Mommy instinct

{{pseudosciencenav}}'''Mommy instinct''' is the concept that [[women]] who are [[pregnant]] or have given [[childbirth|birth]] will somehow [[Other ways of knowing|automatically know]] how to care for themselves and their [[child]]ren, better than any doctor or expert or family member who may have already experienced what the mother is dealing with. Sometimes, they can even extend this advice to other people or others' children. The concept is a combination of both the [[appeal to nature]] and [[Argument from authority#Appeal to no authority|appeal to no authority]] fallacies with sprinklings of bad appeals to [[common sense]].

==A dangerous idea==
According to mommy-instinct doctrine, a woman experiencing a problem with her children or with her pregnancy should not seek advice from experts who know what they're talking about; she must "listen" to her own instincts and make what (she thinks) is the best decision. Problem: even after listening to instinct, she might still not have the answer, so she asks people who aren't experts, like [[To Train Up a Child|the Pearls]] or [[nutritionist]]s. At worst, she may elect to not seek help when the circumstances become the most dire, like during a child's epileptic seizure or in the case of an [[ectopic pregnancy]].

==Who buys the woo==
Appealing to mommy instinct covers a broad number of areas of the [[woo]]niverse, including [[chemophobia]], [[anti-vaccine hysteria]], [[alternative medicine]], [[nature woo]], [[food woo]], [[homeschooling]], and many other types of [[anti-intellectualism]].<ref>[http://skepchick.org/2010/10/vaccines-anti-intellectualism-and-the-mommy-instinct/ Vaccines, Anti-Intellectualism and the Mommy Instinct], on [[Skepchick]]</ref> As such, it is promoted quite heavily on various [[social media]] sites such as [[Facebook]] and Pinterest by woomeisters who sell [[self help]] books and remedies to the gullible and those who don't want to be taken for [[sheeple]].

==Religious implications==
Without calling it "instinct", some [[religion]]s appeal to maternalism through their rhetoric or [[dogma]]. In [[Christianity]], the maternal "instinct" is the calling all women must follow, painted by joy.<ref>{{bible|John|16|21}}</ref> Christianity as well as other [[Abrahamic religion]]s also use childbirth as punishment for [[original sin]] and therefore an obligation, an idea that makes the [[anti-choice]] crowd happy. In this mindset, it's a woman's ''responsibility'' to give birth, thereby making them useful to the rest of society — a notion very admirable to the [[patriarchy]].

Certain [[pagan]] religions, appealing to matriarchal concepts, state that a woman's power is in her uterus, since they're the ones who carry a pregnancy to term, suffer the ultimate pains of childbirth,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/health/kidney-stones-explainer/ Well, not quite]</ref> and actually bring a new life into the world; therefore, they are stronger than the [[men]]s.<ref group=note>Never mind that conception also (normally) requires a male contribution, or the differences in musculoskeletal structures among the sexes.</ref> The cults involved in the [[goddess movement]] also use childbirth to define a woman's worth, albeit from a somewhat [[ironic]] [[feminist]] perspective.

==Ironically...==
There are currently studies on birthing positions by the [[World Health Organization]] suggesting that the lithotomy (lying on the back), while making the medical personnel's job easier, is the most painful and damaging for the mother. The WHO suggests letting the mother choose the position she feels the most comfortable with.<ref>[http://apps.who.int/rhl/pregnancy_childbirth/childbirth/2nd_stage/tlacom/en/ Position in the second stage of labour for women without epidural anaesthesia]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Jenny McCarthy]]
* [http://www.bodyforwife.com/being-a-mom-doesnt-make-you-special/ Being a Mom Doesn't Make You Special], on Body for Wife

==References==
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==Notes==
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{{stub|woo}}
[[Category:Nature woo]]
[[Category:Parenting]]

Categories: Nature woo, Parenting