Summary: What does it mean to be a "natural" parent or "parent by nature"? Can childrearing ever exist in a vacuum void of culture? Where did the ideology and practices behind the "natural parenting" trend come from? Is it possible that they were cherry picked from traditional societies, and other practices were largely ignored? Today on the show I am providing some interesting information about "natural" parenting practices seen around the world in various cultures, that may seem uninformed or downright horrific to us Westerners. If natural is defined as things humans have been doing for millennia, we may need to rethink what we mean when we refer to "natural parenting". Further reading: The Anthropology of Childhood: Cherubs, Chattel, Changelings (Lancy) The Evolution of Childhood (Konner) Do Parenting Matter? (Levine) Mother Nature (Hrdy)
