Jennie Bristow’s Guide to Subversive Parenting
In her monthly column on the cutting-edge website spiked, Jennie Bristow sends the latest parenting fads and panics to the naughty step.
Rule 23: There’s more to human character than sharing toys
16 November 2009
Demos should go on the naughty step for arguing that parenting style determines whether kids become good, bad and even middle class.
Rule 22: There’s more to parenthood than egg production
22 September 2009
Treating all women as mothers-to-be, who must conform to certain health and behaviour norms, turns us into little more than farmyard hens.
Rule 21: This vetting scheme makes strangers of us all
13 August 2009
For generations, parents invited other adults to help raise and care for their kids. Now those relationships are being corroded by the state.
Rule 20: The state should stay out of home schooling
15 June 2009
The UK plan to clamp down on home-schooling, partly to ensure children aren’t being abused, is a serious assault on parental autonomy.
Rule 19: Your child’s Body Mass Index is nobody’s business but yours
27 May 2009
As part of its fatwa against fat the government is measuring every schoolkids’ height and weight. It’s a waste of time – and bad for children.
Rule 18: be sceptical about ‘bad childhood’ reports
17 February 2009
With so many shrill studies telling us that parents are selfish and uncaring, is it any wonder some children might feel a little insecure?
Rule 17: The kids don’t know it all
15 December 2008
In Britain’s ‘new vision’ for primary education, adults are reduced to the mere flatterers of techno-savvy kids. It’s a recipe for ignorance.
Rule 16: Strong families need more than money.
22 October 2008
With both the state and market proving unreliable, maybe families will look to each other for support in hard times.
Rule 15: Not everyone you know is a latent paedophile.
18 September 2008
The government’s Sarah’s Law won’t save children from abuse, but it will have a poisonous effect on community life.
Rule 14: Nobody needs a ‘Grandparents’ Charter’
9 September 2008
Grandparents don’t want a rulebook to manage their childcare responsibilities: they just want a life as well.
Rule 13: You don’t have to love your maternity leave
17 July 2008
Let’s admit it - maternity leave can be a chore
Rule 12: An ‘action plan’ won’t stop teen drinking
4 June 2008
The problem with teenage drinking is not their livers, but their lives: they’re sticking two blurred fingers up at today’s stifling adult culture.
Rule 11: Parents are allowed to get drunk on holiday
8 May 2008
The mad reaction to the story of a mum and dad who got paralytic in Portugal reveals a snobbish and unforgiving attitude towards parents today.
Rule 10: ‘School choice’ is a political cop-out
10 April 2008
The schizophrenic promotion/demonisation of parental choice in schooling leaves parents dejected, and kids no better educated.
Rule 9: There’s no ‘right time’ to have a baby
11 March 2008
Concerns about older mothers are based on moralism, not medicine.
Rule 8: There’s nothing wrong with ‘electronic babysitting’
22 January 2008
So why do supermums and officials think there is?
Rule 7: Have a merry Christmas
20 December 2007
Ignore the killjoys kicking up a fuss about pester power, toys-as-consumerism and secret paedophiles in Santa suits: Xmas with kids is fun.
Rule 6: There is no right way to ‘Bring Up Baby’
8 November 2007
The tantrums generated by the Channel 4 series Bringing Up Baby exposes our screamingly unhealthy obsession with parenting methods.
Rule 5: Having children can be good for you — and society
29 August 2007
In No Kids, Corinne Maier taps into Western culture’s guilty secret: rhetorically it celebrates kids; actually it fears and dislikes them.
Rule 4: Get real about nappies (and dustbins)
23 July 2007
Ignore the worthy exhortations to use ‘real nappies’ and wash clothes in cold water.
Rule 3: Pregnancy does not damage your child
29 May 2007
Picking apart the hectoring advice that is dished out to pregnant women about everything from food and booze to smoking and hair-dye.
Rule 2: It’s not All About You
11 April 2007
What’s behind the proliferation of mummy identities?
Rule 1: You and your child have the same interests
19 March 2007
The cult of child-centredness misses the point of family relationships.
Other parenting-related writing and broadcasting by and featuring Jennie Bristow.
The great myth of me-time
The Times (London), 16 February 2010
Exhausted mothers’ quest for time out is a symptom of our exacting parenting culture. This half term we need to get the balance back into family life.
‘We’re afraid of our kids, and we’re afraid for them’
spiked, 3 February 2010
Anthony Horowitz, author of the bestselling teenage spy novels, talks to Jennie Bristow about vetting and the poisoning of adult-child relations.
