Los Angeles, CA–“It’s great to be an independent creature. Today you don’t need a man any more. In the old days, a baby without marriage and people would put you out. I’m very into feeling this female thing.”
From No role for dad, says Minnie (MSN, 7/23/08):
Minnie Driver (pictured) has revealed that she has no plans to include her baby’s father at any time during the birth.
“I’m not married and I don’t know if I’ll stay with the guy,” she told the New York Post.
“My mum and aunt Serena will be with me, as will my best friends, a midwife and a yoga teacher. And I’ll be the wailing monster at the centre.
“It’s great to be an independent creature. Today you don’t need a man any more. In the old days, a baby without marriage and people would put you out. I’m very into feeling this female thing.”
She also had an unlikely companion to help her through the early months.
“With this pregnancy I was very sick the first four months. My black Labrador, Bubba, my forever constant loving companion, knew it,” Minnie revealed.
“He’d see me lying on the couch. He’d stay with me. He felt for me.”
The 38-year-old, who is expecting her first child next month, announced her pregnancy in March on TV, though she has kept mum about the identity of the baby’s father – only saying that he’s English and in the same business.
“If he wants to come out and talk about it, he’s more than welcome to,” she said.
“But since he doesn’t live his life in the public eye, it’s something I want to keep private.”
Driver’s viewpoint is similar to that espoused by the “Single Motherhood by Choice” movement:
1) She apparently believes that her children do not need a father, even though choosing fatherlessness for her child is the equivalent of saying, “I love my child. That’s why I am going to intentionally and unnecessarily create conditions under which the child is far more likely to grow up maladjusted. My child will be more likely to drop out of school, experiment with drugs, commit crimes, or commit suicide. If my child is a girl, she’ll be more likely to become pregnant as a teenager. My child will also be less likely to marry and more likely to divorce.”
2) Naturally, the man she’s with somehow isn’t good enough, or there’s something wrong with him. This isn’t surprising, since there is something wrong with every man, and women are very, very skilled at finding out whatever it is that is wrong. Whatever might be wrong with the woman, we don’t discuss. Minnie does sing the praises of her dog, who apparently is a better “loving companion” than her child’s father.
3) I love how she refers to the baby’s father–“I don’t know if I’ll stay with the guy.” She’s about to give birth to his child and he’s just some “guy” who she may or may not decide to stay with.
4) If pressed on why she has declined to create a family for her child, Minnie will probably say what most single mothers by choice say–she was unable to find a good guy or the right guy. I find it very hard to believe that an attractive, famous, wealthy actress like Driver couldn’t find “a good guy.” The problem isn’t a lack of “good guys”–the problem is usually that women like Minnie are too critical and picky.
To learn more about the problems with the Single Motherhood by Choice” movement, see my co-authored column Are Single Mothers the ‘New American Family?’ (World Net Daily, 9/28/06).
Thanks to Malcolm, a reader, for sending the story.