Quote:
Originally Posted by blimp
and i who always thought, making a child, giving birth to it and raising it was the responsibility of the two parents. seems a bit one sided to only reach out to one side.
i'm sry but i don't see him saying functional wombs with willing owners.
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You`re still taking things out of context. He was saying that instead of men sitting around there debating and coming up with schemes about making more children... They have NO POWER ALONE to create them. They alone cannot give birth, nor can they make the choice alone to have children or not. In the end, that power and choice lies in the hands of women - and as there are limited numbers of "equipment" for making babies, the best we can do is to ask women to do their best as men lack that equipment.
He doesn`t say that in the original speech, at least not at that part. He is challenged on the statement, and clarifies a bit later - and then made countless apologies later explaining what he meant. Which, in the context of the REST of the speech, makes sense.
Either way, I`m sure that if I wanted to waste the time I could find countless examples of wording gaffes made by those in power in ANY country out there. This was a HUGE issue in Japan. Those offended didn`t just sit there are say "Well, that`s just the way it is." - No, they gathered and had big events. I think the popular reaction says a LOT more about a country than the poor wording choices of someone in the government.
ETA; The media persecution of this guy is a major pet peeve of mine, being as he was one of the main people pushing for reforms that would be incredibly positive for families and mothers. He was pushing for assistance programs that would give money during pregnancy, prior to the birth. Now, all the financial assistance comes after the baby is born and after you`ve paid out of pocket for everything. The speech (or rather discussion) itself was about making changes to make having a child more appealing to women as in the end, they have the final say. Yes, it takes two to raise a child, but no matter how much a man wants to have a baby he cannot force his wife to get pregnant if she doesn`t want to. And as it is women who traditionally manage the household finances, they are the ones who feel the economic stress more directly and acutely than their husbands - and in turn are choosing not to have children. Alleviate some of those issues, and you`ll alleviate a big chunk of the population decrease...
But no, now no one will take the guy seriously - despite how much he was working toward extremely positive programs - because the media decided to snap up on one little wording gaffe in one small somewhat informal discussion.