Motherhood: 1 - Wife: 0

I call this Palin-itis. Whereby the female gets pregnant, keeps the child but decides there's no dad required. Per this article in the Orlando Sentinel, a Babytalk Magazine poll shows:

76 percent of the married mothers liked the idea of not fighting with a partner over the best way to raise a child. Other pros to being single were not having the chore of keeping up a healthy marriage (69 percent), and not dealing with in-laws (30 percent).

And single moms agree.

Almost two-thirds of the unmarried moms felt that it would be harder to be a parent if there was a man in the house. Of the single ladies, 55 percent said that they feel relieved to not have to worry about working on a marriage too, and 38 percent said they feel more free to follow their own dreams.

Now I'm not a wife and I'm not a mother, but I think I still have some marbles left in my head! What in the HELL-O is wrong with these women? This isn't Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston people. Levi is the fall-guy for the ex-VP candidate's stance on abstinence and he went on the Tyra Show to discuss how a) Momma knew her daughter and boyfriend were sexing each other b) Now that the baby is here they're limiting how often he can see his own child because they broke up and are otherwise dissatisfied with him and his family. 

It would seem some truly selfish and clueless women actually think it's better to raise a child alone. Now it's one thing if the father is unfit but...shouldn't there have been some requirements considered in the first place? Like being able to provide and protect? Like discussing what type of life and lifestyle you'll be living? Like giving some consideration to the person you'll be tied to FOREVER when there's a kid involved? Somebody explain this to me so I can understand. Since this article doesn't talk about adoption these are the biological children of these women. Why not take a child that's been abandoned or can't be cared for properly? If it's simply about being a MOTHER why does it have to have one's DNA? Why would a woman want to intentionally push a man away? 

Something isn't adding up here. I have to stand by my statement about some women being selfish and willfully ignorant. Before someone accuses me of blaming the female in this scenario alone I say youth can be a time of great foolishness but there comes a point where wisdom must prevail. If we want women to be in control of all reproductive choices then they must also know how to discern those choices wisely.  That doesn't always guarantee an agreement but nor should it invite constant chaos.

Of course there are numerous situations where a girl or young woman was taken advantage of, or assaulted or otherwise put in harms way. We also make mistakes. This isn't one of those scenarios. Besides, there are plenty of options available for those who are capable of procreating not to. One of them should be having common sense. Sadly it is often lacking. In both the sperm and egg donor. We see the results of how fatherless children or those born to weak men behave and the negative impact it has on society. So let's not add to its burdens intentionally.

You're So Lame Award of Shame - Kate Gosselin

What is with these women who CHOOSE to get pregnant, conduct expensive experiments with their fertility, have multiple births and beg for public attention and financial recompense? There is no "motherhood gene"!!! It's all a choice and if you chose it don't make a career complaining about it!! Nadya Suleman has only now just taken a small backseat while the original Octo-Mom, Kate Gosselin tries to keep her family's gravy train from running out. In case you don't watch tv or have cable or care, there's a reality tv show called Jon & Kate Plus 8 about a couple with 2 sets of kids who were multi-births. 

They claim to have no outside help and to be completely financially self-sufficient. Now their network signed another family with 12 kids. So between all the press shared by Suleman and these other people, their new season was in jeopardy of being DOA. So what do you do when you think you might become irrelevant? You create controversy! As if that's something that should be rewarded. 

An article from US magazine as featured on the OMG! site paints a slightly different picture: 

The Gosselins make up to $75,000 per episode on their TLC hit, Jon & Kate Plus 8, for a 20-episode season -- and that's not even counting all their freebies! For the Gosselin clan, it's not just their show -- but their lifestyle -- that hang in the balance. Kate, who grew up in a trailer park and didn't go on her first airplane ride until her honeymoon to Disney World, now flies only first class for speaking engagements (mostly paid for by churches), sells signed photos of her kids for $20 a pop at appearances, and received a free tummy tuck after giving birth (Jon received a free hair transplant). Jon, now a stay-at-home dad, was fired from his job at Style Craft Corp in 2004 after "spending much more time" on a "quest" for freebies than working, the company's owner, David Rothermel, tells Us.

