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May
“Push” Presents
Dr. Helen has an excellent article up at Pajamas Media about the new trend of “push” presents. These are the presents that pregnant women are expecting/desiring because they gave birth.
Well, at least a number of women felt the baby was enough. My problem is with the sense of entitlement. Should a present be expected? I say, “hell, no.” A husband is expected to be supportive of his pregnant wife, and help her with things like maybe going out and getting her some favorite foods, or rubbing her back or feet if they hurt, showing up for the birth to lend support, and of course, taking care of the baby afterward. But a husband should not be expected to give some kind of gift to pay his wife off for having their child, something that sounds so utterly unfeminist and dishonest, I don’t even know where to begin.
What a woman is saying when she expects a gift is that sex - and by extension, child-bearing - must be compensated by a man. This exchange boils down to legal prostitution (nothing wrong with prostitution in my book, but call a spade a spade). The problem here lies in the fact that wives who want this type of exchange often think of themselves as above being a prostitute, but indeed, they are not - they are just dishonest prostitutes who are pretending to be something else. And what about the act of paying for children? A diamond in exchange for a child? Isn’t this a little sick? And if this kind of exchange is okay for women, why not for men?
Go take a few minutes to read the article. What do you folks think? Do husbands owe their wives “push” presents?
