Has Motherhood Become A Prison?

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Has Motherhood Become A Prison? Elisabeth Badinter is, without a doubt, a very smart woman. A French writer, feminist and philosopher, she has been called the heir to Simone Beauvoir and "France's most influential intellectual." As it happens, she is also one of that country's wealthiest individuals, the daughter of the founder of a multinational advertising and media company, which only helps to increase her profile. And, at the moment, that profile is very visible, and very polarizing, indeed. Her latest book, "The Conflict : How Modern Motherhood Undermines the Status of Women," which was released in France two years ago, has its American debut today. Like much of her work, it is a dissection of what she sees as an intensive, over-enmeshed trend in parenting that essentially shackles and imprisons todays mothers. Natural childbirth? Breastfeeding? Co-sleeping? Leaving the paid workforce? To her worldview these are all a return to an era when women were defined, and diminished, by their children. Elisabeth Badinter's Case Against Modern Motherhood Why Melissa Fay Greene Disagrees Entirely Group Fights To Stop Marketing Of Makeup To Young Girls The True Victims Of The 'Mommy Wars'? It's 3 Boys And 3 Girls For New Mom BLOG POSTS Alex McCord: Moms Playing with Boy Toys (Boy's Toys)? Life is short, and childhood even shorter. Besides, Legos are really, really fun to build. Lisa Belkin: Whose Fault Is It If Your Child Spends $2,000 On A 'Free' Online Game? The apps are free, but playing them can cost your kids a lot of money they don't quite realizing they are spending. Caveat emptor? Or grounds for a lawsuit? Pat Gallagher: Call Your Mother! When my children lived at home, at least they were visible when they came out of their rooms. They had to eat. Babble.com: So What If Our Child Has 87 Siblings? As long as in the end I was a mother, nothing was a game-changer for me. Until a few months back when I saw PBS's "Donor Unknown." Liz Hastings: That's What Friends Are For Why would I bring up my thoughts on religion, gun control or capital punishment immediately after showing her our wine collection?

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