Post-Partum Depression & Moms Who Kill Their Kids

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What does feminism have to say about this? Is this the female privilege we hear so little about?

Rationalizing infanticide with post-partum depression ...

I have no idea.

Maybe.

I have read a couple of books about women who do this...some of them who did it more than once. It is a pretty screwed up thing. It is so tempting to hate them and call them evil, but I cannot even imagine being in such a state of mind.

Female privilege.

Feminist hypocrisy.

Garbage.

Something I said?

No. It's just that the pro-choice people keep beating us over the head with the rape-baby-abortion scenario as if to indicate that rape is inevitable. Like it's a hurricane, a force of nature. Rape is a given, they almost say. And since there's a 98.3% chance of rape in every woman's life ...

Matthew Chapter 7 verses 1-6, John Chapter 7 verses 1-11.

Ugh...It is late here and I did not sleep well last night, so you have now completely lost me. Your original post prompted me to think something really nasty and hateful...but I deleted it from my first post before hitting submit. Maybe I will be more fit for polite conversation tomorrow.

Until then...

Feminism originally meant equal rights so asking this question comes off a bit one-sided and confusing.

Which feminism are we talking about?

Also where is the resource for infanticide with post-partum depression?

It's not common for women with post-partem depression to kill their babies but I agree I wouldn't use it as an excuse for killing a baby if it mean a light sentence.

Would the same be said about a men's movement for equal rights?

Last edited by MissConstrue on 19 Feb 2009, 1:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm sorry, who exactly is rationalizing infanticide? How does feminism relate to this?

Huh?

Not a damn thing my friend. Feminism has morphed into a form of female narcissism . Feminists dont care about children!(well, except if those children are female and then they think of them as "little women" ) Modern feminism is nothing more than female self-interest and entitlement.

f**k I get sick and tired of people making assumptions and judgements about things they know nothing about. Slowmutant what do you know about depression and the influence of hormones on the brain, please enlighten us with your knowledge on the subject.

I suffer from depression. I suffered with it al through my teen years and went through several hospitalizations because of it. I know a thing or two about depression.

Yes, medical reality does rationalize some cases of infanticide. This is not to say that it is approved or encouraged.

We know that some women will have their hormones and neurotransmitters scrambled after they give birth, and that this increases the risk that some of them will abuse or kill their children. When such physical disruption triggers depression or schizophrenia, neglect and abuse of the child are innevitable. The rational response is to develop treatment and surveillance programs, which will save the lives of infants.

From an individual moral standpoint, a court must ask if a person knew what they were doing and was able to make a decision. If someone was slipped a dose of LSD without their knowledge and consent, and that victim then got paranoid and crazy and did something bad, one must ask if that person is responsible for what they did, or if they were temporarily incapacitated. The same questions can and should be raised in some cases of post-partum depression. These issues are frequently raised when a profoundly ret*d person breaks the law. What is not at issue is whether they did it or not - we assume that they were caught red handed. What is at stake is whether they understood a situation and had the ability to react in a appropriate moral and legal way.

So I don't see it as a 'feminist' or anti-feminist issue, as you have cast it. Your example does involve women, but other cases that involve mental and moral competency involve both genders. It is these larger issues of competency that are the real issue here - not whether one likes feminism or not.

From a population standpoint, it is inevitable. Women do get raped and some of them get pregnant as a result of it. Just like banks will get robbed and people will drink and then drive. Any laws that try to limit abortion need to consider the idea that there are different reasons that a women would seek an abortion.

When debating such laws, we should also ask whether prohibiting abortion in all cases would be an incentive to rape. If my daughter were raped and became pregnant as a result, I certainly don't think she should be forced to reward the rapist by carrying the baby to term, and then either putting it up for adoption (or if her maternal hormones kicked in, raising the rapist's child for the next 18-50 years).

Last edited by monty on 19 Feb 2009, 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Which is to say, not inevitable at all. Possible, but not unavoidable.

Last edited by slowmutant on 19 Feb 2009, 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.