4 ms·
> Child bearing is only an initial factor; after the baby is out it goes away. The effects of spending 9 months in the body of the mother never go away. No mor
by neonate 7y ago
> Child bearing is only an initial factor; after the baby is out it goes away.
The effects of spending 9 months in the body of the mother never go away. No more profound experience is imaginable. Nothing else that happens to a human being will ever come close. So, vitally important as fathers are, the asymmetry is fundamental and permanent.
(I'm talking about the typical developmental experience here; I know there are exceptions.)
- the_af 7y agoThis seems to be equivocating the issue. Yes, pregnancy is a unique experience. For some women it goes away magically after birth; others have lasting physical and mental changes. Whether this is the most profound experience imaginable in human existence is arguable, though I'm inclined to think it's pretty powerful. However, the "asymmetry" of pregnancy and child birth is neither fundamental nor permanent for the issue under discussion: sharing the load in child raising more equally, and fathers getting to spend more time with their babies. After breastfeeding is over, fathers are perfectly capable of raising a kid without a mother. It's not magic.
- neonate 7y agoI'm talking about the experience for the baby, and what this means for bonding with mother vs. father. It's not symmetrical or interchangeable. It can't be. Of course that doesn't mean that fathers shouldn't raise children or anything like that.