals and prospective parents and this is not in the best interests of the public and especially women in the country. Taking the last mentioned, if something goes awry, the woman and child are a long way from help and resusitation.

Cornflower,

I know a bunch of (male and female) feminists who do nothing BUT advocate for adequate parenting support.

Mother/father are not inconsistent with feminist. I'm both, and so is my partner. And our three year old seems pretty happy.

Also, I'm not sure who you think the feminist elite is...but last time I checked they were pretty keen on women having choices: and those choices include staying home (hence their opposition to Welfare to Work), going to work, going shopping, staying home, or frankly whatever women decide is best for them and their families.

Scorn is a personal thing, it's not an entrenched agenda. for example, just as you'd ask me not to judge you as a mother (and I wouldn't, I am one too and lord knows I could use the leave-pass), I'd ask you not to judge me as a feminist by some stereotype of what that term means.

that's all, really.

I tried to post this yesterday as the second half of my comment, but instead I managed to post the first half twice and was thus barred from finishing under the 'two posts every 24 hours" rule...

I am quite confused by the guys who have objected to my post on the grounds that men also struggle with the identity issues that come with becoming a new parent and will the new levels of responsibility that parenthood entails. Of course they do! However, my husband is a perfectly articulate human being (with whom I share my blog) and perfectly capable of expressing those issues himself. I am at a loss to understand why you think that I ought to try to summarise his experiences and feelings in my own post when he can surely do a better job himself.

If you believe that by calling this a feminist issue I sought to invalidate or trivialize the experiences of men, then you and I have very different understandings of feminism. I believe that men suffer just as much from the rigid gender identities and roles that we continue to impose on people in our society and that one of the main aims of feminism is to challenge that imposition for the benefit of both men and women. Feminism is not code word for "women's issues"; it is a political movement with specific goals and objectives. Unfortunately, it is also quite a fragmented movement in many respects and so those goals are not always coherent or consistent, but that is a story for another day...