If babies are so precious, then why... (con't)

[Grip of Death]

... do the grandparents and other extended family members often like to dodge baby-sitting requests?

Why does one of my single-mother friends try to dodge responsibility of, or moan when it comes to wiping s**t off of her baby's a**?

Why does becoming a mother instantly lower a female's value in society?

Why is childcare costs so expensive, yet childcare workers are among the lowest-paid?

Why does an elementary school teacher, who requires a masters degree, get paid scores less than an engineer of even a bachelors?

Why is it that when a couple divorces and the woman is usually stuck with the child(ren), she is led to a one-way track to poverty while the man usually climbs the ladders and financially improves his situation?

These arn't at all sarcastic questions. I am sincerely asking the world why bearing children and relating to children are valued so low. But the point of my discussion is this- these things make a statement.

Feel free to posit some questions of your own, and maybe some answers as well.  

[MGadda]

Well, I think children are touted as something "priceless" to help ease the pain from the more pragmatic and real financial kick in the a** we all take for them.

Did you ever hear the origins of the term, "white elephant"? They're priceless creatures, like children. rofl

(Not that I'm demeaning the value of the love a parent can and does feel for a child. But in a very practical sense, pricelessness comes with a price.)  

[pidgezero_one]

"Thank you for not killing the future, we just don't give a flying ******** about you"  

[Talon-chan]

The simple answer: Ours is a society that is still very very much sexist against women. Caregiving is undervalued because it is a womanly thing. Children are not valued because they are the charges of the woman. Our society, as "gender blind" as it claims to be still has the social institutions set up in such a way as to benefit men and hurt women and children (in particular female children, who are raped and sold on the scale of orders more than male children).

Pro-lifers have the naive and childlike view that children, infants, etc are all giggles, smiles, and happy fun bundles of love that one can not help but want to surrender everything they have to them. While this view is very positive, and at face value acts against the sexist society in which we live (by valuing children and the care given to them), it does nothing to solve the problem (because valuing the care is not the same as valuing the care-giver - the source of sexism and the problems faced by women and children in our society).  

[Half Baked SF]

I'll answer what I can.

Quote:

Why does one of my single-mother friends try to dodge responsibility of, or moan when it comes to wiping s**t off of her baby's a**?

Sounds more like an issue of disliking diaper changing than disliking caring for the child.

Quote:

Why is childcare costs so expensive, yet childcare workers are among the lowest-paid?

I believe that's due to the costs of aring for so many children and keeping them happy at once.

Quote:

Why does an elementary school teacher, who requires a masters degree, get paid scores less than an engineer of even a bachelors?

Because the teachers are paid with tax money. It's the tradeoff from paying (upfront) for public education.

Quote:

Why is it that when a couple divorces and the woman is usually stuck with the child(ren), she is led to a one-way track to poverty while the man usually climbs the ladders and financially improves his situation?

Odd, often in the ED you see a lot of guys complaining about how they never get the children.

I can't answer this one though.  

[SterileNeedles]

I'll answer these questions as best as I can, most of them will probably be from personal experience though...

Grip of Death

... do the grandparents and other extended family members often like to dodge baby-sitting requests?

Well my grandmother whines about taking care of kids because she just isn't a kid kind of person. She is very lazy and doesn't want to have to cater to some kids needs all day (ironically though she had 4 children herself when she was younger xP ) My mother though loves to baby sit my little baby cousin. She is always the first to step up and say "I'll watch him!" Maybe it's because she loves children? :/ *shrugs*

Grip of Death

Why does one of my single-mother friends try to dodge responsibility of, or moan when it comes to wiping s**t off of her baby's a**?

No idea, doesn't sound like they were meant to be mothers.

Grip of Death

Why does becoming a mother instantly lower a female's value in society?

I don't know, that's the first I have ever heard of this before.

Grip of Death

Why is childcare costs so expensive, yet childcare workers are among the lowest-paid?

I don't know this one either, but man the bitchy woman that used to babysit me and my brother sure got paid a shitload of cash and she didn't even pay attention to us, she sat on her fat a** all day neglecting all the kids she was watching (which thus allowed said crazy children to beat on me and my brother xP ).