Alpha Mummy blog entry on Horowitz interview, 4 February 2010
It’s not true that children never lie
spiked Review of Books, 30 December 2009
A provocative new book argues that a combination of suspicion towards adults and officialdom’s belief that children always tell the truth is creating a minefield of abuse accusations in schools.
Abortion, mental health, and the limits of science
Abortion Review, 18 December 2009
The debate about whether abortion causes depression should not be left to medical experts to resolve.
‘The drift towards professional parenting must be resisted’
Community Care, 25 November 2009
Parents need to accept full responsibility for bringing up their children, because professionals, in truth, can’t help them, argues Michael Fitzpatrick.
The Parent Trap
Kent Magazine, November 2009
When the reality TV programme Supernanny hit the nation’s screens in 2004, it quickly became one of Channel 4’s most popular shows. It concentrated on applying friendly but firm discipline to dysfunctional families, but it also symbolised a growing feeling that we had somehow, as a nation, lost the ability to control our children.
Don’t Touch! The educational story of a panic
By Heather Piper and Ian Stronach. (Routledge 2008). Review by Jennie Bristow, published in Power and Education, Volume 1, Number 2, 20092 November 2009
Parents’ Liberation Movement sound rallying cry against Supernanny state
Sunday Herald, 1 November 2009
Why pedagogy is in peril
spiked Review of Books, 30 October 2009
Frank Furedi, author of the new book Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, talks to Jennie Bristow about the politicisation of education and the crisis of adult authority.
Stand up to Supernanny
The Independent, 29 October 2009
Do we need a Parents’ Liberation Movement?
By Jennifer Howze. The Times Alpha Mummy, 27 October 2009
Call me a bad parent, I’ll still let my kids eat cake
Sunday Herald, 4 October 2009
Whatever is behind the claims that children of working mums are unhealthy and that sweets turn kids into violent thugs, it’s not science.
The perils of modern parenting - whatever happened to muddling through?
Daily Telegraph, 3 October 2009
There’s a multi-million pound industry out there telling us how to be model parents. Since when did bringing up children become so complicated, asks Marianne Kavanagh.
Population, the environment, and a woman’s right to choose
Abortion Review, 3 October 2009
Fears that a growing world population will worsen the problems caused by climate change have led some to propose voluntary strategies of ‘population reduction’. How should advocates of reproductive choice respond?
Live debate: when did feminism lose the plot?
The Times Alpha Mummy, 4 August 2009
Alpha Mummy hosted an online debate asking whether feminism has become a dirty word. With Jennie Bristow, Times leader writer Antonia Senior, Antonia’s 14-year-old sister, Elishna O’Donovan, and Ed West.
At last, a serious debate on ‘social evils’
spiked Review of Books, July 2009
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has celebrated its 100th birthday not by throwing a party or patting itself on the back, but by publishing a challenging book on how individuation and therapy culture have eaten away at the social fabric.
Vetting of authors in schools - is it needed?
The Times: Alpha Mummy. 31 July 2009
Bad mother, good book
spiked Review of Books, June 2009
Ayelet Waldman’s memoir about her various ‘maternal crimes’ is sometimes eye-wateringly detailed, solipsistic and infuriating – but it is also far more enlightening than the reams of mummy lit written over the past 10 years.
One family’s tragedy, not a political indicator
Abortion Review, 2 June 2009
While mourning and commemorating the life and work of Dr George Tiller, we need to be clear about whether his murder has any wider meaning for the politics of abortion.
Abortion rates: it’s not the economy, stupid
spiked, 21 May 2009
Many thought the new UK abortion stats, released today, would show a link between the recession and rising abortion rates. They were wrong.
Trapped in ‘Cyburbia’
spiked Review of Books, April 2009
A fascinating new book argues that today’s internet culture springs from the anti-authority, anti-objectivity outlook of the 1960s counterculture, and puts the case for people escaping from their all-consuming ‘Second Lives’.
Can the government ever be Mum or Dad?
The Times: Alphamummy. 28 April 2009
Bringing Up Britain
Radio 4, 8 April 2009
Mariella Frostrup hosts a debate about parenting with families, experts and policy-makers. Does shouting at children inflicts long-term damage or is an inevitable part of busy family life? As the focus on children’s behaviour and parents’ management of it increases, are there effective alternatives to yelling at children to get them to do what you want? The panellists are psychotherapist Sue Gerhardt, Professor Stephen Scott of the National Association of Parenting Practitioners and journalist and writer Jennie Bristow.
The tyranny of emotional etiquette
spiked Review of Books, March 2009
The critique of Frank Furedi’s Therapy Culture in the current British Social Attitudes survey misunderstands the extent to which emotional conformism has gripped modern Britain.
