Intuition versus science?

Hi Margie!



The excerpts from the book make me laugh out loud. Your post made me think about our own future granddaughters....will they read our reference books, like What to Expect or Dr. Sears, and laugh at our generational "wisdom"? I completely agree with your concerns about moms being treated as "non-experts", forced to ignore --or perhaps never cultivate -- their own maternal instincts. There is a commercial undercurrent to a lot of this: if we are made to be afraid of our lack of knowledge, then we will buy the book, or put aside the homemade food in favor of "safe" prepared foods. Much of this fear-mongering is done in the name of public health and "science" and it is hard to sift out fact from fiction. I don't want my child to get botulism from honey, but nor do I want to avoid raw vegetables until he is four just because some expert says they could choke him.

The sad fact of our ongoing investigation into maternal food wisdom and child feeding practices is that much of it has already been lost. How many mothers have we spoken to from other countries, other local cultures, even other generations, and all they can remember is Gerber and rice cereal? Is this authentic food wisdom, or just effective marketing? What happened before baby food was a commodity? It has been such a challenge for both of us to find mothers who remember a different way. What heartens me are the many current mothers who are curious about this project, or ask these questions themselves. And this curiosity is not a new phenomenon: I have my mother's crunchy "back-to-the-land" 1970's books that talk about whole foods and purees for babies. Still, they are printed books with "recipes", not a tradition of maternal practice handed from one generation to the next.

Instinct and intuition are traditionally framed as a "female" way of knowing, versus "male" scientific authority. So many of the women in our socioeconomic class have "succeeded" by adapting to these traditionally male values. Does this become a liability when we move into the maternal role? I talk to many women who are assertive in the classroom and confident in their careers, but are cowed into asking the doctor "permission" to give their child a taste of table food. Is it because we think the doctor knows better? Is it because we are afraid to fail? Have we really been convinced we are a potential danger to our child at every stage of development? I think there are complex issues at play, but much has to do with the privileging of the scientific over the instinctual in our culture.

I mentioned Dr. Sears and his oeuvre at the beginning of this post, and while I am already rolling my eyes at some of his earnest methods, I doubt our granddaughters will be snickering at the heart of his message: watch your baby. If you are aware and attached to your child, you will know what is best for them and your family. Trust yourself as a parent. To this, I would add, trust yourself as a cook.

Abbie

p.s. I love our philosophical discussions -- but I'm hungry for some RECIPES! Next post, I'm going to give some of our current favorites!