I certainly think parenting is hard work, but referring to kids as if they’re a thinkpiece or art installation just sounded weird rhetorically.

So because I’ve never produced the “work” of a baby, I haven’t fulfilled my power as a woman?

Why would you expect that, though? Most professional settings don’t have kids present. Just because it a was a women’s forum doesn’t inherently mean that babies or children would be welcome. And that was the problem here.

I respectfully disagree. If I have paid for a ticket to listen to a reading or someone speak, included in the price is not the noise of a screaming infant. It is rude to subject others to the noise of your infants in the name of enlightenment parenting. I am not saying lock them in the nursery until they are ready for…

“[T]hings that can sound like happy baby noises to the mother sound like earsplitting squeals to a lot of us”

For me it comes down to one point: Did the author specifically ask whether she could bring the baby? If she did, then sentencing her to a breastfeeding room without warning is a jerk move on the part of the organizer, no question.

Sorry, but you have a very narrow view of this subject. Have you ever sat in a college class, with a screaming toddler who won’t shut up? Or have you paid for a ticket for a symposium, only to have to have the speaker leave the podium because her newborn wouldn’t stop crying. I have.

I find myself squarely in the middle on this topic. It’s pretty interesting, this is the first topic I’ve come across in awhile that I can’t form a concrete opinion on.

I don’t have kids yet. Let’s get that out of the way. While reading this article I kept noticing how the author kept mentioning how quiet her baby was. That’s great, -if it’s true. But let’s not forget that we all tend to be biased towards our own. People never think their dogs will bite someone, or that their kids…

I agree with you. I have a friend who is hoping to do as the writer and wear her baby to work and I just don’t think it’s going to work out. It would kill my concentration if I was her labmate. Infants sleep a lot but when they are not sleeping they take attention. And things that can sound like happy baby noises to…

DISCLAIMER: I do not have any babies but I’m kind of in baby fever right now (!) and actually volunteered to sit on a plane next to a baby like a crazy person. So this is not coming from hate.

I’m not an “older feminist” however that doesn’t mean I think every meeting/space should include children. It’s ok to have adult only events, the fact that the topic of the conference is women’s empowerment doesn’t change that. I don’t understand this attitude some people seem to have that they can bring their…

Look, I love babies. I like moms (some of them). But if I was invited to speak in from of hundreds of people, do a book signing, and participate in an intense professional conference, I’d arrange for child care for the day. No, you can’t bring your baby to work, sorry. That includes adjunct teaching. Advocate for…

Quick update on my cancer situation: I’ll have to have surgery but my prognosis is really good. The surgery is a bit more extensive than I thought it would be, so i’m a little concerned about recovery, but at least I get to live, so I’ll deal with the pain. We don’t know yet about chemo. My doctor doesn’t know for…

In my younger, more militant days (I honestly can’t even imagine my reacting this way now) this happened at a bus stop:

I was really hoping someone would be so self-involved as to turn a larger issue into an anecdote about a unique personal experience that does nothing to change any of the points made in the post. Thanks!

I often go to my favorite little wine bar to do some writing on the fic I’m working on. Much as I love the confines of my bed and mechanical keyboard, occasionally I just need some outside inspiration and change of scenery. You would be shocked (or maybe not, really) at the number of guys who think I want to discuss…

Maybe men should get better at that.

Honestly, I don’t say the world “miracle” often, but I think birth control has been a miracle for women’s overall being, station in life, agency, etc etc.

In a perfect world, ten and 11 year olds wouldn’t be sexually active, all pregnancies would be planned, and we would take care of those unable to fully care for themselves.