Having children is expensive, time-consuming and difficult - which is why I don't have any. Being a parent should be held in high regard and carefully considered. Often it is not. The Gosselins have been on a media blitz amid allegations they're both having extra-marital relations and hawking Kate's new book. This is being given the same amount and more coverage than the President's negotiations for health care in certain media circles. This further proves corporate media is a joke. 

I was deciding whether to give out an Award of Shame this week at all. It was going to go the Republicans for obfuscating the torture they allowed but that will be an ongoing saga. I think parents who exploit their race and class privileges for further financial reward and attention deserve to be smacked down. 

I was going to add the husband to this, but I have a funny feeling this is being led at the discretion of the wife. He deserves some blame of course but again, I think she's calling the shots. If your husband was cheating on you would you deny it while using it for media coverage? To me this is just more of the usual display and reinforcement of white woman privilege. There's even discussion about whether feminists and moms can be one in the same. For if this had been about a woman who wasn't young, thin, white and blond she would've been completely eviscerated or laughed at - not celebrated in gossip weeklies and given blanket legitimacy. 

Bristol & Levi Were Doomed From the Beginning And It's Our Fault

So in what can't be a surprise to anyone, the Juno of Alaska will now remain a single mom. See this is what happens when parents are embroiled in their own problems or are singularly focused on their career ambitions and fail their children. Mama Palin was trying to win America's Next President contest against John McCain for the soul of the Republican Party, pulling her best stint from All About Eve. I won't put all of the blame on her, for the First Gentleman of Alaska or whatever he's called didn't seem to be running the show. So we see what happens when some people focus on controlling a woman's womb and worship the idea of motherhood but don't do anything about supporting mothers and their children or making sure there's an active male participating from the beginning either.  

For all of the religious talk about how evil premarital sex is, there's an insistence by some adults (and institutions) at keeping kids dumb in an effort to limit their choices. So they make the "right" choice and abstain from sex. As you know kids having sex will lead to the fall of the Empire. Not sexual abuse, drug use, lack of resources or a poor education. Since when does knowing facts about reproduction and diseases as well as an understanding of female/male interactions give the green light for wanton behavior? It only breeds ignorance where people don't think critically about their choices but repeat ideas they've heard as "proof" of following the right(eous) path. 

How about instilling in kids a sense of purpose and arming them with tools to negotiate their way through their childhood and society at large? I mean isn't that what we all need? Values and religious dogma are not the same thing. Then girls wouldn't be so easily swayed by sweet talk from boys - and increasingly older men. Kids might be able to explore their growing sexuality without shame and could make more informed choices. Sometimes first love is fleeting but you don't want to be left with anything other than memories. 

Now despite an unplanned pregnancy Bristol Palin is still in a much better position than most other young women her age. We're to assume it was a consensual relationship and at least her parents aren't broke and she has her entire life in front of her. It's just that maybe she might have chosen differently had she been more mature and not had religious dogma foisted on her. When people operate in absolutes the results are often extreme. 

Having parenthood foisted upon people doesn't always result in a moment of clarity. It can be disastrous for the child being unplanned for and growing up around those unprepared or unwilling to provide for her/him emotionally and financially. Bristol's pregnancy was an almost entirely preventable situation had she not been used by her parents for Republican talking points and votes. There was no guarantee of course. But the odds of getting into that situation is greatly increased when people essentially roll the dice, hoping for the best. Or grab a national spotlight based on false pretenses. It eventually gets exposed as a sham. Lust and newness fade away and people who were never really committed to each other to begin with won't necessarily stay together because they've created life. Ending a romantic relationship isn't a pleasant experience under the most ideal circumstances. It's far worse under the glare of national media attention.  

Let's hope we won't be seeing the continued circus side show antics of this child along with the Suleman 8 due to the parent's desire for attention. Then we can stop gawking at the kids and judging the parents for their imperfect choices.