Lori Critiques Condom Commercial

[GeoBQn]

Lori contrasts the new condom commercial that portrays children as undesirable with the news story about the family in Michigan that just had its 12th son.

lorialexander.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-persuasive-condom-commercial.html

Two differing views on having children. Our society does not view them as a gift and a blessing. They view them as something that takes away your time, money, and freedom. They do take away your time, money, and freedom but aren't we called to a life of self-sacrifice and service?

After the Michigan family was interviewed, the hosts asked each other, "Isn't twelve enough?" Can you have too many gifts and blessings? People don't seem to think they can have too many clothes, too much money, too much food, etc. but a couple who wants as many children as God blesses them, heavens no!

I do want children eventually, but I don't even have to see a condom commercial to make me apprehensive about the changes that children will bring. I have plenty of friends who have started families that match Lori's description:

The Michigan family lives in a modest home, the mom is a stay-at-home mom, the dad is the provider, and one of the boys said that it was awesome to live with all of his best friends. The boys are quietly sitting for the cameras. Some are playing pool together. This family knows their greatest treasures are their children.

It looks so nice and loving and homey--until a friend posts a FB status about how her husband and all 2-4 of her children have the stomach flu. Then my maternal instinct dies. No matter how perfect you claim your family is, there are just some parts of parenting children that are unpleasant and uncontrollable, and that can't be forced on anybody who doesn't want to deal with that.

And as we have established, yes, you CAN have too many blessings if it means your "blessings" don't have enough food to eat or other necessities of life.

[Arete]

Lori you stupid twat. Christians being called to a life of self sacrifice and love does not equal having more children than you can raise. In fact, most of the examples of self sacrifice and love Jesus illustrates are between people who are NOT related.

[dairyfreelife]

Reminds me of the aisle in my local Walgreens. They have baby supplies on one end, then pregnancy and ovulation tests and condoms and other birth control on the other end. I always figured the message is that if you don't want to buy the stuff on one end, use the stuff on the other end. ;)

[linnea27]

And yet Lori didn't accept all of God's blessings because she decided it would be a hardship for her.

[JesusFightClub]

OMG I love this, I do really. The Daily Mail recently has been running articles along a similar theme. One was about how childless/childfree women were "selfish" and if they claimed to enjoy their state they were "fools or liars".

I would love to know how I'd be "selfish" for not having kids. Seriously, if anyone knew me, they would say I'd be about 1000 times MORE selfish for trying to have children than for not having them.

[salex]

And yet Lori didn't accept all of God's blessings because she decided it would be a hardship for her.

Exactly. Her opinions and her life don't line up, and really, in what way is she an expert on anything? I view her as a frustrated "letters to the editor" writer. She has no valid expertise on the things she babbles on and on about, and eventually newspapers stop printing letters from the same person day after day.

She's a harridan and a crank.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I have yet to see how having a fuck ton of kids as opposed to keeping your family small or not having children makes someone a better person. Where is the evidence?

[ILoveJellybeans]

They dont understand that there is no perfect family size for everyone-everyones personality, lifestyle, income and tolerance for kid stuff is different. The only people who know how many children a person should have is the person themselves and their sexual partners, and even then they need to listen to and talk to eachother about it.

[PopRox]

Two differing views on having children. Our society does not view them as a gift and a blessing.

Neither do you, Lori; given your tendency to gleefully abuse/force-feed/manipulate them.

And not everybody follows he same hateful misogynist god that you do. So no, WE aren't called to a life of self-sacrifice by shooting out babies like a tennis ball machine.

[Jana814]

I have yet to see how having a fuck ton of kids as opposed to keeping your family small or not having children makes someone a better person. Where is the evidence?

Same here!

[Carla Bruni]

The clothes I buy hang in the closet until I want to wear them. The food I buy sits in the fridge until I want to eat it. The money I have sits in the bank until I want to spend it. None of these things require time, love, affection, potty-training, playdates, field trips, family vacations, homework checking, or college educations.

I have a cat. I would like to get a dog, but I can't right now because I'm never home & I travel a lot. It's called BEING RESPONSIBLE, you numbnut.

[Ariel]

Having 12 children is not a natural phenomenon for humans. Humans are primates and primates use K-selection. This means that we only have a few children, we're pregnant for a long time, and we raise our children for a long time before they're mature. Having so many children most likely didn't occur until after the advent of farming when humans had more resources to devote to children. Chimpanzees generally only produce 3 children (maximum 5) in their lifetime which in the wild is 45 years. Not to say that we are identical to chimpanzees, but its an interesting comparison.

i.e. Even if you do believe in God, you're not 'intelligently designed' to be having so many kids so stop being a multi-kid martyr.

[salex]

Having 12 children is not a natural phenomenon for humans. Humans are primates and primates use K-selection. This means that we only have a few children, we're pregnant for a long time, and we raise our children for a long time before they're mature. Having so many children most likely didn't occur until after the advent of farming when humans had more resources to devote to children. Chimpanzees generally only produce 3 children (maximum 5) in their lifetime which in the wild is 45 years. Not to say that we are identical to chimpanzees, but its an interesting comparison.

i.e. Even if you do believe in God, you're not 'intelligently designed' to be having so many kids so stop being a multi-kid martyr.

