Free Republic

Feminist theorist and author Germaine Greer said that the concept of motherhood has been “emptied out” and is “gone” in a lecture on women’s progress at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales on May 23. The outspoken Australian feminist, who once compared motherhood to captivity, critiqued the “concept” of motherhood at a time in which in vitro fertilization (IVF) has become increasingly popular. […] Greer also voiced her disapproval of singer/songwriter Elton John naming his same-sex “wife” David Furnish as the “mother” on their sons’ birth certificates. “Sir Elton John and his ‘wife,’ David Furnish, have entered on the birth...

It started shortly after I had my first child. I was leaving the building on the Upper West Side where we lived at the time and the doorman said “have a nice day, mom.” This man was approximately my age, so I was definitively not his mom. I was very new to being anyone’s mom, actually, and hearing that was jarring. To be fair, I’ve been called variations of “mother” well before I had children. I’ve had “hey mami” shouted at me from many a car window and more than one fine gentleman has asked me “what’s up, ma?” as...

Mamma Mia – Perfectly in God’s Design, as Seen in a Short Video By: Msgr. Charles PopeNancy Pope and Charlie Pope 1961My mother died a little more than ten years ago, quite tragically and suddenly. At first her presence seemed so far away, her soothing voice with its gentle mid-western accent, gone. But then about six months ago, in my heart and deep in my thoughts, I had a sense that suddenly she moved closer to me. Perhaps her purgation was at an end, or perhaps some roadblock in my own heart moved. But there she was, and once...

If our nation is going to pull out of this Obamaland crap-ditch that weÂ’re currently mired in, then were going to need men. Not males, but men. Men who personally, politically and culturally scrap indifference, take responsibility, lead boldly and expect success. Which means, if IÂ’m right in my assessment, that weÂ’re more screwed than a drunken coed at Panama City Beach during Spring Break because there are pusillanimous punks oÂ’plenty nowadays. Yep, I blame the absence of men being men as the chief reason why weÂ’re being hijacked by commie clowns and a significant swath of our nation is...

"What do you think you missed not having a dad around?" Marshawn Lynch, the grumpy, often-fined National Football League star for the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, was asked that question. Lynch, raised on the mean streets of Oakland, California, by a single mother, said: "Nothing. My mama played both parts." When asked, however, why he finds it difficult to "trust" people, Lynch tells a story about his father: "I think it started earlier, when Mom would (take me over to my dad's) house. And when I get there, my dad like, 'Oh, OK, I be right back,' and...

resident Obama's disrespect for motherhood has manifested itself in policies ranging from support for same-sex marriage to defense of a form of abortion that involves forcing a baby into a drug-induced premature delivery and then leaving that little one to die. When it comes to the most vulnerable and innocent human beings -- those for whom great mothers have great hearts -- Obama has a heart of stone. It is demonstrably true that he does not believe a child has a right to a mother or a need for a mother. If he did, he could not support same-sex marriages...

Many people don’t know that the early feminists (those who fought for a woman’s right to vote in the 1800s) were mostly pro-life. Mattie H Brinckerhoff was a popular lecturer in the Midwest on women’s suffrage and other women’s rights topics. Here is some of her writing on abortion. Her use of the term “voluntary motherhood” dealt with the choice women should have to refuse to have sex in order to avoid childbearing. It’s hard to believe, but at the time, women had no right to refuse sex with their husbands- they could not prosecute him for rape, and culture...

This is my second Christmas season without my mother, and so far it's been harder than the first. I had known that the first year would be hard, and all I really cared about was surviving it. Activity was my friend: My sister Kathy and I spent the fall wrapping up her estate, selling her house, sharing her prized possessions with family and friends. We talked every day. Much of our connection was activity-based: Was her account closed? Were the papers signed? It was hard, but I had known that it was going to be hard -- so I accepted...

Abortion is becoming ever rarer in the United States. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its latest survey of abortion in the United States. The CDC tallied 730,322 abortions in 2011, the smallest number in almost 40 years. CDC’s numbers are probably an under-count. Other surveys suggest that the number for 2011 was slightly larger than 1 million. But if the precise number of abortions is uncertain, the trend is not. The incidence of abortion in the United States sharply rose in the 1970s and 1980s, reached a peak in 1990, and has tumbled by nearly...

