feminist toddler group?

[darleneconnor]

Would anyone go to one of these?

Is it a good idea?

I know when my dcs were little id have liked the opportunity to go to a group where there was less baby talk and more opportunity to discuss the news/current affairs/ppolitics/the economy.

I started something a bit like this when my first two were babies, but got funding for a crèche so we could do Educational Things without the trauma of looking after our toddlers for a couple of hours. I even got an award from community education! So yes.

It was not overtly feminist in that we didn't discuss issues of gender equality very often but lots of the women went on to do further and higher educational courses at the same centre using the childcare facilities originally set up for the women's group. They probably or might have done something similar anyway but it cleared a path.

I would have loved this type of toddler group. I avoided the ones in my area, the conversation was either about babies or celebs andthat's not my scene.

I am lucky to have met like-minded people at my regular baby group. It is fab to chat to people about gender and other issues as well as the baby stuff. My area is too small to support a specific feminist group, but in a city I reckon it would work, yeah. I know I'd go.

I would absolutely love this, it would be brilliant.

I would love this. After ten months I have found one woman near me who shares my values and doesn't look at me like I have two heads when I say something about gender equality. One. :(

hell yeah

would love it

I went to toddler group to obsess endlessly about my PFB, admire other people's (not quite as gorgeous or clever) PFBs and talk about the colour of poo. I spend the rest of my adult life being serious and worrying about Very Important Things, I allowed myself a few months per child to talk about nappies and babygros.

Sorry, that post wasn't specifically about gender equality which I do think is a good thing honest (DH says it is anyway ) just any threads about toddler groups always seem to bring out people saying how bored they got talking about nappies and puke. Fair enough but it doesn't mean toddler groups are inherently bad or the people in them are vacant.
Rant over.
Off to iron some tiny socks.

:( Ihave killed this thread. So sorry. I will go and rant somewhere else. Ignore me. I'm not here.

bye

OK, maybe I have been lucky in my choice of group :)
what on earth is a "BF rousing cloth nappies."?

actually poor neglected second born DD hasn't had her poo obsessed over half as much as DS. It was a bit light yesterday after her stomach upset earlier this week, would you like to see a photo maybe?

No I wouldn't.
This thread sounds very anti mum/women to me. I have children and go to toddler groups and I watch the news and am interested in the arts. I talk about baby/child stuff to people I don't know that well that I meet at toddlers as it's the common ground. I also talk about things nothing to do with children/babies/homelife with people who are interested and I have connected with.

I think if you want a group where you have conversation not related to children you should set up a politics/book/arts group where the kids amuse themselves, but you can chat about what interests you. Calling that sort of group a feminist toddler group means you assume all feminists have similar views and intelligence levels and non feminist Mums are simply dull.

i think it means 'bf or using cloth nappies'

actually, harecare, i think it would be a very interesting idea, not least because people could discuss childrearing ideas and practices from a gendered viewpoint...

but i'd be depressed every week because there weren't more men looking after their toddlers on a sahd basis and attending the groups. so it might be more depressing than supportive...

i don't think anyone who posts on the feminist threads can be of the opinion that all feminists have the same views.

i think, rather than a toddler group, a 'feminist parenting' group would be more interesting. you could still bring tinies etc, but it would encourage like-minded people to look at issues concerning equality over a wider age range. ie when different issues to do with gender come up (tweens and early teens froma dress/ fashion pov, as well as independence, relationships etc)

it doesn't mean non-feminist mums are dull btw. it just means that they have different values. sometimes that's ok. but if you want to discuss parenting from a gendered viewpoint without being 'that woman who bangs on about gender all the time' and ignored, you probably have to start a slightly more specialist group. or talk to yourself in the corner. and rock slightly.

Anti women/mother!? That's not what this thread is at all! Are we not allowed to enjoy different things without being accused of being anti people who's view are different to ours!?

Yes, I would love it. A group to take my children to where they could play, where there is the opportunity to talk about stuff that works your brain a bit would be great.

The nearest I've come to that has been home ed groups, where the discussion is often about politics and philosophy, but that just happens naturally.

SPB - I loved my baby groups I went to with DD1, but DD4 has only been to one toddler group, which was a kind of novelty for me, but at which I found that I had to work so hard not to be patronising to the other mums of PFBs (not intentionally, of course - I'm not an unkind person! But I just couldn't really get into the PFB discussions - I'd been there, done that several times over and so I couldn't get into it at their level, and was desperately trying not to say 'well, when they grow up...') there that it wasn't going to be a viable place to go over and over again.

I'd love to join such a group

although at the last toddler group I attended, I started a conversation about politics and one of the mums turned out to be a BNP voter. Yikes!

I am wary of calling a group a 'feminist' toddler/parenting group, in case that puts some people off. Wouldn't want people who dont identify as feminists to feel unwelcome. The F-word is so badly thought of.

There are dozens of normal toddler groups near me so I might try to get some more opinions since it seems to have gone down reasonable well here.

Flamingo- I know what you mean about not wanting to go back to baby talk when you have older Dcs and feel like you've 'been there done that'.

What about just setting up a toddler group and writing a welcome letter that says that there'll be a topic for the parents to discuss each week, if they'd like to, explaining your reasons for doing that (ie. it can be fun to discuss things a little more profound than nappies at times, and finding an opportunity to do so as a mum of toddlers/preschoolers can be difficult...)?

Thank you can make the topics whatever you like and don't have the label them at all. You can always interject a lot of feminist theory/discussion yourself!

Just tell me where and when

Flamingo- a group with set talking points would be a good idea. I'm lucky as have good friends at the groups I go to - one of which is a singing group (for adults) and the children amuse themselves, we talk about whatever is affecting us or catches our eye in the news as it is not just Mums in attendance, but some very wise older ladies who would definitely describe themselves as feminists.
Of course people have different views, but the fact is that people talk about kids and banalities at toddler groups not because they have nothing more to say, but because it is common ground and it is hard to have a proper conversation with an eye on a child or 2 who may be a bit clingy/needy.
If you really want to have some good discussion I would recommend setting up a small group that has an area for kids to play in, but also allows non parents to attend. The ladies with no kids at my singing group can hold a conversation without being constantly distracted - it is a female group, but not intentionally so.
StewieGriffinsmum - "I think it's pretty misogynistic to assume that giving birth reduces women to 'mother' who is incapable of other thought."
I agree, which is why dismissing a whole lot of women just because they are mothers and are pretty obsessed with their babies and can't hold a decent conversation because they're knackered all the time appears to me a bit misogynistic. I think I may have jumped to conclusions though?
I don't think becoming a "Mother" has reduced me to anything. I think you may have worded that wrong.

I do see what you mean Harecare. I didn't mean my contribution like that but I can see how it might be construed. It's just my experience that people with babies the same age as yours aren't necessarily going to be the same as you politically. Or even interested in exchanging ideas.