It's not just amusing (and for some, uncomfortable) terminology. Pregnancy stimulates the mother's immune system in ways normally associated with fighting a parasite, and the fetus defends itself using techniques that successful parasites use.
"Embryo implantation sets off a process that ultimately turns off a key pathway required for the immune system to attack foreign bodies. As a result, immune cells are never recruited to the site of implantation and therefore cannot harm the developing fetus."
I get it, based on a variety of medical phenomena, you can draw parallels between an unborn baby and a parasite. If thats your point, then fine, fair enough.
If you seek to use this analysis to push a political agenda, then I am having trouble differentiating the morality between that and slave owners pointing to the shape of skulls based on race. Your explanation is an analogy, parasites dont grow up to eventually provide care for the host, it doesnt sound scientificially accurate to call a baby a parasite based on some of the characteristics. Further, calling a baby a parasite, or anyone for that matter, is an attempt to dehumanize them; dehumanization has been followed by violence in a number of horrific tragedies, but the violence is committed by people who find it justified, because whoever they are killing aren't really people.
you might be right, you should collect more data points, try this class of jokes out on more people and see how funny they find it, you could call women walking birth canals. It should be easy to formulate this comedy; take a broad category of people based on some immutable quality, like skin color, find the least charitable insult you could possibly imagine, like parasite, and see how funny they find it.
I'm ~60% sure they themselves are trying to bait someone, into an anti-abortion argument. They're definitely deliberately taking the most provocative stance possible, and trying to provoke more people along with them.
edit: re-reading their comments, I'm at least 80% sure.
Possibly. People tend to speak more callously on the internet than in real life, but I asked a few coworkers about this, all were uncomfortable and one was visibly distressed; I guess thats what happens when someone that hasnt experienced this kind of behavior growing, then suddenly gets a full dose. Its hard to imagine winning anyone over leading with that.
Though, the strategy isnt so much about winning in that arguement, but just trying to get an ugly response, so you are probably right.
I didnt, and I knew the answer ahead of time. I think thats an insane way of thinking about things, barbaric and cruel, but I would rather parent spells it out and I leave it at that. Its the internet, people can and should say what they really think, im just helping parent get there.
I said exactly what I meant to say. I got there just fine on my own like the big boy I am.
I've had many a conversation with women that have decided to not have kids. This is where I first heard of a fetus referred to as a parasite. I found it quite humorous. It's their body after all*, and if that's how they think of having some life form growing inside their body, I'm here for it.
Dont take it as derision. Id much rather a cultural exchange with you. I have many friends/family that are pro-choice, in conversation I have never gotten the impression that they would call an undesired baby a parasite, I would say thats rare.
I have a theory as to a clustering of ideas, you could call it a worldview, but its hard to pin down or narrowly define. However, some aspects appear axiomatic; and when you call a baby a parasite, that is an indication that you may share this worldview.
Id be interested in discussing it further. What are its fundamental predispositions, what do you have to assume is correct to adopt this view? What is the point of society?
I would be happy to exchange information on anarchocapitalism if you are interested.
Parasite: an organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.
If we drop the species bit, and the negative connotations, it's not far off the mark. Children, in utero are certainly not symbiotic.
Just from a biological POV the toll on women for carrying children is HUGE. There's a whole swath of things that get rebuilt in a woman's body (nose/sense of smell being an interesting one) and a rather large tax on resources. Calcium is a huge one, most mothers in the west supplement as part of pregnancy. Dig deeper and you're going to find more and more biological impact that looks less (re)"productive" and more parasitic.
If you change domains to art, the whole film aliens covers the themes of rape, impregnation and parasitic child birth. These notions are not far from our fears and nightmares.
Lastly loving your children and being honest about a biological and personal toll they take are not incompatible. I know women who HAVE children they love and adore who have used the term parasite to describe the process they went through. It is done partly with tongue in cheek and partly to express something horrifyingly taxing on their bodies...
There are people that legitimately and fully consider babies to be a parasite, maybe you arent one of them. I understand the biological parallels you draw, I understand the need for comedy in dealing with stress; however, I would advise anyone against making jokes that dehumanize people over immutable qualities, I caution you that this behavior is morally corrosive. It may seem acceptable based on current standards, but so would have dehumanizing comedy about blacks in the era of slavery or jews in the holocaust; I wouldnt want to have regrets about how I would have acted in those times.
"Embryo implantation sets off a process that ultimately turns off a key pathway required for the immune system to attack foreign bodies. As a result, immune cells are never recruited to the site of implantation and therefore cannot harm the developing fetus."
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"it gives a satisfying explanation for why the fetus isn't rejected during pregnancy, which is a fundamental question for the medical community" - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120607142244.h...
Have a google around for similar papers. It's a fascinating topic that we've only begun to fully understand in the last decade or so.