Children thrive in secure family units. We absolutely know this. Of course they do, but a family unit doesn't have to be a Mum and Dad.
It has long been a problem for Feminism, the fact that most of us become mothers, with all the physical, hormonal and social elements of that, but at the same time we are trying to be mothers in a system that doesn't really support us.
It's not Feminism that fucks us over when we become mums it's all the other stuff that happens, although some of the policies that have been brought in that you could view as feminist have backfired, I think, for example extended maternity leave. In theory it's lovely that women can (if they have good enough working conditions) take a whole year off work, but when they get back to work they can find themselves shoved to one side, or not in the same role. At the same time, the husband has got used to wife being at home and doing all the domestic chores, as well as all the childcare, and that doesn't help with the "second shift" women end up doing when they get in from work.
What would really help mothers would be fathers being expected to pull their weight with all that, and absent fathers being legally made to pay child support.
There also needs to be a realisation on the part of young men that when they father a child it is as much their financial responsibility as the woman's, and that is sorely lacking ime. Choosing to be a SAHM beyond mat leave does depend on there being a partner able and willing to support the family financially, and that's pretty unusual in my world, where most women have to work as well as men. If they can't because they have been abandoned by the father, they are stuck in a poverty trap of benefits, because child support is treated as optional for men.
I suppose what I am trying to say is that I agree, some feminists have either dismissed the specific biological needs of mothers and their babies, but I have also read lots of posts on here that idolise the idea of motherhood and the choice to take time out from the workplace, without really realising how difficult that would be for most women in the current system.
Motherhood is amazing-when I was pregnant I remember thinking "fuck me, why are women not treated like Goddesses-look what we put our bodies through!" but at the same time I don't want to be back in a world where it's the only thing we do. The women in my family have always worked, always and forever, going back as far as I know, so there has to be a way to honour mothers and the unique bond we have with our kids, but also a system to support us properly when we need to get back out there, and right now that's lacking.
I respect PP, I think she talks a lot of sense, but I don't like the personal spats and social media rows, it just seems childish.
I do agree with her about academic feminists though, in that they seem to live in a theoretical world, and it's far removed from most women's lives.