Comments on: A Little Understanding

By: mia

mia — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:53:43 +0000

“Save your ire and energy for sites that actually trade on images of children to make adoption facilitators money.”

Ron you say that as if to imply that I don’t spend countless hours doing just that, when in fact I do.

True, this site may be no more exploitive but it certainly is no less. Had they left off the photos of the children I would probably have a slightly different opinion of the satirical statement they were trying to make. Something is either part of the problem or it’s part of the solution and I will call attention to anything I see as part of the problem. This was no exception.

I respect what you do immensely. You and I are on the same team. We have a mutual goal. I would not presume to tell you how to go about that work.

I too am tired of others telling me what I can and cannot see, think or feel. Lately it seems a lot more of that goes on among us than from outside sources which could turn out to be a real problem.

By: Ron Morgan

Ron Morgan — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:10:49 +0000

You know what? I’m tired of the US adoption Taliban telling me what I can or cannot see, think or feel about adoption. I fight for adoptee rights because I believe every human has the right to their identity without interference from the government.
There are real injustices in adoption. This dustup over a satirical site, with cries to censor it, “get it taken down”, just shows that in the US, perceptions are more important than reality. Adoptees know this first hand, a life long struggle against secrets and lies.
If it’s not real, and it’s not, then it’s no more exploitive than any other fictitious representation using children. Save your ire and energy for sites that actually trade on images of children to make adoption facilitators money.

By: Amyadoptee

Amyadoptee — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:08:48 +0000

All I was thinking when I read that was Masha. Oh my God what if some pedophile read that thing? What if someone took that website seriously? I disagreed with the website wholeheartedly. I for am all for dark humor. I feel it and say it all the time. Even I have a point where I will not cross it. What the folks that think its funny don’t understand is those are pictures of real kids. Sorry I don’t like it as a mother and an adoptee. I hope that they are investigated.

By: So Funny I Forgot to Laugh « My Sky ~ Multiracial Family Life

So Funny I Forgot to Laugh « My Sky ~ Multiracial Family Life — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:24:18 +0000

[...] exploitative, even if it’s not real. And the same things still concern me. I think Mia says it [...]

By: abebech

abebech — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:21:17 +0000

Mia, your reaction makes sense — not just as someone affected by adoption, but as a caring person and as a mother. I thought of Masha, too, as I read it (not the least because it used the name Masha for one of the “bios”) and nothing about it is okay, and even if it is critical of international adoption it is NOT reform-oriented.

I was warned/reminded that some people in other countries _do_ believe that this is what is happening to children who are adopted overseas, and not in isolated cases but to a majority of them. Any “satire” could be lost in translation, fueling this anxiety. It’s bad and hurtful the whole way around.

By: Paula O.

Paula O. — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:53:16 +0000

Oh, Mia – I completely agree – the line was crossed. I had such a visceral reaction to this. As an adoptee – the child deep inside of me felt as if I was being marketed, exploited and “sold” to the highest bidder – not to mention how I felt when I saw those childrens’ faces attached to each of those “bios”.

Suz makes such an excellent point – and maybe it just hit a little too close to home for me, as I know unethical practices in adoption are all too present and that in some cases, children are “marketed” as they were on this site.

But I just have to believe there is a better way to get one’s message across without dehumanizing children unneccessarily like I felt they did on this site.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:04:41 +0000

what is your email ms. mia?? I am indeed in PA…

robinlynn.baker@gmail.com is mine.

By: suz

suz — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:05:26 +0000

The sad truth of the matter is that this website isn’t that far off the mark of what goes on in the adoption industry every single day. Maybe that’s in part why I find it so entirely disturbing.

I agree completely – that was the point I was trying to make in my own blog.

By: dawn

dawn — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:43:57 +0000

I don’t either. And I agree with you. I would have thought it was tasteless and ridiculous but with the sex jokes? Made me sick. I commented on Suz’s blog that right after I followed your link I clicked through my other feedreader blogs and child law was talking (as they always talk) about Masha Allen. Really underscored how unfunny that site is. I hope it goes away.