Do “female fathers” mean the end of the road for dads?
The Times: Alphamummy. 11 March 2009
Deconstructing dads
spiked Review of Books, February 2009
Instead of lecturing fathers about ‘doing their bit’, politicians would do better to understand the messy and complex reality of contemporary parenting.
What kind of parent are you?
The Moral Maze. Radio Four, 4 February 2009.
If the report by the Children’s Society is anything to go by, the chances are you may not want to know the answer to that question. It concluded that the greatest threat to British children was their parent’s rampant individualism and aggressive pursuit of personal success. It claims that Britain has more ‘broken families’ than almost any other comparable country because of selfish parents who are not prepared to work at their relationships. And mothers who chose to go back to work are also contributing to family break-up and damaging children. Is it right? If so, what do we do about it? Jennie Bristow appeared as a witness; on the panel were Michael Buerk (Chair) Melanie Phillips; Clifford Longley; Michael Portillo; Kenan Malik.
The Monday panel
Woman’s Hour. Radio 4, 2 February 2009
Jane Garvey is joined by journalist Jennie Bristow, Evening Standard reporter Emily Hill and Dame Joan Bakewell, recently appointed as a champion of the elderly by the government. They discuss whether grandparents should be the primary caregivers when their grandchildren are placed in care, whether couples should stick to having two children, and how the culture of ‘singlehood’ is affecting us all.
Social censorship
British Journal of Photography, 10 December 2008
Fears over paedophilia have prompted new rules governing child photography, but more worrying is the social censorship that’s taking hold.
A depressingly narrow debate
Abortion Review, 5 December 2008
The ‘yes it does / no it doesn’t’ reaction to claims that abortion damages mental health distracts from the more useful and difficult questions about women’s experience.
Down’s Syndrome, live births, and statistics
Abortion Review, 26 November 2008
The claim that a more ‘caring’ Britain has led to an increase in births of babies with Down’s is just wrong. So why did it receive so much coverage?
A Case of Need
Abortion Review, 18 November 2008
What the writer Michael Crichton had to say about abortion.
‘Baby P’: don’t turn this tragedy into a policy
spiked, 13 November 2008
The haunting parallels between the cases of Baby P and Victoria Climbie should remind us what the government should not do in response.
Free fetal DNA testing: Implications for the abortion debate
Abortion Review, 6 November 2008
Jennie Bristow examines the collision of scientific advances in prenatal testing with prejudices about abortion for fetal abnormality.
Why parents should break the rules.
Times Online, 22 October 2008
There is more to a happy family life than having children who know how to cook a sea-bass.
Personal is Political.
Radio 4 Woman’s Hour, 2 September 2008.
As politicians tell us to tighten our belts during the credit crisis, and reduce our waistlines, we hear a lot about the ‘nanny state’. And with conflicting views on women’s ability to have children and hold down a job, there is increased attention on ‘work-life balance’. So does this blurring between the public and the private spheres represent a victory for that generation of feminists who argued that the personal is political? Jenni discusses this with the writers Joan Smith, Jennie Bristow and Anthony Howard.
Why we need a parents’ liberation movement.
spiked, 27 June 2008
In this new essay Jennie Bristow traces the origin of the ‘woman question’, victim feminism, and the therapeutic state.
Cherie’s memoirs ‘are not awful’ shock!
spiked, 30 May 2008
Yes, the 400-page tome is full of gynaecological goo and bimbo-style twittering about getting her hair done. Yet Speaking for Myself is also a surprisingly endearing narrative on the incoherence of New Labour.
Abortion: 24 reasons to defend 24 weeks.
spiked, 15 May 2008
A Tory MP has unveiled 20 reasons why the time limit for abortion should be lowered to 20 weeks. Here are 24 reasons why it should stay as it is.
Bringing Up Britain.
BBC Radio Four, 2 April 2008
Mariella Frostrup hosts a debate about parenting with families, experts and policy-makers. As bad parenting is blamed for the ills of society, how are we raising the next generation?
Learning how to be a good parent.
BBC News, 20 November 2007
Report on the launch of the UK government’s National Parenting Academy.
After Chick Lit, welcome to ‘baby-sick lit’.
spiked, 26 October 2007
The latest publishing craze – rapid-consumption novels about women trying to conceive – is not quite the literary cup of hot chocolate that was provided by Bridget Jones and the other zany singletons of the Chick Lit era.
Mums of the world unite.
Sunday Herald, 21 October 2007
... we have nothing to lose by resisting government attempts to treat us like idiots. By Jennie Bristow.
