From Diane Keaton and Sandra Bullock to Toni Morrison and Linda Ronstadt, here are 18 well-known women who helped to re-define our image of "nuclear" family and shaped single motherhood into the fabulous role that it is today.
This was taken from my MSN page glorifying single motherhood. First of all, let me say my hat is off to any mother who can raise her children alone without a husband and do a good job. But it really irritates me when the mass media glorifies single motherhood as if it were just as good or better than the traditional family unit. Then the MSM trot out eighteen well-to-do women who had plenty of financial support and probably lots of help from nannies, maids, babysitters, etc, to use as examples of great mothers. There were a couple of moms in the list that had struggled through some rough times, but most were superstars who had adopted babies and were in the process of raising them on their own. It seems to me that the verdict is still out on whether most of these women are "fabulous" or not.
Once again the MSM used "Murphy Brown" as an example of a great single mom – a highly intelligent woman choosing to have her child, career, etc, all without a husband. I had been a big fan of the TV series "Murphy Brown" back in the day, but was disappointed with the show when Murphy became pregnant. Let’s remember the show correctly. Murphy actually slept with two men – her ex-husband and her new boyfriend. She was not sure which was the father. Hmm, having unprotected sex with two men – one whom had recently come back into her life after living for years in South America – does not sound like an intelligent woman. It is a wonder that Murphy did not get some serious sexually transmitted disease – now there is a more likely story line for you.
Think about TV shows and Disney movies today. Most do not have two-parent households and those that do are sorely dysfunctional – usually portraying the father as stupid. I’m sure the MSM would say that they just portray families as they are today. Maybe they think they might hurt the self-esteem of those kids who come from one-parent households. Personally, I think they are spreading their own personal agendas and have hurt the traditional family unit more than we realize.
I know many great moms who have raised their children alone or with a weekend father who paid child support, and it was tough. I doubt if any of those mothers would glorify or recommend single motherhood. Although these kids turned out well, I doubt if any of them would say they were glad that they had not had a traditional family.
This MSN article/writer chose to point out 18 women who have raised or are raising children alone - touting them as "fabulous" mothers. What are their criteria for being a fabulous mother? Maybe they should do an article on all the single moms whose children have had lots of social problems. I bet we could find more than 18.
Keep in mind that I am not saying all traditional families are perfect and that they don’t have their problems too.
6 comments:
Good rant, Lou. Amen to all of it.
I agree. Good for you.
I agree, too. As a single mother myself, if I'd had the choice, this is NOT the life I would have chosen for myself or my son. Two parent families aren't perfect, but they are what God had in mind for raising children.
Since then, be it from forward-thinking Gloria Steinem, “That Girl” or “Murphy Brown,” we’ve grown to realize that women are more than capable of single-handedly running a household.
Who is this "WE" they're on about? And Gloria Steinem is "forward-thinking?" The whole article is just more rationalization and justification feel-good BS. NO one ever makes bad choices any longer, they just make "different" ones... with encouragement.
Becky, mothers like you have made huge sacrifices and I don't belittle that for a moment.
Buck, you said it very well - feel good BS. It reminds me of Eve in the Garden - she made a mistake so she encouraged Adam to join her in the mistake.
Thinking of all the kids I know who have grown up in single parent households, I can't think of a one of them who probably would have benefited from having a Dad (or a Mom) around full-time.
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