MOTHER BASHING. IT’S ALL THE RAGE
If you are a mother, shame on you.
You are doing everything wrong. Probably deliberately. You only have to read the newspapers, or Twitter, or Facebook or the comments at the bottom of articles to realise that mothers are the worst people in the world.
And not only are they the worst people in the world but they refuse to apologise for it.
It’s that kind of shamelessly irresponsible behaviour that makes these lady breeders such a blight on our society.
Here are just a few of the ways that you (yes, you) are ruining Australia:
Not breastfeeding your kids
Formula-fed children grow up to look like Timmy from A Christmas Carol. Their limbs are stunted, their lungs are shrivelled and they catch face cancer if they wear natural fibres. They are rheumy-eyed weaklings who are destined to a life of nothing but murmuring incoherently from the confines of their iron lungs.
Breastfeeding your kids
Breastfed children subconsciously retain the image of suckling on the end of their mother’s boob for the rest of their life. Their brains are pocked with the lustful memories of the brazen hussy who forced her femaleness upon them. This is how serial killers are formed. There should be a national register of breastfeeders so we know where Australia’s future sex pervs are hiding. If you insist on using your filthy funbags to feed your kids, at least do it somewhere appropriate. Breasts should be saved for porn and the Lingerie Football League and I don’t want to see you abusing your child (and my eyes) at the bus stop. Get thee to a rotary dairy, woman!
You put your kids in childcare
We all know this one: “We can’t afford to eat, so I have to go back to work”. Obviously that’s a lie. No-one uses childcare because they can’t afford food, they use it so they can earn more money to buy designer clothes, BMWs and Frappuccinos. And don’t give me that rot about childcare teaching kids how to socialise. ‘Socialise’ is very close to ‘Socialist’ which basically means Communist. While you laze around a pool getting drunk and doing heroin, (that is what ‘working mothers’ really do all day) your kids are being brain-washed by so-called ‘childcare providers’. Childcare is a Communist Plot. When your little Maos grow up, they will move to North Korea, start a nuclear war and kill us all.
You are a stay-at-home mother
Don’t you love Australia? We’re in the middle of THE DEPRESSION and you are sitting at home all day, dangling your toes in a foot spa and watching Dr Phil while the rest of us are working. It’s one thing to be a woman with no ambition but really, refusing to be a Super Mum is just pathetic.
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64 Responses to this article
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Lilly June 6, 2012
Sorry but nothing has changed. Mother bashing has been going on since time began. And the worst of it comes from women. We keep the dance alive because we either feel inadequate and hardly done by or self important. Most of the time we have a choice, we should be grateful and be less judgmental about everyone else. I am not holding my breath though.
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Jenny MacKinnon June 7, 2012
Yeah, Lilly, let’s bash ourselves a bit more, why not?
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Cate June 6, 2012
Nailed it yet again, Corinne.
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bigwords June 6, 2012
I knew I was doing something wrong, Corrine. I breastfed, bottle-fed, stayed-at-home, used childcare, am married, but was raised by a single mum, used the baby bonus for one of our three children to buy a television for the kids’ room so we could feed them biscuits and get just a few moments of quiet. I am a terrible awful Mother (insert sarcasm here). I do not however judge other mothers for their choices and just like you am so angry and saddened by the alarmingly vicious online hatred being waged against other people. The nastiness has to stop. Love this post
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Linda June 6, 2012
Loved it, Corinne. But then what do I know? I’m a mother AND a grandmother; the worst kind. Yup, a Loser with a capital L. Thank you for the humbling read. xx L
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Elisha June 6, 2012
Love it.
Sent by: nutritionmummy
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Sharon June 6, 2012
I think there’s some strong social, psychological and biological reasons for why the way mothers choose to raise their children inspires responses in those who choose differently.
Aside from that, very funny and beautifully articulated as usual Corrine.
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Cassandra June 6, 2012
Brilliant Corrine!!! I
have been in all but one of these categories… but which one that is, is completely irrelevant considering that I’ll be burning in hell anyway!
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Frankly Feisty June 6, 2012
Dear Corrine, GENIUS
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Kelly Exeter June 6, 2012
Gold Corinne. As always you have nailed it
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Ness June 6, 2012
Brilliant! Loved it!
