Blog: The Worthington Post - Time to Go
To the Editor of Time Magazine,
Rather than play into the outrage you so transparently tried to provoke, I shrug my shoulders.
Rather than blog about the unfairness and insensitivity of your cover, I leave that to others who have done so with far more aplomb than I could.
Rather than read the firestorm of criticism and debate that exploded in the blogesphere, I chose three from writers I really respect. One was a direct response, and the other two used it as a jumping off point to discuss what is relevant to me at the moment - writing and parenting.
Rather than have talks with my kids about it, I just left it on the counter for them to see. Consider it ignored by them and the issue unread by me.
Rather than jump immediately into the fray, I waited a week and let my response develop naturally - and on the outskirts of my thinking. Here it is, without even the courtesy of a link to the cover article that prompted this letter - I'm pretty sure you know the one to which I refer:
Thanks for helping me de-clutter my magazine rack and my mind. Fareed Zakaria is brilliant, and Joel Stein is hilarious. But really, I can get them online if I want them, and I officially dismiss you as extraneous. Subscription cancelled.
With minimal regret,
Aliza Worthington
anthrogirl
8:35 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
What did you have issues with, the picture, the article or both? The picture could have been different. The mom was striking a defiant pose and the boy looked ashamed, like he was caught doing something his friends would make fun of. Attachment parenting isn't a slap in the face of those of who choose less intensive parenting styles. Time thought pitting one parenting style against others was provocative. Most moms I know don't care if another mom is still breast feeding her 3 year old or spends all of her free time building and fortifying bonds with her kids. I like Time and I think attachment parenting is as deserving of its print as any other topic it covers. What I didn't like was the packaging.
Aliza Worthington
10:33 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
I'm embarrassed to say that I'm now one of those people who have blasted an article without reading it (though I do note that in the blog.) What offended me so was the divisiveness and meanness behind the cover. It wasn't only that it designed to not only be "looking for a good food fight," as Mary Toth so eloquently states below. It was designed to play on the insecurities of women and mothers, in particular.
"Are You Mom Enough?" invites toxic and useless competition between mothers, where there is and SHOULD BE plenty of room for all parenting styles, barring the pathological.
The model they chose invited women to further berate themselves for not being a willowy size 2. And she looked defiant. And her kid looked guilty of wrongdoing. Everything you said.
Just like I refuse to buy magazines at the checkout counter whose purpose is to make money off women's insecurities and self-doubt, I cancelled my subscription once Time employed this same tactic.
Mary Toth
8:45 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
Thirty years ago my family lived a few houses away from a family that definitely had different a different parenting style--including the mother who nursed her young son for about five years. I remember the boy would literally take a break from soccer to get a quick drink. The outcome: he and his two sisters grew up to be normal, appear well-adjusted adults. So did mt two children, both of whom had to suffer through drinking from a cup at an early age. I agree that Time is looking for a good food fight, but from my view, most of our kids do okay despite whatever parenting trend is current.
Aliza Worthington
10:36 am on Saturday, May 19, 2012
Yes, Mary, yes!!! There is no need or purpose for pitting mothers against one another this way. And I refuse to get hysterical or join the uproar simply because the editors at Time popped some popcorn and felt like watching a good show. I simply waited a bit, wrote the above short piece, and cancelled. Thank you so much for your comment. :)