A couple of weeks ago, the US Surgeon General revealed something surprising: “Parents Are at Their Wits’ End. We Can Do Better.”
JK. We already knew that!
But it was meaningful, we guess, to have this reality affirmed by a major public health official and as a legitimate public health crisis. This week, however, Amanda & Veronica dig into the comments section underneath the Surgeon General’s op-ed for The New York Times. Obviously we agree that we can and should do better for all parents, of every gender. But some of the commenters on the op-ed were skeptical.
In the episode, we discuss how both the essay and the over 1100 comments lurking underneath it reveal the anxieties that come up when we discuss the need for social supports that would make parenting in this country easier.
While some commenters did acknowledge the need for a more comprehensive social safety net, a pretty clear generational divide presented itself in the comments section. Some people felt that parents just needed to simplify their lives, be kinder to themselves, or… get over it?
This week, we also discuss why it matters when warnings like these fail to acknowledge things like feminism and gender inequality, why therapy won’t put food on the table, what the culture of self-help says about our failure of political imagination, and what tensions arise in the workplace between people who are childfree and parents.
Thank you to everyone who has already become a paid subscriber— your support really helps us steel ourselves for these *boisterous* comments sections.
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Show notes:
The US Dept of Health & Human Services parental mental health and well-being advisory page
For this week’s discussion: What did you think about the Surgeon General’s advisory? What’s your take on comments like those that suggest parents need to simplify their lives or do more therapy, and those who say parents already have plenty of advantages?
Next week, we’ll open this conversation even wider to discuss your personal experiences of how people talk about the state of parenting today— and how we can begin, with more precise language, to “do better.” Be sure to upgrade your subscription to join us.
Paid subscribers will also be invited to the RTC community chat in the Substack app next week, where you can post any troubling or enraging (or perhaps engaging? inspiring?) comments or comments sections you found recently on the internet that we can all discuss on the fly. Get the Substack app to access chat by clicking this link. You can also access chat on the web.
We are already bracing ourselves for what you find out there!
