You Asked. They Answered. TIME’s AP moms take your questions. (Question 13)

Part 13:  You Asked. They Answered. TIME’s AP moms take your questions.

13. Do you believe that attachment parenting could cause America to take a step backward in the fight for women’s rights?

Jessica ____________________
I am a feminist. I have identified with that label since 8th grade (when I discovered Sassy magazine!). I don’t believe that attachment parenting and feminism are at odds with one another. I think our culture does not value the work of mothers. Only in a culture that values money, prestige and working outside the home as the source of female “empowerment” could motherhood be viewed as being anti-feminist. What’s anti-WOMAN are our country’s lack of financial support for new mothers (among a whole other host of things).

Jamie ____________________
Not at all. Quite the opposite. We need to work towards better leave for mothers and fathers when a child is introduced into the family. The United States can do much better than they are in encouraging both parents – helping uplift them during such a life changing event as a new child.

Melinda ____________________
Just because I choose to stay at home and raise my family does not mean I am giving up my rights. Just because more women are choosing to, does not mean that they are giving up their rights. We are working women! It is a choice that I hope will lose it’s stigma of being anti-feminist.

Dionna ____________________
I do not believe that mothers or fathers need to stay at home 24/7 to be attached parents. Working on building healthy attachments with our children can help any parent establish loving, secure relationships – regardless of whether they work inside or outside the home.

On a related note, I do wish our country had more generous maternity and paternity leave laws, and I hope that the science behind attachment parenting can provide the impetus to affect change.

 

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