Pretty pushed on laboring women
I found this at Radical Doula and it just pisses me off!
Pretty Pushers (the name says it all) is “modernizing” your labor by making it “fashionable” with designer delivery gowns and a “dressed up delivery kit.”
I swear!
This is fucking crazy. In order to primp up “that unrecognizable monster” (YES! This advertisement actually says MONSTER) in the hospital for post delivery photos (what are they sending in the paparazzi, I mean, really!?), the kit offers sheer gloss, lemon-water towlettes and a headband for those damn fly aways that birthing a human being brings about.
As if we didn’t have enough pressure in general…and I though the relentless focus on post baby weight loss was horrendous! This takes it to another level entirely.
And “moderninzing” labor? Labor is labor. What, throwing in consumer goods and imposed beauty standards and voila! we have a “modern” birth?
As Radical Doula says:
Perpetuating screwed up ideas about women’s beauty is already infuriating enough, but now we need to mix it in with childbirth. If you’ve ever actually been with a woman after she’s given birth, I’d say she looks pretty damn beautiful, sweat and all.
i am appalled. and not just for the obvious false beautification offered to a laboring woman, but for the invalidation of how breathtakingly beautiful a laboring woman is, sweat, blood and all. i’m reminded of something my grandfather said to me after i gave birth to my son. he told me i was a warrior and called me beautiful and courageous for traversing through 23 hours of bringing forth life. that was priceless.
Comment by sarit — May 14, 2009 @ 10:30 am
I have seen several posts like this. I have been surprised at the animosity toward this product. It seems comfortable, convenient and cute. Since when is a dorky hospital gown part of the birthing experience? I think it would be even less empowering if we were forced to labor naked or only in the gowns the hospital provided. I think there is dignity and beauty in childbirth regardless of fashion. Now, I remember being horrified when a woman in my childbirth preparation class asked if they would clean off her baby before giving it to her. But, I have a feeling she didn’t feel that way in the delivery room. I get how it could seem removed from the beauty of the experience to worry about your appearance but I don’t see where this simple gown degrades childbirth at all.
What’s wrong with a woman wanting to feel comfortable on the day she gives birth? There are actually features to this gown that are much more convenient than the ones offered at the hospital. Sure, labor is messy and hard…for all of us…no matter what we choose to wear…or not wear. No one is pressuring anyone to wear this. I am a feminist and I love fashion. Most of all, I am someone who would feel more comfortable in this gown than in the hospital gown. A spritz of lavender essential oil on her hospital pillow…a CD of her favorite music…a gown she feels at ease laboring in…whatever makes a mommy feel more at ease during a strenuous, bloody, beautiful experience seems lovely to me.
Comment by Karla — May 5, 2010 @ 1:55 pm
I have to say, I bought one. I still don’t hate the product HOWEVER, I completely agree with the commentary on the packaging language. I am giving this as a shower gift and am considering removing it from the packaging because it IS OFFENSIVE. Monster, indeed! What are they thinking!?
Comment by Karla — June 2, 2010 @ 5:32 am