Also, with the older and oldest kinds of farming, more children meant more laborers and often that meant more production, excess to buy more land, etc. Children used as labor meant children were an asset. Today, children aren't out earning money for the family, in most instances. They fill other needs for some people, but they cost more cash than they provide, so they can be an expense, or a luxury, depending on the situation.

[curlytoes79]

Why does this commercial show the kids kicking, hitting, or spilling hot coffee on guy's crotches? Is that the biggest downside to children from a guy's perspective? :lol:

It's funny, but this is the classic:

[SPHASH]

I wish Lori's parents had used condoms. Then we wouldn't be subjected to her bullshit.

[AnAgnostic]

OMG I love this, I do really. The Daily Mail recently has been running articles along a similar theme. One was about how childless/childfree women were "selfish" and if they claimed to enjoy their state they were "fools or liars".

I just read one of those articles by Kate Spicer in the Daily Mail. This broad is a piece of work. Even worse than the have-a-boatload-of-babies-for-Christ nutters are the I wish I could teach young girls to have babies if I had the chance because I didn't because the timing in my life was not right before 40. Sheesh. :roll:

[Chasingthedog]

Why does this commercial show the kids kicking, hitting, or spilling hot coffee on guy's crotches? Is that the biggest downside to children from a guy's perspective? :lol:

It's funny, but this is the classic:

I took as it as "you'll have a bunch of kids and something bad will happen to your junk"

[emiliawasframed]

It bugs me to no end when women like Lori seem to suggest that the best way for women to nurture and guide future generations is to give birth to them. I have cerebral palsy, and for reasons related to that, have chosen not to have children. I am also a college professor and a faculty mentor to young women. I care about my students (a few of them very deeply); I give them advice; I want what's best for them. This is fulfilling for me, as I can give back without endangering my body and/or a small child. But to Lori and women like her, I'm still second-class. It's infuriating.

[August]

Clothes don't fight with each other, sofas don't need bathing and stories and homework help.

[August]

Reminds me of the aisle in my local Walgreens. They have baby supplies on one end, then pregnancy and ovulation tests and condoms and other birth control on the other end. I always figured the message is that if you don't want to buy the stuff on one end, use the stuff on the other end. ;)

I normally see tampons, pregnancy tests and condoms together. So you come for the test, grab a few if the condoms and tampons just in case you got lucky/unlucky.

[DistantStar]

Also, with the older and oldest kinds of farming, more children meant more laborers and often that meant more production, excess to buy more land, etc. Children used as labor meant children were an asset. Today, children aren't out earning money for the family, in most instances. They fill other needs for some people, but they cost more cash than they provide, so they can be an expense, or a luxury, depending on the situation.

And then there were the child mortality rates. You might have given birth to a dozen kids, but until very recently, there really would be no guarantee that even a majority of them would have made it out of childhood.

[LadyBlue]

Why does this commercial show the kids kicking, hitting, or spilling hot coffee on guy's crotches? Is that the biggest downside to children from a guy's perspective? :lol:

It's funny, but this is the classic:

Yes. lol No coffee here, but the kids have ALL kicked, grabbed, stepped on or pulled up using dh's "family jewels". I tell him they're trying to prevent competition.

I have 4 boys. 12 would be insane. The level of furniture destruction boggles my mind. The mathematical odds against it are incredibly high too. If you have 7 kids (highest I could find), there's only a 1.6% chance they'd all be the same gender.

[Vex]

I love how the Daily Fail is praising people who breed with the whole underage pregnancy crisis that's going on in the UK. Priceless.

I think fundie guys find condoms insulting to their masculinity somehow. Like it's insulting to suggest that they might have to sacrifice ANYTHING (time to put them on, money to buy them, the loss of sensation so many guys claim) during their sexytimes. Sacrifice in the bedroom is for women, don't you know?

[Rainytown]

We did not have children. I have not regretted this decision for one second. It's interesting that Lori and others call those of us who did not choose parenthood "selfish" when they are the ones who pop out many children to propagate their DNA. carry the family name, "take care of them when they're old", etcetera.

The more education a woman has, the more likely she is to decide she's not having children.

[Conuly]

I have 4 boys. 12 would be insane. The level of furniture destruction boggles my mind. The mathematical odds against it are incredibly high too. If you have 7 kids (highest I could find), there's only a 1.6% chance they'd all be the same gender.

There's a story about a gambler and a mathematician. They were set up with the problem that a fair coin was tossed 100 times and came up heads each time. What are the odds that it will come up heads the next time?

The mathematician said 50%, of course, because coins have no memory.

The gambler shook his head and said "You're crazy! That's not a fair coin!"

Those odds you gave presuppose that every man has an equal chance of producing male or female sperm, but that doesn't seem to always be the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/health/06real.html