Is That a Baby Under Your Desk?
March 9, 2012
ALEX M. writes:
I very much enjoy reading your website and the discussions you have with your commenters.
I felt compelled to pass along the following news item that appeared in yesterday’s morning paper. The article (actually the second photograph shown) was on the front page of the National Post (a national newspaper here in Canada).
I was disturbed to read that the “debate” the article refers to is not over whether it is in the best interest of a baby to be taken to work by his mother but instead whether the presence of a baby is disruptive to the mother’s colleagues (which is besides the point).
I found the photograph particularly disconcerting. At first glance I assumed that the baby’s mother was the woman on the right but the child is looking at the woman on the left. To me, this ambiguity speaks volumes.
— Comments —-
Sunshine writes:
“I was disturbed to read that the “debate” the article refers to is not over whether it is in the best interest of a baby to be taken to work by his mother but instead whether the presence of a baby is disruptive to the mother’s colleagues (which is besides the point).”
I think it is in the best interests of the baby to be wherever his mother is. It makes sense to me that the central issue is that others who are trying to work are distracted by the baby’s presence. The baby belongs with his mother; it is the mother who is out of place.
Laura writes:
I agree. There aren’t a whole lot of drawbacks for a baby in a quiet office environment with his mother compared to the alternative of day care or care by someone other than the mother.
There are huge drawbacks for the quality of the work environment. Babies cry. They create a mess. Once they are crawling or walking, they like to move around and pull things off desks. Mothers are not entirely focused on their work. They also naturally talk to their babies, which is distracting. I’m sure it is nice to have a baby around for a few days in an office as a novelty, but in most offices that novelty quickly wears off.
A reader writes:
A baby turns an office into a nursery. Freud called infants “His Majesty the Baby” for good reason: where there is a baby, all eyes are on him. Nature ordains this. For this reason, actors hate to act with children and babies: all eyes are on the baby.
Women who advocate the destruction of private life are similarly insane. If this should ever happen – and it won’t, I promise you – society would completely collapse. Women and children without male protection would be the first and biggest victims.
