Comments on: Mommy Infighting, Again http://www.girldetective.net/?p=522 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Tue, 12 May 2026 14:50:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=522&cpage=1#comment-6694 girldetective Wed, 24 May 2006 21:20:40 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=522#comment-6694 Flanagan is both too easy a target and too specialized a one. I doubt many of the women who are lambasting her have her money or her writing gig. While Flanagan may be a hypocrite, it's also likely that most of her critics are envious (myself included--I'd love to have more money and write for the Atlantic.) and thus their criticism is dubious. Maybe all of us would have someone else clean up our kid's vomit if we could--how can we know? I like Jernigan's ending, because it's simple--I don't like what Flanagan has to say, so I'm not going to give her my time to read her: "The percentage of the female population who are in a position to learn much of anything from Flanagan’s example is so small as to be meaningless if not for the fact that this same population has considerable media access and a will to use it. If like-minded women want to club together to congratulate themselves on their feminine virtues and motherly righteousness, well, it’s a free country. And I can’t imagine that these women are going to stop committing their self-satisfaction to paper anytime soon. What I am sure about, though, is that I’m about done reading." But what I would add is that we should not encourage Flanagan by buying her book, and not give her any more of our time/talent by writing about her. Ignore her, and maybe she'll go away. Flanagan is both too easy a target and too specialized a one. I doubt many of the women who are lambasting her have her money or her writing gig. While Flanagan may be a hypocrite, it’s also likely that most of her critics are envious (myself included–I’d love to have more money and write for the Atlantic.) and thus their criticism is dubious. Maybe all of us would have someone else clean up our kid’s vomit if we could–how can we know?

I like Jernigan’s ending, because it’s simple–I don’t like what Flanagan has to say, so I’m not going to give her my time to read her:

“The percentage of the female population who are in a position to learn much of anything from Flanagan’s example is so small as to be meaningless if not for the fact that this same population has considerable media access and a will to use it.

If like-minded women want to club together to congratulate themselves on their feminine virtues and motherly righteousness, well, it’s a free country. And I can’t imagine that these women are going to stop committing their self-satisfaction to paper anytime soon. What I am sure about, though, is that I’m about done reading.”

But what I would add is that we should not encourage Flanagan by buying her book, and not give her any more of our time/talent by writing about her. Ignore her, and maybe she’ll go away.

]]> By: carolyn http://www.girldetective.net/?p=522&cpage=1#comment-6575 carolyn Tue, 23 May 2006 19:03:47 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=522#comment-6575 i enjoyed jessica jernigan's write up on that book, let me find it for you: http://jessicaleejernigan.typepad.com/jessica_lee_jernigan/2006/04/to_hell_with_ca.html i enjoyed jessica jernigan’s write up on that book, let me find it for you:

http://jessicaleejernigan.typepad.com/jessica_lee_jernigan/2006/04/to_hell_with_ca.html

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