Feminism: U R Doin' It Rong

In anticipation of Pickle's arrival sometime in the next month or so, Husband and I have been taking a Birth Class.  

For those not familiar with the process in these parts, some Norwegians can be pretty particular and mostly opinionated about the "right way" that things should be done. 

And while I respect all sorts of opinions, I am about done up with most of the following phrases:

---Your body is doing what it is meant to be doing. 

---A woman's only purpose is procreation and continuation of human life.

---All natural is the only and best way to give birth. 

---You must .

---We don't treat pregnancy and childbirth like a sickness here, like you Americans do. 

I can go on, but perhaps you get my point.  It's not the opinions, it's the lack of respect for my own. 

But back to the Birth Class...it's taught by a expat British woman and the only one offered in English.  We signed up because it is helpful to get info about how to navigate the system and generally to understand the actual process a bit better. 

But before we started, I looked into the content to see how balanced the information would be and was assured that there was not any bias that all views would be discussed and considered. 

As the classes went on, it's become pretty clear that the instructor is an all natural advocate, which is fine, but not what we were promised and not what I intended to sign up to listen to for 16+ hours (yes, this class is 8 weeks). 

I'm all about the information gathering, but I am not all about getting told what to do. 

Last week, she hands us each an article and says "I didn't write this, but it's pretty much exactly how I feel about things." 

The title of the article is "Labor pain: labor power."  The basic premise of the text is that pain medication is a paternalistic creation to deny women their womanly power.  It goes on to say that without pain, you wouldn't bond with your baby. And that to offer pain relief is to deny mothers and all women their "transformation."  

And more so, that the presence of pain equals a better mother.

Just by the law of averages and general statistics, at least one of the eight women in the birth class will have a C-section. And I've had several friends adopt children and even use surrogacy to create a family. None of which involve the kind of pain touted as necessary in the article. And none of which will be indicators on whether or not she has a strong bond with her baby.

And it claims to be a feminist perspective.

If I remember correctly, I think that feminism is all about having choices, and respecting the choices of others.

Frankly, I think it is about the least feminist article I've ever read.