Being a MILF is all the rage these days. It’s no longer enough to bear and raise our children. Now, moms have the added pressure of needing to look like hot-n-sexy MILFs all day. A MILF wouldn't be caught dead carrying a Winnie-the-Pooh diaper bag or wearing Mom Jeans. She scoffs at the  fanny pack. A MILF, you see, has more chic things in her life like, um, "embracing her sexuality." There's even talk of "taking back" the word MILF as a form of sexual empowerment for mothers.

Ugh. Does anything sound the death knell of doom louder than mothers trying to "take back" a horrifically degrading label and wearing it as a badge of sexual empowerment? Is this really the best we can offer our daughters?

Oh, I know. I’m being humorless. I’m taking it too seriously. I need to have a little fun! You know, “embrace my sexuality” and all that (because having five children isn't enough embracing of ye olde sexuality, apparently).

So, what IS a MILF?

Well, according to Wikipedia, MILF is the “Moro Islamic Liberation Front.” Oh, wait. Wrong MILF. Hmm. There’s also Keith Sweat’s 1987 album, “Make It Last Forever.” No, no. That’s not it. Hmmm. Ahh, here it is. MILF: “Mother I’d Like to F***.”

Awesome. Exactly the kind of mother I want to be!

What’s going on, here? Are there only two options for motherhood? Fanny-Pack Mom vs. MILF Mom? Sure, I’ve encountered people who are shocked to learn I have five children. Usually their shock says more about their biases than it does my appearance. It’s like they expect mothers of many children to look like shriveled, washed-up old women dragging their withered uteruses behind them.

Still, that doesn’t mean I want to be called a MILF. I’m annoyed and disgusted by the MILF label. No matter how many women decided to “take back” this degrading slang word it’s still, um, degrading.

The problem, here, is not that mothers have somehow “lost” their sexuality, it’s that we’ve allowed our sex-saturated culture to objectify and narrow our human dignity. No longer is it about our inherent worth as human persons. Now our value as mothers is determined by whether or not people want to have sex with us.

Have we really reduced ourselves to trying to "take back" or redeem degrading labels as a sign of our "progress"? How tragic.

What do you think? Does the MILF label bother you? Why or why not?