11. Do you eat organic\/whole\/natural foods and limit your meat?<\/strong><\/p>\nCrunchy answer: Yes<\/p>\n
My answer: I\u2019d like to, but don\u2019t<\/p>\n
12. Do you use herbal\/homeopathic remedies?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/strong>Crunch answer: Yes<\/p>\nMy answer: NO<\/p>\n
13. Do you homeschool?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/strong>Crunchy answer: Yes<\/p>\nMy answer: NO<\/p>\n
14. What\u2019s your take on childhood vaccinations?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/strong>Crunchy answer: Anti-vaccines<\/p>\nMy answer: I am extremely pro<\/em>-vaccines<\/p>\n15. Do you use cloth\/re-usable products for mom? (Sea Sponge, Diva Cup, etc etc)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/strong>Crunch answer: Yes<\/p>\nMy answer: Yes<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Mothers like those who write for Authentic Parenting, or like my friend Dulce, generally seem to follow the whole passel of items above, but \u00a0I simply can\u2019t do that. In some areas \u2013 long-term breast feeding, cloth diapering, re-usable\u00a0menstrual\u00a0products \u2013 I\u2019m in complete agreement. But in other areas \u2013 vaccinations, homeopathy, homeschooling \u2013 I couldn\u2019t disagree more vehemently.<\/p>\n
This makes things feel complicated. As humans we like to belong to a group, to fit in with a circle of friends. But when it comes to \u201ccrunchy moms,\u201d I both appear to fit and also\u00a0really <\/em>don\u2019t fit. It\u2019s hard for me to find that I can so completely <\/em>agree with a group on some things and so completely <\/em>disagree with them on other things. When I\u2019m around someone who is pro long-term breasfeeding and cloth diapering but anti vaccines, I feel both solidarity and a complete lack <\/em>of solidarity. I feel like that person is both so right<\/em> and so wrong<\/em>. I both identify with them and, well, don\u2019t. It\u2019s confusing. I\u2019d much rather the world be black and white, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s also complicated because while the anti-vaccine views of Authentic Parenting would seem to call into question everything on the website I nevertheless find its articles on, for example, positive parenting to be top-rate. But many would wonder whether anything should be trusted on a site that promotes anti-vaccine views. And this makes doing things like linking complicated too. I don\u2019t want someone to think, say, that positive parenting is somehow illegitimate because a number of the websites that promote it also promote anti-vaxing misinformation, but I\u2019m afraid that some will think I do if I link.<\/p>\n
What is all this to say? I don\u2019t know. Maybe that life is complicated? That things aren\u2019t always black and white or in neat boxes like we want them to be? That we shouldn\u2019t assume that we automatically agree with everything a person or group promotes just because we couldn\u2019t agree more with them on certain aspects? That just because a group takes positions we agree with on some issues doesn\u2019t mean we should automatically agree with the rest of the group\u2019s positions because they \u201cmust be right\u201d too? That it\u2019s possible for someone to be very right on some issues and very wrong on others? Or, maybe, simply that we shouldn\u2019t leave behind skepticism just because we want to belong to a group or feel a level of solidarity with it?<\/p>\n
Note: To any readers who are anti-vaccines, etc., I just want to point out that my intent in this post is not to debate the issue or discuss the source of the disagreement. My point is simply to discuss the difficulties of both agreeing with and disagreeing with the whole \u201ccrunchy granola\u201d way of life, and to express how confusing it can be to both belong and <\/em>not belong.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A few weeks ago I linked to a blog post about circumcision on a website called Authentic Parenting. A reader emailed me, wondering if I knew that Authentic Parenting also promotes anti-vaccine links and misinformation, and asking if I meant to endorse the site itself. I replied that I did not realize that and that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[124,123],"class_list":["post-4143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","tag-conformity","tag-motherhood"],"yoast_head":"\n
Crunchy Moms and My Desire to Belong<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A few weeks ago I linked to a blog post about circumcision on a website called Authentic Parenting. A reader emailed me, wondering if I knew that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2012\/06\/crunchy-moms-and-my-desire-to-belong.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crunchy Moms and My Desire to Belong\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few weeks ago I linked to a blog post about circumcision on a website called Authentic Parenting. 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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2012\/06\/baby-in-wrap-150x150.jpg\" "\\"baby")
<\/a>This has long been a bit of a dilemma for me. For example, my blogger friend Dulce de Leche<\/a> posts wonderful things about positive parenting and breastfeeding, but she is also anti-vaccines and discusses that on her blog as well. So much of what she writes I love\u2026but then there are those posts where I cringe. (She doubtlessly feels the same about my blog as well, since while she agrees with my criticism of Christian Patriarchy and authoritarian parenting, her faith is still extremely important to her.)<\/p>\n