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Saturday, October 15, 2005

Flickers of Interest

A couple of articles poked through the haze created by the terrible weather, and caught my interest over coffee:

In Slate, Emily Bazelon, writes about the No Diaper Method that has been discussed briefly on these pages once before. An article in the New York Times has dragged the issue into the spotlight again and now everyone is talking about it. Bazelon makes a lot of good points and I was fascinated to see the history of the disposable diaper in the United States (they didn't really hit their stride, so to speak, until close to the end of the 20 th century). If this project works out for some people, that's great, but I truly lost patience when I read about the Diaper Free Movement's attitude when it says that following its practices will strengthen one's bond with one's baby.

Here are some things that strengthen one's bond to one's baby: childbirth without epidural, co-sleeping, baby-wearing, no diapers, breastfeeding. I have no trouble with any of these things and I practice some of them, but I don't see why there has to be so much guilt attached if one can't potty train one's 7 month-old or finds oneself needing an epidural or stroller. I don't know if people really internalize the message that failing to follow certain practices makes it harder to "bond" with one's child, but the language always feels to me like that of the classic cautionary tone familiar to all of those who had to walk past one's mother on the way out on a Saturday night in high school: "Are you really going out looking like that?" One either dragged oneself back to the closet or stomped off in defiance.

The No Diaper people could have said: "Here's what we do. It's great, you save money and spare the environment." But I suppose the sting of guilt must give their program some gravitas.

On another front, it seems that conservative groups have become upset with the American Girl Doll people.

I have never owned one, but do know several girls who love these dolls. In my acquaintance, Kit, the Depression doll (no, her accessory kit doesn't come with a tiny bottle of SSRIs- Kit represents a industrious little girl living in the Dust Bowl during the late 1930's) is the favorite.

Anyway, it seems that one of the American Girl initiatives is to sell little wristbands to support Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes programs for girls in education, sports, the ever-elusive self-esteem, and also provides money for college scholarships. Conservative groups, fearing that Girls Inc. might provide information about contraception instead of abstinence, and support girls questioning their sexual orientation, are now threatening to threaten to boycott.

Now, American Girl Dolls are owned by Mattel, which is a substantial enough company to withstand this kind of threat, but I do hope they stand firm with the Girls Inc. initiative, which seems to have more subtlty than the protests are taking into account.

posted by Elise at 9:18 AM