Zille demeans mothers’ anguish over losing a baby

The political wrecking ball, Helen Zille, was at it again this week, shouting her mouth off on Twitter – but this time not about governance or corruption, but about an anguish deeply felt by millions of women… the pain of miscarriage.

Wading into a debate about whether the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was correct in going public about her miscarriage, Zille likened Markle’s story to “wokeness” which, she claimed, “equates victimhood with virtue, and these public displays of suffering are intended to advance both. A bit of Stoicism is the real virtue that should be pursued.”

Markle’s words about her “unbearable grief” and about the need to talk about these issues personified Zille’s attitude, which seems to be that talking openly about miscarriage is “taboo, riddled with [unwarranted] shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning”.

Bottling up anger, grief and other emotion is not stoicism – it is repression. That is partly why many men – brought up on the mantra that “cowboys don’t cry” – can’t express their feelings other than with their fists on many occasions.

Loss of a baby, at whatever stage of pregnancy, is something which remains with a woman all of her life.

Zille demeans that grief.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.