Powerful Article - A Man's Perspective on Abortion

[NatashaWrightman]

I like this, but I'm not sure if he gets it? What do you think?

www.elephantjournal.com/2015/04/a-mans-perspective-my-partners-abortions/

Humm. A lot less powerful than I thought it might be.

I think he sounds rather careless with contraception to be involved with four unplanned and unwanted (at least by his partner) pregnancies. I get that it was over a long period of time, but four is really quite a lot, and two with the same partner, twice seems an odd pattern to repeat. It makes me wonder a bit what was going on going on with him and his relationships.

As for the way he thinks about the potential children, well you can feel the distress there, and that's obviously sad, to be childless when you want to be a parent, and particularly when the potential was there to be a father. But it's a personal reaction so I'm not sure what you mean by 'he gets it'. Everyone's experience of abortion will be different surely, depending on the circumstances.

Four abortions? I think he should learn how to put a condom on

Agree. Four ?!!!

Plus interesting how he wants a child to tolerate his weaknesses

I think it's a load of sentimental tripe. Badly written, too wordy and almost certainly complete bollocks.

I'm with you Eve

The author used to be a keen grappler

That's very interesting

Oh god. If a self centred man who thought parenting was down to theatrical play wrestling and some sort of solution to his emotional inadequacies knocked me up, I might feel the same way as the women in this article.

But that will never happen, because I take contraception seriously. Perhaps you should too, OP.

Powerful? No, didn't read anything insightful or thought provoking. Just a bit of a personal ramble by a bloke with a pedestrian writing voice and poor grasp on contraception.

Self-centred, self-indulgent, overwritten bilge. His ideas about contraception need a good shake up, as do his heavily romanticised 'I'm good at playing, so it'll be a breeze' ideas about parenthood, as does his notion that his imaginary children exist to make up for his flaws and remind him of himself. And, while I'm usually very attracted to Buddhist principles, this article makes it sound like a load of wanky karmic baloney that would attract a dope who thought martial arts and a smidgen of Buddhism made him a romantic lead, intellectual yet macho.

I can't discern, through the over-fed metaphors about outsized tears and oceans and crying over the dawn chorus, a single detectable, honest thought about abortion.

He wants to tie a knot in it, as my grandmother would say.

I can't see any thoughts about abortion as he only writes about himself. It's unusual to find a piece so myopic that it cuts out the main topic itself.

OP what did you want us to say? Why post this?

No, not powerful at all.

Why do you think it's a good article op?

On the grounds of the writing alone, it's a zero from me. Or are you confusing 'powerful' with 'purple prose'?

Honestly. 'Tears melding into a torrent of grape-sized raindrops headed for a distant anonymous ocean.' Not to mention 'Bird calls heralding that dawn were a eulogy from the other world.' This is 'look at me', 'drunk on my own verbiage' prose. It's the kind of thing that gets immediately put into the 'no' pile of MA in Creative Writing applications.

He doesn't have any view on abortion that I can discern, other than citing Buddhist scripture. What is immediately discernible, on the other hand, is that this is All About Me. And well done on making the two women who chose terminations sound pernickety and idealistic, while you just wanted 'life', because you're all zen and attuned to the universe. And animals and children like you, so you must be ok, right?

Welcome Haydn.
On behalf of women everywhere WEAR A BLOODY CONDOM!!

But he only wanted 'life' for two of them. By his own admission one was unwanted by him and another provoked nothing but ambivalence in him.

It is a very selfish piece of writing.

Even ignoring the fact the author is a self-indulgent cunt, it's just a really really poor piece of writing. I at least thought it'd be an interesting perspective on women's choice to have a termination when the father wants to keep the pregnancy.
The bit about dogs and children still loving him when he fucks up was my personal low-light.

I won't click the link. When men can get pregnant then they get to have a perspective on abortion.

Not one word for the women who had to have the abortions, or would have had to go through with the pregnancy.

Self-indulgent bilge

Quite sunshine, he just refers to the women having 'decided to end those potential lives', as if it were an easy decision for her.

Haydn, I agree with the other posters, you really ought to wear a condom in future. And maybe question why women don't feel confident or able to raise children with you. And never ever decide to have a child so that you have someone to like you after making 'monumental mistakes'.