Nope. Speaking as someone who was actually abused, not at all. You give me the choice at that age of having Mom take away my lollipop or shove me down a flight of stairs, no contest. (Sorry to be so depressing, but that type of analogy always drives me up a tree - every minor act of meanness isn't abuse, every minor violation or inconvenience isn't rape, and for heaven's sake, pornography is not a catchall label for "anything I don't like." Sheesh.)
It IS rather cruel, but no more so than a bunch of other things people do to toddlers - there are kids who'd scream like limbs were being ripped off if you bathed them, or tried to put them to bed, or took away the butcher knife they were about to teethe on. The real question, which everyone seems unable to grasp, is "is the result worth the cost?" (the answer being clearly "yes" in those cases, and perhaps less clear here).
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2006-07-31 06:56 pm (UTC)Nope. Speaking as someone who was actually abused, not at all. You give me the choice at that age of having Mom take away my lollipop or shove me down a flight of stairs, no contest. (Sorry to be so depressing, but that type of analogy always drives me up a tree - every minor act of meanness isn't abuse, every minor violation or inconvenience isn't rape, and for heaven's sake, pornography is not a catchall label for "anything I don't like." Sheesh.)
It IS rather cruel, but no more so than a bunch of other things people do to toddlers - there are kids who'd scream like limbs were being ripped off if you bathed them, or tried to put them to bed, or took away the butcher knife they were about to teethe on. The real question, which everyone seems unable to grasp, is "is the result worth the cost?" (the answer being clearly "yes" in those cases, and perhaps less clear here).