STILL CELEBRATING CHILD ABUSE, THIS TIME ON THE COVER OF "PATHWAYS TO FAMILY WELLNESS?!!?"

Here she goes again. This narcissistic, exhibitionistic person, Jamie Lynne Grumet, masquerading as a mother, demonstrating child abuse for all to see on the cover of - wait for it! - "PATHWAYS TO FAMILY WELLNESS!"

"Attachment Parenting" is an oxymoron. The disturbed and distorted "theory," at least as manipulated by the likes of Grumet, does not foster healthy attachment (which would be naturally followed by healthy autonomy and individuation at around age 1 1/2), nor does it constitute parenting by any measure. What it is is child abuse, most insidiously in the form of the narcissistic exploitation of a young child for the ego-gratification of a disturbed adult.

Here are the actual founders of "Attachment Parenting," psychologists Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby, on the subject: "Questions like whether to breast-feed or bottle-feed, or at what age to introduce solid foods, though still important, no longer carry the same urgency. Attachment theory suggests that babies thrive emotionally because of the overall quality of the care they've experienced, not because of specific techniques. A bottle-fed baby whose mother is sensitively attuned will do better than a breastfed baby whose mother is mechanical and distant."

You can read more by PL HERE on the subject. Below is my original post on Grumet and her exploitation of children for her own ego gratification.

This is not a joke.




Time magazine’s controversial cover features actual mother, Jamie Lynne Grumet, standing, and her 3-year-old son, unnamed, perched on a chair, nursing from his mother the way she and he actually do it.

As FPL readers know, I'm no prude when it comes to the human body, sex or breast feeding, for that matter. In fact, I strongly advocate for all of the above in healthy doses in genuinely self-actualized situations. 

But as readers also know, I deplore what passes for parenting in our culture. Ms. Grumet, unfortunately for her son, is one of the reasons why I say that parents are the least qualified of all adults to raise children.

Let me be sure that my position is not ambivalent: 

"Attachment Parenting" is an oxymoron. 

The disturbed and distorted "theory" (as least as it's been interpreted and put into practice) does not foster healthy attachment (which would be naturally followed by healthy autonomy and individuation at around age 1 1/2), nor does it constitute parenting by any measure or stretch of the imagination. What it is is child abuse, most insidiously in the form of the narcissistic exploitation of a young child for the ego-gratification of a disturbed adult. And all of that has come into vogue, perhaps thanks to Dr. William Sears, who wrote the book on this corrupted pseudo-parenting concept, disguised as enlightened parenting.

You can read some of my thoughts on this subject HERE.

2 comments:

Jason Loffredo said...

Yeah, I agree with you on this one PL! Absolutely ridiculous. Although technically "Attachment Parenting" is not so much an oxymoron as it is a "be careful what you wish for" statement. If your goal is to have a child that is completely attached to you, (physically and emotionally), quite literately for the child's entire life, then "Attachment Parenting" is the answer! I just hope you're prepared to go to school with the child, go to college with the child, go to work with the child, etc. etc. for the rest of your life because that child will NOT be able to do any of that on their own!

Isabel Pareja said...

I like almost everything you write and I think it makes a lot of sense, except on this subject. I think you haven't researched enough, just look at some anthropological facts on breastfeeding around the world. By the way, mothers and fathers can be narcissistic both breastfeeding and bottlefeeding, I don't see your point here. And parents can put their needs before either with attachment parenting or using Ferber. Breasts are meant to breastfeed and children are not automous at 1,5 years, they start their autonomy and, of course, parents need to encourage that, but they need to return to a secure base for a very long time after that.

 

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