So it’s Mother’s Day. The day when mothers should not feel invisible. This is the day we thank our mothers for carrying us, delivering us, raising us, loving us – in a way unique to mothers worldwide. Today I say Happy Mother’s Day to my mother and my grandmother and all the mother’s I’ve come to know in my life. You all have shown me something sublime, the love a mother bestows upon her child. Mazel Tov! I love you!
Although, I like to celebrate mothers on a regular basis.
On another note…and on many minds lately, there are many of us women out there who are not mothers. Either we don’t plan to ever be mothers, or we’re putting off the glow of motherhood until we feel more comfortable/stable/ready, or, for many of us women, we’re simply not able to have children. I came across a very interesting doc on current this morning, highlighting the issue of the severe population decrease happening (expecting to snowball to 2/3 of the population disappearing in the next 100 years) in Japan. The Japanese seem to be very concerned about the lack of babies being pushed in designer strollers. True to current tv form, the 25 minute doc was super informative, reaching across the spectrum of this issues from population stats, to professional women who party hard and shop, to Xenophobia, to the over-use of sex toys, to robots. The latter being the climax of the story. For me, however, the fact that Japan is embracing robots is not the most alarming news. I’ve seen the Animatrix. What shocked me the most was the stat that the average married couple in Japan has sex 48 times a year. Forty-Eight times. A year! Madness.
Less and less human contact. Less and less babies. Stagnant acceptance of foreigners. Japan will soon find itself running out of people. In come the robots.
The woman in the middle. A robot. Yeah.
And I’ve gotta say, its a little disturbing. I know we’ve all seen it coming (I, Robot), but they’re here! …or there, in Japan. Robots. Teaching elementary school, at the receptionist desk. Mysteriously soft, life-like robots with facial expressions. They even fidgit.
So…if we stop being mothers, scientists will just manufacture more people? IS that what you’re telling me, Current documentary? I can already see that this new wave will fall subject to classism.
I’m ranting. I’m just a little disturbed by the way a portion of our society seems to be heading. The Japanese are at the height of technology and sophistication. They lead the path to the future for many other nations. It seems that soon, baby making the old fashioned way is about to be a stone-age concept. Those with more than three children are already looked upon with a certain sympathetic disapproval. Add some brownness and less than six figures, and you’re damn near an economic strain and a tragedy.
So come all ye techies. Go forth and get your own geminii who can make love to your spouse when you’re just too damn tired!
Click the image to watch the video.