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Alice Shaw June 6, 2012
I’m a working single mother who bottle fed one and breast fed the other… eeek!! Thank you Corrine… you’ve made me feel better already
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MsChief June 6, 2012
Sadly it’s not only women who do this, now this going back 20 years, but when i decided to stay at home with my kids my father said I was wasting my life. When I then decided to go to work he didn’t waste a minute telling me how I was abandoning my children. We’re all trying our best whatever we personally decide to do. When my son was born breast feeding was the rage, I could only do it for 6 weeks, so I lied till he was 6 months old to anyone that demanded I must still be breastfeeding. Bottle feeding was all the rage 3 years later when my daughter was born, I managed to breast feed for 3 months, but I again lied. Now don’t even get me started about letting them sleep in your bed & control crying, we failed completely but we knew that our now 23 & 19 year old kids would not still be sleeping with us, we were right & bonus we got to sleep.
Loved it Corinne, great article & a good laugh! -
Mrs Woog June 6, 2012
Bestest post of the day x
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Adele June 6, 2012
Hahaha. Because they are vampires.
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Jess WhoaMamma June 6, 2012
Love, Love, LOVE!!!!! xxx
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Annie June 6, 2012
Well done.
Nothing has changed.
Not only other mother’s but now a feminist daughter who has vowed never to have children blames me for everything and now is passing that attitude onto her now pregnant younger sister. (Eg calling her a ‘breeder’ and saying awful things like; What’s it feel like to have your uterus INVADED?)Let’s be gentle with each other and ignore the blurb from the main stream media commentators.
Let’s support each other, no matter the choice.Thanks for this!
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Julie Morgan King June 6, 2012
It’s part of the human condition, bashing mothers. It’s the basis for the psychotherapy movement and just about any book, film, memoir, nursery rhyme you care to name. It just becomes more obvious when you assume the mantle. I would say get over yourself, but won’t because you can’t. I’ve felt it often. Just don’t mention your motherly pain to a sensitive man. He’ll say “You have no idea how bad it is trying to be a good man,” before he goes on to blame his crippling vulnerability on a bad mother!
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Keryn June 6, 2012
Hilarious! Agree with everything and like everyone else here, have done the lot! Still bearing the brunt of being ‘not so perfect’ with older daughters father who never understood what I did all day when at home, never understood how I could not be the one to organise child care when I worked because I was the mother and that was my responsibility – and ‘please don’t ask me if I will be home to look after the girls when you want to go for a movie with your friends, just assume I will be out and organise care for them.’ He not long after this became an ex but still calls me to ask why I have not taken all my long service leave to care for our 18 year old daughter who is suffering from an eating disorder because as her mother she should be my priority not my workplace. I have asked my daughter if she would like me to be at home while she is at work and funnily enough the answer is ‘no, what good will that do, but don’t ask me about my eating disorder because I never want to talk about it and there is nothing you can do!’
Can I take my long service leave and go somewhere on my own and not feel guilty about not taking it to benefit someone else – no, because I am a mother and apparently this leave should be used to benefit someone else, which may or may not be the right thing to do in the long run anyway!-
Kerry June 6, 2012
Keryn
It all just reinforces why he is your EX. Tell him to butt out.-
amd August 3, 2012
Absolutely. Sounds like the children are all grown up, I wouldn’t even be conversing with him any more.
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Natasha Dreger June 6, 2012
Brilliant. I bow down before your greatness.
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sam June 6, 2012
Love your work Corrine!
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Jenny M June 6, 2012
made me laugh out loud, thankyou Corinne!
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Lisa Lintern June 6, 2012
You are a genius. Best post ever.
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Old mum June 6, 2012
You forgot the other sin- old mothers. Me and collette dinnigan are knee deep in the hoopla over this one
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Leonie June 6, 2012
I am the worst mother as I can’t even give my children a father. He died two years ago and I have been so selfish that I haven’t gone out trawling the pubs and clubs looking for a replacement. Even worse: I haven’t broken up any marriages to fulfill my need for a man.
So selfish I would much rather have no man and raise my children well and alone than have a number of potential daddies come in to my kids’ lives.
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Emily June 6, 2012
Nailed. It.
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kim at allconsuming June 6, 2012
But aren’t you childless? What are YOU doing with your life? It must be SO nice eating out every night, attending the theatre and buying as many new pairs of shoes as you life. Huh, HUH? *eyeroll* *fingers at the ready to start hurling iAbuse*
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Danielle June 6, 2012
Looks like I’m damned…. But apparently not alone.