> Good Times for Dogs, Not So Good for Babies – A Reflection on the Perversity of Modern Culture By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn moral decline, both personal and cultural, the problem is that not only do we desire what is evil, we also stop desiring that which is good and holy. At the heart of desiring what is evil (or what is good, but to excess), are pride, greed, lust, and gluttony. Sloth and envy are more involved in no longer desiring what is good.Sloth is a kind or sorrow or aversion to the good things God offers to us, involving everything...

Apple and Facebook say they'll shell out out as much as $20,000 for women to put their parenthood plans on ice. The firms also hope the incentive will help women balance child-rearing and work life. However, even as success rates continue to rise, there are no guarantees the method will lead to conception down the road.

FULL TITLE: British model who said she’d abort her child to get on reality show now says she is “completely anti-abortion” Over the decades our Movement has seen some amazing converts. The “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade (Norma McCorvey) became a passionate pro-lifer. Dr. Bernard Nathanson who not only was part of the brain trust that created the original NARAL but also “presided” over 75,000 abortions, produced “The Silent Scream,” an incredible pro-life documentary. Josie Cunningham is [in]famous for a different kind of abortion advocacy. A British model, she made headlines earlier this year when she said she would...

When the economy tanks, women have fewer babies. But what happens in the following years, when conditions improve? A massive new study suggests that for some U.S. women, living through a recession can mean they will never have children. In fact, the authors project that among women who were in their early 20s in 2008—early in the so-called “Great Recession”—about 151,000 will forgo having any children as a result, at least by age 40. …

<p>Tracey Kahn is a successful publicist. She is single, lives in a beautiful apartment in Manhattan, has a 2-year-old daughter, and is pregnant with again. She is 51.</p> <p>"I feel great, and I'm so excited, and so is my family," Kahn says.</p>

Dozens of mothers staged a nurse-in at an Oregon restaurant in protest on Sunday after a manager asked one woman to cover up while she nursed her baby. Erin Klein said a manager at the Ram Restaurant in Happy Valley asked her to cover up as she nursed her 11-month-old, because other customers had apparently complained....

Today is my youngest brother's birthday. He died a week before his 51st birthday. In his honor, and to show what kind of person he was, I thought I'd share something he wrote for our Mother's Day in 2010 for her, while she was dying of esophageal cancer. "Promises (Between a Mother and a Son)" Dear Mother, When I was conceived, you promised to bring me into this world healthy. And you did. When I was young, you promised to love me and nurture me. And you did. When things got rough, and you were all alone, you promised to...

BATON ROUGE, LA, June 2, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- For the second time in as many years, Governor Bobby Jindal has vetoed a bill that would have made it legal to enter into a contract with a surrogate mother in Louisiana. Both vetoes took place despite enormous support in the state legislature. In his veto letter Jindal, who is Catholic and considered a likely GOP presidential candidate in 2016, said he had concerns about "how this legislation impacts the way we value human life."

TORONTO – For women, smelling a newborn baby feels as good as drugs are to addicts or cheeseburgers to those just breaking a fast, new Montreal research suggests. A University of Montreal scientist says a newborn baby’s odour lights up the reward centres in our brain in a way other scents can’t. And for women – specifically moms – the experience, a rush of dopamine to the brain, is heightened. The reaction is so strong, it exists even if the baby isn’t in front of you. It’s chemistry between mom and baby. “What we’ve shown for the first time is...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Texas gubernatorial hopeful Wendy Davis brushed off criticism about her life story from Bristol Palin, saying that nothing Palin accused her of was true. Davis was responding to a blog post from the daughter of former Gov. Sarah Palin, who wrote last week amid questions about the timeline of Davis’s personal biography, slamming her for allegedly leaving her kids behind with her ex-husband after finishing law school. “Gosh, children are sooo inconvenient, huh? I’m glad my mother didn’t put motherhood on the shelf when she was elected to City Council, then became our mayor, then governor,” Palin wrote, addressing her...

Every time I hear someone say that feminism is about validating every choice a woman makes I have to fight back vomit. Do people really think that a stay at home mom is really on equal footing with a woman who works and takes care of herself? There’s no way those two things are the same. It’s hard for me to believe it’s not just verbally placating these people so they don’t get in trouble with the mommy bloggers. Having kids and getting married are considered life milestones. We have baby showers and wedding parties as if it’s a huge...