By Isabel Brown | Commentary, The Daily Signal
If there’s one thing the corporate media hates more than tradition, it’s motherhood.
We’ve seen it time and again, from the glossy magazine covers glorifying “child-free” living to the snide late-night jokes about “breeders” and “stay-at-home moms.” It’s no longer subtle. The war on motherhood is loud, proud, and broadcast 24/7 across every major platform. And make no mistake—this isn’t just about personal choice. It’s a coordinated cultural campaign to devalue perhaps women’s most essential role: being a mother.
While I’ve always been aware of this assault on motherhood, it became increasingly clear to me after I found out I was pregnant last fall. Suddenly, this wasn’t an abstract concept, but very real propaganda attempting to convince young women like me that babies weren’t blessings, but burdens. I soon discovered I was expecting a daughter, and the noise got even louder.
Portrait of Isabel Brown
Isabel Brown
Isabel Brown is a creator, activist, and author giving a voice to Generation Z as they navigate building a new American Dream on “The Isabel Brown Show.” Her books “Frontlines: Finding My Voice on an American College Campus,” and “The End of the Alphabet: How Gen Z Can Save America” make a compelling case for why Generation Z is the last hope to save Western civilization from the upside-down Left.
If there’s one thing the corporate media hates more than tradition, it’s motherhood.
We’ve seen it time and again, from the glossy magazine covers glorifying “child-free” living to the snide late-night jokes about “breeders” and “stay-at-home moms.” It’s no longer subtle. The war on motherhood is loud, proud, and broadcast 24/7 across every major platform. And make no mistake—this isn’t just about personal choice. It’s a coordinated cultural campaign to devalue perhaps women’s most essential role: being a mother.
While I’ve always been aware of this assault on motherhood, it became increasingly clear to me after I found out I was pregnant last fall. Suddenly, this wasn’t an abstract concept, but very real propaganda attempting to convince young women like me that babies weren’t blessings, but burdens. I soon discovered I was expecting a daughter, and the noise got even louder.
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Last August, the United States surgeon general issued an official public health advisory that parenting was bad for your health. Just days before Election Day, the Los Angeles Times ran the headline, “It’s almost shameful to want to have children.” A few weeks after that, I appeared on a leading women’s podcast with a board-certified family medicine physician who tried to convince me that men could get pregnant. Seriously.
In a society obsessed with “empowering” women, you’d think the act of bringing life into the world, raising the next generation, and shaping civilization itself would be celebrated. But I’ve come to discover that in the eyes of our media elites, real empowerment only counts if it comes with a corner office, a six-figure salary, or a blue checkmark on social media … sans kid only, of course. Diapers and breastfeeding? That’s apparently a sign of weakness—or worse, oppression.
This is a narrative built on lies. I’ve seen it firsthand among young women—especially Gen Z—who are terrified of embracing motherhood because the culture tells them they’ll be “throwing their life away.” They’re told that their dreams can’t coexist with a family. That having children will destroy their bodies, ruin their careers, and make them irrelevant. Turn on any Netflix show or scroll TikTok for five minutes, and you’ll see what I mean: The mom is either exhausted, overbearing, or completely clueless. She’s the butt of the joke. Never the hero.
As a result, TikTok trends like the “girl with the list” gloss our feeds, amplifying shallow fears about motherhood to convince women we should never become pregnant in the first place. The abortion lobby gets away with their hyperbolic, incessant propaganda that women will “literally die” if we can’t end the lives of our children. Every doctor’s appointment concludes with a push for hormonal birth control. You know, just in case.
Contrast that with how media and social media alike treats “boss babes” or “hot girl CEOs.” Their lives are glamorous. They’re independent. Free. But a deep, meaningful relationship is seemingly nowhere to be found.
The truth—though you won’t hear it from CNN, your favorite influencer, or Vogue—is that motherhood is one of the most radical, powerful, and rewarding things a woman can do. It’s not an obstacle to purpose; it is purpose. And yet, it’s been reduced to a punchline in our culture because it doesn’t fit the modern progressive narrative.
That narrative says women must be the same as men to be valuable. That femininity, sacrifice, and nurturing are old-fashioned relics to be discarded in favor of hustle culture and sexual liberation. And the media eats it up. It tell us that surrogacy, childlessness, or even rejecting the idea of “womanhood” entirely is somehow brave and beautiful—while sneering at the mom pushing a stroller or loading up a car seat, baby in tow.
But here’s the irony: Those same outlets panicking about low birth rates, broken families, and rising loneliness are the ones mocking and marginalizing the very women who could offer the solution.
Our generation of strong women desperately needs to reclaim the narrative. Not every woman will be a mother, and that’s OK. But every woman deserves to know that motherhood is not something to fear. It’s not the end of your life. It’s the beginning of a deeper, more beautiful one. It’s a calling filled with fierce love, incredible strength, and eternal impact. It’s something still worth pursuing, even in a culture demanding you run in the other direction.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DAILY SIGNAL
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