Hey, folks--I just wanted to let you know (particularly those of you who wrote long, thoughtful responses to my review of Origins) that I've posted some additional thoughts on Origins over at Girl w/Pen. I'm talking less about the book than about the cultural pressures that surround it, pressures that your blog comments made visible to me. Let me know what you think!
10 years ago
3 comments:
Reading those comments- geesh- glad I missed that one. Each birthing is like a snowflake utterly unique and yet from a distance all look similar. Why mothers have to be pitted against each other to own the "right " way is beyond me and discouraging. I had a natural childbirth at home but do I feel superior in any way? Of course not. Do I look down on mothers who need C-sections or even want it? Of course not.
It is a mystery in many ways despite science. Science would love to measure away all of the mysteries of life but they never will.
Origins sounds at the very least a thought provoking book.
Okay, so I find all of this discussion incredibly fascinating. The main discussions here seem to be focused on what research is valid, what is not, who’s to blame, and what factors are involved in determining who our children will become. I'm going to step back here and say this book is a starting point in opening the eyes of the general public to cultural influences on fetal development. Though it reinforces the cultural ideas of “mother blame”, it also starts to look at cultural factors influencing the “biological and behavioral development” of fetuses. When taken in this very general way, the book acts as a stepping stone on the path to realizing that when a child is born, he/she is not quite void of cultural influences as was previously thought. Therefore, the “innate” behavior of newborns, science so often refers to in behavioral studies, is not so innate. The mother lives in a CULTURE that pressures her to step one way and not another…thereby shaping the fetus in some way as well. Perhaps Paul focuses too much on the mother and her actions. Perhaps her use of IQ as a determinant of well-being is not an appropriate measure. But, the general idea of the book is a good starting point for further research in fetal development in regards to cultural influences.
I dig Brooke's wording.
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