Why are we all so dang mad about that California mother getting herself inseminated and having a litter of kids?
Sure - she'll be using the welfare system to help raise them. But tons of other folks use government dollars to raise their children and, already on assistance, get preggers with more youngins. So, why are we so ticked at her?
And yes, her parents have helped her raise the kids. But come on - we all have a friend/ne'er do well cousin/neighbor who is raising/supporting/housing an adult child and their children. Do we get in a tizzy over them?
Is it the size of the girl's family that sets us off? I don't think so - because we all know big, poor, Catholic families that we love. Who doesn't love John and Kate Plus 8? We swoon for the Jolies. We love big Mormon families a little less than big Catholic families and John and Kate...and large families of Pentecostals (the Duggars) even less than that. I've noticed a general American pattern in that we don't mind a hefty, poor family as long as you are mainstream-religious, highly tattooed, or a celebrity. Is that why we don't like this big family - because they don't fall into an acceptable "camp"? If she had a pack of nannies trailing behind her and got her children from overseas, would we be more agreeable about it all?
I listened to a friend today go on and on about how these children would grow up disadvantaged being raised in a home with only a mother and with so many cumulative children vying for her limited resources. She doubted the babies would receive adequate individual attention. Of course, my friend works full-time because she goes nuts being around her own brood all day and she is all for gay marriage and single women being inseminated because she says it's a woman's right to choose if she wants to have children and how they will be raised. So, is it fair for her to not give this CA mother the same regard? Isn't it her body and her family to raise as she sees fit - just the same as Tom and Frank down the street?
It might sound, from my post, like I think it's just dandy to have 14 kids under the age of 8 with no real, substantive education, no father in the home, and no earned wage coming in. But the truth is, I don't. I just can't quite put my finger on exactly why it is so wrong to me. The entire situation smacks of abuse somehow, but when I dissect it, I find myself saying, "Yeah - it's wrong for her to have 14 kids, but it's noble when others adopt that many." I make myself sick saying, "If she had more means, I'd be fine with this" as so many people wouldn't exist on the planet if their parents had waited to have enough money to raise them before they conceived. Money is not equal to love. I can't quite figure out why it angers me - and most of the American public - to the degree that it does, but boy, the story sure does rile us all up.
Maybe it's because I take motherhood so seriously and I don't know that she does - and I sanctimoniously sit in judgement of her? Maybe I'm a bit jealous - I always wanted a big family and it turns out, I have a little one. I would love to sneak a couple of those babies into my home. Is that why my ire gets up over this? Or is it that I feel my good nature and desire for all to have the help they need to raise their family being abused as I see a deliberate abuse of the welfare system? I'm definitely incensed that there is not a regulation about how many embryos can be implanted in a womb, but we regulate how many CCs of saline can be pumped into a woman's chest. Did you know you have to leave the country if you want really huge ta-tas? But you can have, quite literally, a litter of babies put in your gut no questions asked. And speaking of plastic surgery - I am lead to think....maybe I'm just ticked that CA mother has had so much cosmetic surgery and I am easily more deserving. Has anyone else noticed her face has had substantial work?
I suspect it's a culmination of all of those thoughts of mine that have me ticked off that this is allowed to happen. I wish I could go scoop up all the octuplets and place them for adoption to mothers and fathers desperate to have just one child to adore.
While I can't put my finger on exactly what has me so riled up, I do know this - there are 14 children who need a lot of love and attention in California and I hope they will be blessed...in spite of their mother's choices. Heaven help them all...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Riddle me this?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
It bothers us because just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you should. For another, I do think this woman is mentally ill. The reasons she gives for having children don't cut it to me. Saying "I'm obsessed with children" only tells me she is thinking only about her needs.
I too think they're ought to be a limit to how many times you can do this but I already know that's never gonna happen ( besides, a Kennedy or celebrity will always be able to break that rule ).
When your own mother gets on tv and says your basically nuts.... you probably are. Her and Casey Anthony are examples of self centeredness gone mad.
MM - it's like I could take one of the many rotten scenarios she's in and be accepting...but when I lump it all together, it makes me want to find her and slap her.
Is that wrong?
(And Caylee Anthony's big memorial was today. I turned it off at the gym. So sad. And wrong. And sad.)
No - you're not wrong. For me, I don't care if you have tons of kids - more power to you. Something rings wonky about this woman. For one thing, I was just watching her on DATELINE and her nails look better than mine ( how do you keep your nails like that with 6 kids?? ) - I also think she's had plastic surgery on her face. Again...none of these things are wrong in and of themselves....however....if 6 kids didn't fulfill her as a mother....no number will.
Now join facebook so I can mock you there.
Oh Mama...you hit the nail right on the head. I have been so angry and so many different people in this story. I tried for a while to give her the benefit of the doubt, especially since it seemed like the media and every one else out there who accepts all kinds of aberrant behavior all of the sudden have developed some kind of moral compass when it comes to this story...which irks me VERY MUCH.
So first, I was angry at the media, and every one else who thinks they are some kind of expert on how many and under what conditions they deem it okay to have children. I am still not okay with all that.
Then I was upset at her mother for throwing her daughter under the bus and coming out publicly and saying she thought her daughter was crazy...keep it private people.
I really really didn't want to be angry with this woman...and then she lied...openly and blatantly. Anyone who thinks that being on WIC or Food Stamps isn't welfare is some kind of crazy. If you use it, just admit it, don't pretend like it's not something it IS.
I am also upset with the Johnson and Johnson's and Huggies of the world who apparently don't deem these children worthy of their free loot that they have been throwing out at all those other septuplet families over the years. I get it if you are not a fan of this lady, but come on...it's for the children.
The hypocrisy from all angles in this story is astounding...which is maybe what makes it so interesting...and disturbing.
C-dawg - it's a very angry-making scenario, isn't it?
I don't know what to think of the corporations who don't want to help this woman. On the one hand, they get to decide where they will throw their sheckles and my inner Libertarian says help no one and get over it. :)
But what makes a woman who implants 6 kids or 7 kids more "worthy" to receive diapers and formula than this woman? The septuplet family could not not NOT afford those children and went barreling ahead ahead anyway. At the time, there was a lot of outrage. But now, as time has marched on, they're seen as heroes of some kind. But this CA family isn't because....my best guess.....it's not a "cute" enough scenario and we're still in the thick of it?
Thanks for those excellent points. I had similar thoughts, but eventually, I had to quit typing before it became an epistle. I'm glad to see someone else thinks like I do....and I'm a little sad for you that you think like I do. POOR YOU!
Corporations are only going to help out if it's good PR. This woman is starting to look like a nutter and they want to distance themselves from that. However, what they ARE forgetting is that their are still children involved who are going to be needing tons of things ( I wonder how many corporations donate diapers....formula...etc to foster families or people in need?? That would be good to know ).
Post a Comment