This is not eugenics — it is one mum’s tough decision.
spiked, 9 October 2007
The slating of a British mother for asking doctors to give her disabled daughter a hysterectomy exposes today’s deep distrust of parents.
Child obesity.
Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 19 July 2007
Consultant Paediatrician, Dr Penny Gibson and writer Jennie Bristow join Miriam to disucuss government policy for preventing child obesity. Do parents want the government to get so involved?
Scarier than Thatcher the milk snatcher.
spiked, 8 May 2007
From ‘fetal ASBOs’ to calorie-counting on the curriculum: the Blairites intervened in family life in ways the Tories never dreamed of.
Why I won’t be joining the ‘Bad Mothers Club’.
spiked, 28 December 2006
The latest literary genre celebrates stressful, even bad, motherhood as an identity.
Get the inspectors out of our nurseries.
spiked, 11 October 2006
Government regulation of childcare is making life difficult for parents, children and carers.
Down with the fertility police.
spiked, 31 August 2006
Proposals that women who are too fat, too thin or over 40 should be denied IVF are draconian attempts to define what is a ‘good parent’.
Children: over-surveilled, under-protected.
spiked, 20 July 2006
A recent conference in London highlighted the dangers of the government’s insidious monitoring of our children’s lives.
I want my epidural!
spiked, 23 May 2006
Why this heavily pregnant writer doesn’t buy the idea that natural childbirth is best.
Are we addicted to love?
spiked, 28 March 2006
Theories of intimate relationships in the modern world view passionate love as a problem to be managed.
Unmarried couples and legal rights.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 15 March 2006
Now that gay couples have the right to register a civil partnership – conferring the same legal rights as a marriage - are unmarried couples being discriminated against under the law? To discuss, Woman’s Hour is joined by Anne Barlow, Professor of Family Law and Policy at the University of Exeter, and by Jennie Bristow, Commissioning Editor of spiked and author of Marriage and Commitment in Singleton Society.
The suspicious characters in the Department for Education.
spiked, 17 January 2006
Teacher vetting scandals are a crisis of the government’s own making.
A lesson in conformity for parents.
spiked, 10 January 2006
Forget ‘respect’: the UK government’s National Parenting Academy is based on contempt for mums and dads everywhere.
A Sure Start for the therapeutic state.
spiked, 22 September 2005
It’s official: New Labour’s scheme for deprived children does nothing for the under-fives. But then the government has always been more bothered about the parents
Parents: we are not the law.
spiked, 5 September 2005
The government’s attempts to turn parents into policemen are deeply dysfunctional.
Baby bribes.
spiked, 26 May 2004
If people don’t want children, a government grant is unlikely to change their mind.
Not in front of the parents.
spiked, 19 May 2004
The 14-year-old’s ‘secret’ abortion shows that professionals now see Mum and Dad as the problem.
Breastfeeding Awareness Week.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 9 May 2005
Jenni Murray speaks to Belinda Phipps, the Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust, and Jennie Bristow, commissioning editor of the online publication spiked, about why people choose bottle feeding and whether the pressure on new mums to breastfeed is counter-productive.
Regulating reproductive technology - less is more
spiked, 31 March 2005
A UK government committee has concluded that more trust should be put in parents, doctors and scientists. And this is an ‘extreme libertarian’ position?
What future for the family?
spiked, 17 November 2004
Behind the ‘mommy wars’ and the new politics of the family.
Women: are we equal now?
And if so, so what?
spiked, 21 May 2004
Boys and emotional literacy.
BBC Radio Four Woman’s Hour, 25 February 2004
Children’s author and former teacher Pete Johnson joins Jenni Murray and journalist Jennie Bristow to discuss whether embedding emotional literacy in the curriculum can help both sexes to flourish.
Fertility symbols
spiked, 27 August 2003
The discussion about IVF funding in the UK raises broader concerns about our attitudes towards sex, pregnancy and parenthood.
Suspicious policy
spiked, 22 May 2003
Why is Downing Street so bothered about whether people trust each other?
Down with social capitalism
spiked, 6 February 2003
Social capital is a philosophy for those who have given up on changing the world. No wonder policymakers like it so much.
Playpen world.
New Statesman, 17 December 2001
Jennie Bristow on the cult of mummy lit.
Girls just wanna have fun.
New Statesman, 24 September 2001
Why do writers such as Jenny Colgan, Jane Green and Lisa Jewell invite such contempt - and such huge sales?
Chick Lit to Smith Lit
spiked, 8 March 2001
The worst thing that can happen to young female authors is that they are taken so damn seriously.
See here for a fuller archive of Jennie Bristow’s articles on spiked.
|