Fabulous post. -
Mummasphere June 6, 2012
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. What a shame this is part of our culture. Imagine what women could do if we all supported each other and stopped criticising one another?
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lisa Heidke June 6, 2012
Outstanding! Loved it! Thanks, Corinne.
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blue June 6, 2012
I was a bad mother. No matter what I did I couldn’t get it right and I tried so hard. I was a walking target, it seemed. Other mothers were, very sadly, often my worst critics. I think I might never recover from feeling that I couldn’t get it right, ever, for so many years.
Now I’m a grandma and I’m probably a bad one at that too only everyone would be too scared to tell me. My grandkids think I’m just fine and that’s all that matters. Everyone else can go fuck themselves. Grandkids giggle at the word ‘fuck.’ Anyone got a problem with that? I’m someone has. If you have, mind your own business.
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Marissa @ Beautifully Organised June 6, 2012
Love it. I’m so over the judging. Live and let live. Each to their own. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Give peace a chance
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Tracey Spicer June 6, 2012
So true! Some days, we feel like we can’t do anything right. I reckon – bugger what anybody thinks. Just do what works for your family.
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Julie Newans June 6, 2012
Cheers to that Corinne! Mt daughters (19&22) had a fight recently – it was my fault, they have anger management issues due to me not leaving their father soon enough (I left 11 years ago). I could spend a millennium writing about this type of stuff or you can borrow it lol.
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Catherine June 6, 2012
Perfect. Let this be the end of the debate…
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SusanSays June 6, 2012
Great! I’ve often wondered if it would be an idea for every mother to pass their newborns to someone else to raise, because as we know, everyone else does it better!
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Rachkln @ Mummy Muddles June 6, 2012
You are fabulous Corrine. It’s such a shame all of your wit will be wasted on the small-minded people who will continue to lash out. But I have hope! x
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FerrelBerryl June 6, 2012
Hilarious and so true.
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Leah June 6, 2012
Clearly you are all losers, as you all have time to get on the net and comment on a mummy blog. Back to the kitchens and get dinner ready. Lazy women, next you will try and tell me you were flat out today but have nothing to show for it!!
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Lanettea June 6, 2012
I’m don’t have kids (never been interested, still not, in late 30s at the moment).
Great post and very true. Evidence abounds. Constant, contradictory nonsense.
And it does cut both ways.
I’ve been attacked relentlessly for not having kids – how I’m incomplete, not a real woman, my life is meaningless without them, selfish, yadda yadda.
The discourse is cruelly judgemental to mothers, but mothers still dominant the discourse, leaving those of us who haven’t given birth invisible altogether.
People love attacking women’s choices and they fact they’re making them – whatever they are.
I’d never attack a mother for their choices (unless they’re endangering lives, such as not vaccinating ones child – which is nothing to do with her being a mother, per se).
Nice use of Betty Draper to exemplify the horror maternal archetype.
There is no normal. Simple as that.
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Deirdre June 6, 2012
Don’t know what everyone’s on about. I’m an effing perfect mother and grandmother. None of this applies to me due to my perfection. Just ask my perfect daughter who is also a perfect mother and my perfect mother who is also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother – yes that’s right GREAT. Great, grand and perfect. That’s us. (We live in a secret location where everything is effing perfect and all abusive incoming e-stuff is sent off into the smelly blotosphere where it belongs.) It’s not a cult.
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Samjfox June 6, 2012
Ha ha, you suck, I suck we all suck! Lol great work Corrine x
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Jules June 6, 2012
So freaking funny!! I have 3 daughters, have done it differently with each one from the weaning to the toileting to the sleeping. You forgot to mention sleeping – oh how if I’d “just stuck to a routine/had a more flexible routine/didn’t have a routine” then they would sleep through and I’d get some rest. I need sleep people, hang on, that’s right, I torture myself intentionally, or perhaps it could just be that my babies just don’t sleep because they’re babies, FFS!
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Olesia (nee Jacyshyn) Warren June 7, 2012
Great article, and the other comments, I am now a grandma, and wtill have my sense of humour, including having a chukkle over the over the comments, We mums produce the most important product to keep this country sane, and if we do stay at home – demostectic services, just tally up the many skills we are able to mention on a voluntery basis, in a paying position we are worth millions. We mums produce quality for this nation.
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The Huntress June 7, 2012
LOL So sadly brilliant and true.