Grip of Death

Why does an elementary school teacher, who requires a masters degree, get paid scores less than an engineer of even a bachelors?

I think teachers get paid differently everywhere because the teachers out where I live get paid pretty well for what they do, 50-70 thousand a year.

Grip of Death

Why is it that when a couple divorces and the woman is usually stuck with the child(ren), she is led to a one-way track to poverty while the man usually climbs the ladders and financially improves his situation?

When my mom divorced my father she wouldn't let him have us, we were her only tie to my dad because she didn't want to leave us. It was her decision to keep us, so I don't know how a woman gets stuck with the kids. I know a lot of men that want to have at the very least 50/50 custody of their kids. (My father wants 50/50 so he won't have to pay child support). But considering who my mother married she actually rose up in the ladder much, much more then my dad has. But that's just my situation. It's probably different for a lot of people.

Grip of Death

These arn't at all sarcastic questions. I am sincerely asking the world why bearing children and relating to children are valued so low. But the point of my discussion is this- these things make a statement.

In my family the more kids one has the better I guess. I really don't know. This is the first I have ever heard of being related to children as decreasing your value as a person in society. I always see people in politics that scream "Family, family, FAMILY!" and have like 10+ kids.  

[The Velveteen Violinist]

If babies are so precious, explain this:

Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot that they're only innocent and precious BEFORE they're born.  

[KoopaTroopa18]

You know, if children are so precious to anti-chicers then why don't
A. they have as many as they possibly can.
B. after having as many as they can NATURALLY, they should go out and adopt as many as they can.

... hypocrites. stare  

[The Velveteen Violinist]

SSBrosM

You know, if children are so precious to anti-chicers then why don't
A. they have as many as they possibly can.
B. after having as many as they can NATURALLY, they should go out and adopt as many as they can.

... hypocrites. stare

Aye.... Cooo, even though I don't consider babies more precious than other people, I still would much rather you know, adopt and save a child from a third world country and save them from a starving and prostitution life....

You know, rather than pumping them out like Happymeal Toys.

Basically, What you said!  

[Nekala]

I personally think that if I decited to have a child that I would consider it very precious.

But a woman's body and mental health is also just as precious as any baby they could bring into the world, which is what pro-lifers don't realize.  

[The Velveteen Violinist]

Nekala

I personally think that if I decited to have a child that I would consider it very precious.

But a woman's body and mental health is also just as precious as any baby they could bring into the world, which is what pro-lifers don't realize.

Yes, I would think so to. But I agree, the mother is precious too...

However, these are morals and personal takings... I'm just operating on the basis "Don't Assume" and "Don't Bother Anyone."  

[Talon-chan]

..Le Chat du Noir..

If babies are so precious, explain this:

Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot that they're only innocent and precious BEFORE they're born.

And don't forget, those children are black... so who gives a damned about them.  

[The Velveteen Violinist]

Talon-chan

..Le Chat du Noir..

If babies are so precious, explain this:

Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot that they're only innocent and precious BEFORE they're born.

And don't forget, those children are black... so who gives a damned about them.

Oh! Sorry, I forgot that they weren't white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and therefore not worth saving.

Whoops. How silly of me to think that ALL children matter.  

[Lord Setar]

..Le Chat du Noir..

Talon-chan

..Le Chat du Noir..

If babies are so precious, explain this:

Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot that they're only innocent and precious BEFORE they're born.

And don't forget, those children are black... so who gives a damned about them.

Oh! Sorry, I forgot that they weren't white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and therefore not worth saving.

Whoops. How silly of me to think that ALL children matter.

They all look pregnant O_o  

[Prinsesse Maggie]

Lord Setar

..Le Chat du Noir..

Talon-chan

..Le Chat du Noir..

If babies are so precious, explain this:

Oh yeah! Sorry, I forgot that they're only innocent and precious BEFORE they're born.

And don't forget, those children are black... so who gives a damned about them.

Oh! Sorry, I forgot that they weren't white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and therefore not worth saving.

Whoops. How silly of me to think that ALL children matter.

They all look pregnant O_o

That's because their stomach muscles have wasted to the point of not being able to hold the organ up. At least that is my understanding of it. It's typical to see the distended stomach with the extreme stavation that also causes the otherwise skeletal appearance.