Parenting Blog: You’re Doing it Wrong
It was with interest that I perused Mark Latham’s latest offering
“Mum Bloggers show dark side of feminist parenting”.
The title caught my eye, having just guest blogged about Parenting through a Feminist Lens myself, over at a great parenting blog called The Multitasking Mummy. I wondered what possible dark side he could have imagined about parenting while keeping the mindset that women are, you know, human beings.
I read what he had to say and I admit, I laughed my head off at his latest piece. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I chuckled at his attempted attack on mum bloggers. His cherry picking of Daily Life writer Sarah MacDonald’s recent articles and the way he twisted her words into his inevitably ridiculous conclusion had me in stitches.
I did say I wouldn’t bother responding to his bizarre attacks anymore and I stand by that. I just repeat this mantra:
I do have some observations on what he’s doing that I’d like to share.
You see, here he is, a stay at home dad taking women to task because they don’t stay home, like he does, living on his generous government pension which is no doubt greatly enhanced by his solicitor wife’s income.
Here is a man who has been given a national platform to air his views on subjects he clearly does not understand who keeps digging himself in deeper and deeper. He has dug himself into such a hole, in fact, that there is a petition calling for his articles against women to be removed and for the Australian Financial Review to commit to not publishing any more of them.
Here is a man who thinks his gourmet cooking, native gardening, politician’s pension lifestyle equips him to judge and speak for all women from all walks of life, from us terrible city-working feminists to the apparently docile, non-political mums from the west.
His words might not appear on his tumblr, wordpress or blogger account, but make no mistake, Mark Latham is a daddy blogger.
Think about it. We’ve all read about his kids- their laughter, their smiles, their homework, their character, their toys. He’s told us about his cooking, his gardening.
Of course, he’s done so while also going on vicious ad-hom attacks against certain female writers and villifying feminists in general while criticising concepts he doesn’t appear to understand in the slightest.
And all of this in a finance publication?!
Is there an award for weirdest parenting blog ever?
To counter it, here are some links, in no particular order, to some parenting blogs that are far better reads that Latham’s:
Rebecca Stephens: Seeing the Lighter Side of Parenting
Heartfelt Living by Maxabella Loves
Kylie Purtell- A Study in Contradictions
All of these blogs have something different to offer. Real, relatable struggles and stories. Laughter, advice, help, inspiration. Not one of them cruelly targets other writers at random. Not one of them needs to use hysterical attacks to get readers in.
There’s more. There’s loads more. I know I’ve left out so many! Help me out- what are some of your favourite parenting blogs?