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Kerryn June 7, 2012
Great article, well done Corinne
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Rosie June 8, 2012
What’s wrong with Betty Draper? She is my role model! Great article!
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Trish June 8, 2012
You forgot the cross to NAIL this too. Loved this Corrine.
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Sam June 8, 2012
I’m not a fan of hitting children but sometimes what can you do. Children need to learn right from wrong and I’m all for disapline. When I was little I got a tap on the backside and I’m not complaining because I would never push the boundaries. Bashing children is not ok that means you need to remove yourself from the situation, time out and ask for help.
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Lara June 9, 2012
I love it! Thanks Corinne.
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Anna June 10, 2012
Ha Ha! This is so true. Its not just women criticising each other though. Very few women are wiling to accept there is a war on women that is FAR from having been won and put behind us. Working out WHY women spend so much time and effort criticising each other would be a good first step in reviving a women’s movement to start asking WHY are Mothers so hated in our culture? Why are our bodies reserved for male use or hated if they dont come up to LFL standard? Why is working so all or nothing for most women? Why are we not given more support to breastfeed – including milk banks for those that can’t or don’t want to? Start asking these questions women and start directing that anger in the rightful directions.
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Melissa June 11, 2012
dear Sam,
hitting children does NOT teach them thedifference between right ad wrong, it simply teaches then to fear YOU. TThere’s plenty of other options …. you named one yourslef.The other sid eof this issue is that when mothers get it really wrong, people seem disbelieving that such pillars of society could err from the pedasal upon which they are places. My mother was quite shockingly cruel and abusive, however any attemps to get help were countered with ” o mother would deliberately hurt her child “
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Kelly June 11, 2012
LOL*sob* at comments that blame – you know, WOMEN – for mother-bashing.
Great piece, Corrine.
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claire June 15, 2012
I know I’m a few days late but I’ve just been too busy making mistakes with my children and all other aspects of my life to read this blog until now…
I agree that there are a lot of ridiculous contradictory attacks that go on towards mothers. And, as many of the other comments mention, they come from society at large.
I wanted to put up my hand to say that some of my best friends are other mothers. We all do things differently and we all love each other as much as we did before we had kids. And we are not critical of each other. Women in their own circles, in their own lives, are usually extremely supportive of other mothers. It’s the media – and online commentary, as Corinne notes – who continually pit mothers against mothers. -
amd August 3, 2012
People can only take your power away if you let them. Just pay no attention and do the best you feel you can do. Yes, it is possible. It is harder in some situations than others, but perfectly possible. Still, a fairly interesting piece.
Couldn’t help but notice though that apparently (according to the article) mums abuse other mums about breastfeeding. I have, literally, never heard a parent of either sex say a bad word about a woman breastfeeding – neither in real life, nor in a forum. I am not saying it does not happen, but the only place I have heard of it happening is in “news” articles and forums such as these.
It is true, I have heard plenty of negative comments about those who choose to breastfeed for years until the baby is no longer a baby – but not about the act of breastfeeding a baby. I have heard that woman are sometimes abused for breast feeding in public. Again, I have never seen this, or heard this myself, but will take it at face value since there have been a few reports of it over the years.
However, I have heard plenty of abusive comments made, in real life about bottle feeding (starting with my own mother who had a go at my cousin for bottle feeding 25 years ago – this is not a new phenomena). Hoopla made a throw-away snide comment about Zuckerberg being bottle fed on their “Breastbook Fail” blog – which they later tried to back up by saying “The comment was supposed to be about Zuckerberg not seeming to know what breasts are actually for!” and my response was “In addition, it is up to every woman to decide what her breasts are for, not you.” Clearly, it is not the job of Hoopla, me or anybody else to make that choice for any woman. (NB, the snide jab at bottle feeding may have been removed now, didn’t notice it when I looked earlier.) Then I happened across this blog.
So, if we take this blog at face value, it’s ok to judge bottle feeders? They weren’t defended, or even mentioned, which I thought was curious.
I realise that this is off on a tangent to the discussion, but just thought it was interesting that this aspect was completely ignored.
(And, as stated previously, yes I breast fed).
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amd August 4, 2012
Darn, I notice I was wrong about the bottle fed comment. There is a section on slagging off bottle fed babies. My apologies. Though I also note that the snide comment about Zuckerberg “What is it with Mark Zuckerberg? Was he a bottle-fed baby? ” is also still there.
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