These are my comments and reflections on the words (and scorn) that Corinne Maier, spokesman for the movement Women Child-Free and author of the manifesto "No kids", pours about motherhood in the interview we published last week.
First of all, mentioning that this French woman is not simply a frustrated Anonymous anti-children, but a famous intellectual and author of a controversial book: "Good morning, laziness."
I consider that several of its sentences about society are quite true, but others, simply absurd. Let's see them in 6 points:
- Criticism of the family and the violence it generates. I'm sorry to have to admit that it's sadly true. Between 2000 and 2004, aggressions against children in the family environment grew 108.67%. And we have already published here the scandalous figures of abuse in Spain. This is a major issue that society must address.
But from here to say that the "family is the first prison of the spirit" there is an abyss. As she does not mention any alternative to the family, she does not talk about tribe, or communes, or orphanages, ... I do not understand how she wants human babies and children to be raised: the most fragile and dependent mammalian species for at least 5 years.
The author states that people act more for "sheep" and social imperative than their own will. This is usually true in general. If we all acted more from our true desires and without so much fear of failure, of the opinions of others, of rejection, ... we would do better. Motherhood should be a vocation, a personal and mature decision and not an obligation.
Aim the social stigma of not having children which makes the woman "selfish, sterile, lesbian or ugly" and predicts a future black. I fear that this has also been true during history, but I doubt that it is currently in force with great force. Couples without children are increasingly. The Spanish Vice President: María Teresa Fernández de la Vega is an example.
Defend the de-birth but neither does it offer solutions. I don't know if he wants humanity to survive or not. And we will not go into science fiction ideas.
Does having children mean giving up individual happiness? We mothers are unsuccessful (like their designer friend) and non-mothers are performed at all levels as examples of successful women she gives? Is motherhood a meaningless sacrifice?
This is a simplicity and a tremendous falsehood, and to say otherwise would be too.
The photo I have chosen of a naked mother and her baby, without artifice, conveys sensations that all mothers have felt: falling in love, fusion, surrender, moving away from time and the world, vital need of each other, love and above all: Find a meaning (greater) to life.
Voluntary motherhood is not frustration, failure, bitterness or loss of female talent but it is also personal fulfillment, a great opportunity for growth and the great task of accompanying a new human being in its development. There is nothing that demands more qualities and intelligence.
- Is it pregnancy a deformity in women and a denial of eroticism?
Well, this woman seems very sexy and comfortable with her body, and almost all the pregnant women I know (even those who gained a lot of weight) too.
In conclusion, Corinne Maier spent 17 years in therapy, and I think he has wasted the money because his pain and bitterness are only glimpsed, and not the overcoming of his problems.
I sympathize with his two children and with the trauma that should cause your mother to publicly renounce you and call you "wrong." Hopefully they will be able to form a healthy family, which is what their mother has not done because she has dedicated herself more to looking at her belly button in the most immature and self-centered way that exists, instead of worrying about the well-being and happiness of her family. She has put her children before her, when there really is room for everyone.
And he has forgotten something fundamental. In early childhood, the mental health of the person and many of his reactions in adult life are established. Parenting and society go hand in hand, therefore we are the mothers / fathers who can really change the world, and not people concerned only with their triumph and who consider that caring / loving / protecting others is a sacrifice.
Corinne Maier, thank you for reminding me how good I feel being a mother and how useful I am!
