Not to detract from Cruise's scuzzyness in the least, but Brooke's "heartfelt revelation" struck me as rather well-timed (as usual). She's been a master media manipulator her entire career.
Well timed in that she wrote a book about her experience with PPD and she's in the press a lot lately. I enjoyed her interview on Fresh Air. I'm not thinking she's a martyr or anything. She referred to her nanny and I immediately thought, "so many women can't afford that kind of help".
But I'm glad she's out there talking about it. We get the bad side of PPD all the time in the form of the Andrea Yates' of the world. It's about time someone stepped up to the plate and used their celebrity to examine it as a serious issue. It would have been nice if she could have done it without some cocksure, flaky asshole pissing all over it.
Someone, I might add who will NEVER give birth, and who's ex's never gave birth.
It's about time someone stepped up to the plate and used their celebrity to examine it as a serious issue.
Right. Even if Brooke's announcement was self-serving to some degree, I think Cruise's mean-spirited attack is just...well, mean-spirited. He may believe it's true, but it's hard for me to understand how people who *do* believe that medicine is bad can't understand how many dead people there would be without antibiotics and chemo and all the other not!vitamin cures we rely on.
I looked back in the thread and I can't find the original post, Brooke who?
Thanks, Cashmere. I kind of figured that was who it was, but I wanted to be sure.
I'm in the "Tom & Katie's age difference doesn't squick me" category. But I was 13+ years younger than my first BF, so, glass houses and all that.
Besides, there are so many other reasons (as people have pointed out) to be squicked.
A bit on the Cruise Shields stuff. [link]
You notice my respect for Brooke in not slashing that.
I am 10 years younger than Teacup Guy, and age difference usually doesn't squick me, but there is just something skeevy about Tom and Katie.
Being 11 years older than Brendon I am not squicked by the ages. Tom squicks me plenty on his own. I am without knowledge of Katie other than her poor choice of men.
It actually wasn't until pretty recently that I noticed how little people knew about PPD. A lot of women in my family have had it, and since the time I've been old enough to babysit a newborn, I've gotten the "If a friend who's just had a baby calls and says she needs help, drop whatever you're doing and immediately go and take care of the baby and help with the cooking or cleaning or whatever until either she seems totally OK or another adult gets there" lecture pretty regularly. I was completely stunned when I was discussing the Andrea Yates case with some friends, and one of them said, "I don't believe PPD exists. I mean, babies make you happy."
And yeah, really quite stunned at Cruise's comments right now.
