Rachel made some points in her post that are major issues for me right now
as I am thinking about starting a family. More and more, having children is
being looked at as a "personal lifestyle choice", almost no more than an
expensive hobby to add to an already fulfilled life. Our society is so
stratified by age that it is almost as if everyone has no past or future,
just a continual "present" -- older Americans are generally warehoused with
others of same age, and the same with children - first with daycare, then
with compulsory schooling. Very few people by the time they are adults
actually see a baby breastfeeding, or even see a newborn and fewer have ever
seen an older relative die.
Having children, raising the next generation and raising it well is not
looked at as enriching the country or our species, but as a "choice" the
chooser alone must deal with.
I was watching a late night talk show called, "Politically Correct with Bill
Maher" and he was complaining about parents getting leave to have children,
or take them to doctors offices - he said that if that was "allowed", then
he should be able to take time off for a pottery class. He equated the two
things. When a woman guest (who was a famous anchorwoman on some channel)
countered him, he said, "but having children was your CHOICE! Don't make it
my business!"

I often am concerened that breastfeeding is viewed as a "quaint" lifestyle
choice but the bigger picture is that childbearing in general is seen as
such in this very child-unfriendly culture. I mean, how many times have you
heard of non-smokers sitting in the smoking section just to avoid having to
sit near children?

Michelle DePesa

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