Jeff Jarvis links a piece by Lucinda Marshall of something called the Feminist Peace Network, who has a somewhat unorthodox take on today’s pseudo-holiday:
Forgive my cynicism about Mother’s Day. After all, what kind of ungrateful mother wouldn’t want to be honored with pesticide-laced flowers, chocolate that depends on children in slavery for its production and cards that deplete our forests and litter Mother Earth? Truly, it is the ultimate insult to honor life-giving with such toxic offerings.
Mothering in a world where damaging behavior is the revered norm is an oxymoron. Here in the United States, we are guilty not only of damaging our own children’s lives, but the lives of children everywhere. We have signed off on a value system that funds smart bombs but not schools. We cut school lunches in order to scrape up money to build and drop clustered bomblets that are the perfect size (soda can) and color (bright yellow) for catching the interest of a curious, thirsty or hungry child.
There’s more where that came from. Hmm. I actually prefer Jeff’s summary:
Happy Mother’s Day, you greedy capitalist, SUV-driving, eco-destroying, child-enslaving, bomb-dropping, heartless bitch, you.
Oooh boy.
