Today someone posted on facebook that in
the same way girls are criminalised for baby-dumping, the men responsible for
the pregnancies should be too. I couldn't believe my eyes as I perused the
comments which were along the lines of “women need to learn to take
responsibility for their mess after they've spent the money they get from men
buying airtime and Brazilian hair”, “Think of the stupid moods women have
during that time (pregnancy), not everyone would like to take that nonsense.”
(This one came from someone who considers himself a “responsible father” and I
guess expects a reward of sorts for staying through the “nonsense”) Another one
was “I don’t support men who don’t take their responsibilities as fathers, but
if a woman is not being supported by the father of the baby, does that give
right to a woman to dump the baby? Baby dumping is killing. If the man is not
supportive, there are procedures to be followed to make the man take
responsibility. Women dump babies because they want to dump babies.”
I could have pointed out that if we look
back in the news reports, the girls dumping their babies are hardly ever the
Brazilian weave wearing kind even though I really do not get what that has to
do with anything. I could have pointed out that being a parent (a father, to be
precise) is about much more than giving out a few hundred dollars. I would have
liked to point out the stupidity in the ridiculously flawed thinking that
because a woman is “moody” a man is excused in not sticking around. However,
that last comment simply has me indignant, “WOMEN DUMP BABIES BECAUSE THEY WANT
TO”???
It’s amazing how easily people will paint a
woman as the villain without offering any form or concrete support, because the
truth is nobody can really “make a man take responsibility”, No one does. I
find it rather pretentious when people get on the “women are murderers”
bandwagon because then I’m inclined to point out that were women afforded the
opportunity to CHOOSE to have safe abortions, we wouldn't have baby dumping as
a problem. Anyhow, someone from my church might be reading this and I’ll be
dis-fellowshipped for advocating for abortion, so let me stick to baby dumping.
See, it’s all good and well to advocate for the life of a child, but what’s to
be said about the quality of that life? What will s/he eat? What will s/he
wear? And if the girl or woman in question is not prepared for motherhood, what
kind of life are we wishing upon this baby? I would think it a bigger sin to
bring a child into a world of suffering, knowing you can’t cater for the child,
than to not bring her or him into it at all, but apparently not.
I do wish young girls (especially) would be
more careful and responsible in their sexual engagements, but I cannot turn a
blind eye to the fact that very few women in Namibia
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