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> Really bad look for YC, being a mother is literally the highest calling a woman can have. This is a weird take. Women can be more than just baby factories. T

> Really bad look for YC, being a mother is literally the highest calling a woman can have. This is a weird take. Women can be more than just baby factories. They can have a far more reaching impact on the world beyond just adding to its population.

speakfreely 2y ago
> Women can be more than just baby factories That's a weirder take. Women who do a good job caring for the next generation are more valuable than most of the other impacts you're likely to make in a business career. Most people overestimate the impact of their work and underestimate the impact of their family and personal relationships. It's one of the most common deathbed regrets.
- cthalupa 2y ago
  "Spending more time with friends and family" is not the same thing as "having kids" I know I will regret not spending as much time with close friends as I could have - I already do. Some of them I no longer have the chance to do so. I regret not traveling more when I was younger - and I traveled A LOT! Still do. But there are some things I'll never get to experience. I'm sure I'll regret some aspects of focusing on my career. Career and work are almost certainly not the most important aspect of your life. But that doesn't mean that you have to have kids, either, or that you'd regret not having them. I find it weird to suggest that the most meaningful form of interpersonal relationship has to be that of parent and child instead of whatever an individual finds to be the most meaningful.
  - speakfreely 2y ago
    There's certainly exceptions, but I would say for the majority of people, their relationships with their parents are amongst the closest and most important in their lives. It's one of the few relationships that survives the different phases of life. I don't have children so I can't recommend that for you, but I still think having children is a beautiful thing that should be encouraged.
sergiotapia 2y ago
in my opinion creating life is miraculous. beyond inventing some piece of tech or rocket or business. you are breathing new beings into our reality. what can be higher than that?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- hungie 2y ago
  Your framing leads to questions like: are infertile women inferior? I think it's wonderful to find purpose in creating and nurturing a life, but framing it as the best makes people who cannot or choose not to do the thing seem inadequate.
  - disso 2y ago
    [flagged]
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > creating life is miraculous. beyond inventing some piece of tech or rocket or business. you are breathing new beings into our reality. what can be higher than that? We can create life de novo in a laboratory [1]. We’re approaching the point where we can replicate a womb artificially, and do a better job at that than natural ones. (Interstitial attachment in humans is evolutionarily recent and inefficient [2]. The size of the human brain, too, is evolutionarily recent, which makes human childbirth evolutionarily recent and uniquely deadly among primates [3]. These aren’t difficult to improve on, which is why IVF, C sections, NICUs and lactation inducement are a thing.) Parenting is rewarding, necessary and noteworthy. Calling it miraculous in literal (versus figurative) terms puts it on a glass pedestal. That’s dangerous if you believe parenting should be respected. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6053685/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6053685/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4305162/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4305162/
  - 2y ago
AyyEye 2y ago
> Women can be more than just baby factories Yes this is the entire point of TFA and the parent comment.
theandrewbailey 2y ago
That statement implies that your mother was a bad mother. I'm sorry. Being a mother is so much more than just creating another being. It also involves programming values and experiences into someone so that they can navigate the world. Raising my brother and I was by far the top achievement of my mother, and it was very fulfilling to her. Other mothers I know of are similar.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Being a mother is so much more than just creating another being. It also involves programming values and experiences into someone OP describes a “blessing and privilege only afforded to women.” That describes the biological process of having a baby. Not parenting and child rearing broadly, whether that be by the father, adoptive parents or extended family and community that help nurture a child. (I’m hopeful this was mis-phrased by OP.)

speakfreely 2y ago

> Women can be more than just baby factories That's a weirder take. Women who do a good job caring for the next generation are more valuable than most of the other impacts you're likely to make in a business career. Most people overestimate the impact of their work and underestimate the impact of their family and personal relationships. It's one of the most common deathbed regrets.

cthalupa 2y ago
"Spending more time with friends and family" is not the same thing as "having kids" I know I will regret not spending as much time with close friends as I could have - I already do. Some of them I no longer have the chance to do so. I regret not traveling more when I was younger - and I traveled A LOT! Still do. But there are some things I'll never get to experience. I'm sure I'll regret some aspects of focusing on my career. Career and work are almost certainly not the most important aspect of your life. But that doesn't mean that you have to have kids, either, or that you'd regret not having them. I find it weird to suggest that the most meaningful form of interpersonal relationship has to be that of parent and child instead of whatever an individual finds to be the most meaningful.
- speakfreely 2y ago
  There's certainly exceptions, but I would say for the majority of people, their relationships with their parents are amongst the closest and most important in their lives. It's one of the few relationships that survives the different phases of life. I don't have children so I can't recommend that for you, but I still think having children is a beautiful thing that should be encouraged.

sergiotapia 2y ago

in my opinion creating life is miraculous. beyond inventing some piece of tech or rocket or business. you are breathing new beings into our reality. what can be higher than that?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
hungie 2y ago
Your framing leads to questions like: are infertile women inferior? I think it's wonderful to find purpose in creating and nurturing a life, but framing it as the best makes people who cannot or choose not to do the thing seem inadequate.
- disso 2y ago
  [flagged]
JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> creating life is miraculous. beyond inventing some piece of tech or rocket or business. you are breathing new beings into our reality. what can be higher than that? We can create life de novo in a laboratory [1]. We’re approaching the point where we can replicate a womb artificially, and do a better job at that than natural ones. (Interstitial attachment in humans is evolutionarily recent and inefficient [2]. The size of the human brain, too, is evolutionarily recent, which makes human childbirth evolutionarily recent and uniquely deadly among primates [3]. These aren’t difficult to improve on, which is why IVF, C sections, NICUs and lactation inducement are a thing.) Parenting is rewarding, necessary and noteworthy. Calling it miraculous in literal (versus figurative) terms puts it on a glass pedestal. That’s dangerous if you believe parenting should be respected. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6053685/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6053685/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4305162/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4305162/
- 2y ago

AyyEye 2y ago

> Women can be more than just baby factories Yes this is the entire point of TFA and the parent comment.

theandrewbailey 2y ago

That statement implies that your mother was a bad mother. I'm sorry. Being a mother is so much more than just creating another being. It also involves programming values and experiences into someone so that they can navigate the world. Raising my brother and I was by far the top achievement of my mother, and it was very fulfilling to her. Other mothers I know of are similar.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> Being a mother is so much more than just creating another being. It also involves programming values and experiences into someone OP describes a “blessing and privilege only afforded to women.” That describes the biological process of having a baby. Not parenting and child rearing broadly, whether that be by the father, adoptive parents or extended family and community that help nurture a child. (I’m hopeful this was mis-phrased by OP.)