Every interesting argument, Beverly - exactly. Why are we being told that we need to 'bounce back' to our pre-baby body, hobbies, likes/dislikes, and sleep? It neglects so much of the significant change and transition we went through as women, and that transition is multilevelled - psychologically, physically, emotionally, and, I will dare to say, spiritually. Could we imagine putting the same pressure of hitting-puberty adolescent with, say, 'hey, when that is over, you can simply go back to being a child again!'? It is more about assimilating and integrating these changes, rather than aiming for a return to the past.
Thanks Aleks. Oh yeah, such a good point about adolescence. People would (correctly) find the suggestion to bounce back from that ridiculous! We normally have such a bias towards onwards progress, it really jars that mothers are told to go back. I suppose it relates to the sexist attitudes we have towards older women - need to maintain the illusion that we're 22 for as long as possible.
Every interesting argument, Beverly - exactly. Why are we being told that we need to 'bounce back' to our pre-baby body, hobbies, likes/dislikes, and sleep? It neglects so much of the significant change and transition we went through as women, and that transition is multilevelled - psychologically, physically, emotionally, and, I will dare to say, spiritually. Could we imagine putting the same pressure of hitting-puberty adolescent with, say, 'hey, when that is over, you can simply go back to being a child again!'? It is more about assimilating and integrating these changes, rather than aiming for a return to the past.
Thanks Aleks. Oh yeah, such a good point about adolescence. People would (correctly) find the suggestion to bounce back from that ridiculous! We normally have such a bias towards onwards progress, it really jars that mothers are told to go back. I suppose it relates to the sexist attitudes we have towards older women - need to maintain the illusion that we're 22 for as long as possible.