General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Far-right trolls still believe the antiquated notion that motherhood equals happiness"
by Arwa Mahdawi, UK Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/03/women-40s-motherhood-happiness-far-right-trolls
"Its 2019 and women are still treated like walking wombs
Are you a woman without kids? Well, listen up please, a Man on the Internet has some questions for you. On Friday, Stefan Molyneux, a far-right media personality and self-appointed expert on reproductive health, tweeted: Women get mostly infertile at 40, but live to be 80. Without a family, what are you going to do with those 40 long long years? His tweet quickly went viral as woman explained that what they definitely werent going to do with those 40 long long years is give a damn about Molyneuxs opinions.
While Molyneux may be a rightwing troll, his condescending views are by no means unusual. A fun thing about being a childfree woman in your 30s is that the entire world seems to feel entitled to comment on your reproductive choices and tell you that youd better get on with things, youre running out of time! The idea that a womans most important role in life is to bring forth offspring is still deeply engrained in society and there remains a huge amount of stigma and suspicion surrounding childfree women.
Its not particularly controversial for a man to say he doesnt want children; people can get their heads around that. But women, were told, even if we profess to be ambivalent about kids, are biologically wired for motherhood. When British journalist Holly Brockwell tried to get sterilized in her 20s she couldnt find a doctor who would agree to do the procedure. Ive probably put more thought into my decision not to have children than many people put into their decision to have them, Brockwell wrote in a 2015 Guardian op-ed. Nevertheless, people kept on knowingly telling her she would change her mind. Brockwell didnt change her mind and got her tubes tied at the age of 30 after, she tells me via Twitter direct message, many, many doctors appointments pleading. This she says, was a waste of everyones time and energy, and in the meantime I got accidentally pregnant and had a traumatic miscarriage that could have been completely avoided if Id just been listened to. Im now 33, and tying my tubes is the best thing I ever did. Not a smidge of regret
Im very happy.
"You dont need to have children to have a happy, fulfilling life. That shouldnt need to be said in 2019 but the constant pressure to procreate means that, unfortunately, it does. Indeed, theres evidence that women are actually happier without kids. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioural science, told an audience at the Hay festival earlier this year. Dolan noted that traditional markers of measuring success, like marriage and children, no longer correlate with happiness. This is particularly true if you live somewhere like America, which loves fetuses, but is incredibly hostile to motherhood. Research shows that parents in America are significantly less happy than non-parents; this happiness gap is due to a dearth of family-friendly policies such as subsidized child care and paid sick leave".
After receiving a lot of flack for his tweet, Molyneaux doubled down on it and wrote: WOMEN HAVE BEEN BULLIED BY PROPAGANDA INTO NOT HAVING CHILDREN. Im just countering the narrative so younger women can be reminded of a real choice. Quite the opposite is true of course. Women have been bullied into thinking weve got to race against our biological clocks and have children lest we regret it forever. Its always worth being reminded, I think, that we can choose to ignore the tyranny of our biological clocks and reclaim our time."
spooky3
(34,405 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I have never wanted kids and I have never regretted not having them. I am tired of people treating me like my life is meaningless and unfulfilled because I don't have children.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)He wonders what a woman will do for the next 40 years. Well, heres a partial list of what my wife has done in well under half that:
Traveled 2 France 4 times
Traveled to Germany 4 times.
traveled to Italy once
Iceland twice
China for an extended visit
Thailand as well
Bought a boat
Fish almost 3 times a month
Paid off the house
Bought our retirement place
Fully funded our retirement in her mid 50s
Made great friends
Has many great god kids
Paid for an extended care policy if it is needed
Manages 300 employees at a job she loves
Oh, and still looks 40.
Yeah, such as sad life.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Sound like you and your wife have had a great life without kids. How boring and uncreative can one be if they can't think of anything to give their life purpose besides popping out a few kids?
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)But as a freethinker that rings hollow to me.
20 years ago our goal was to make the best of what seemed a really bad situation. It wasnt fun. Anyone in a long marriage Im sure faces those make or break situations. If you make through a really shitty time it can cement a relationship like nothing else. Frankly, had we had kids Im not sure we would have made it. I was not that mature or disciplined.
But we soon learned there are countless ways we can do good and try to leave a better world to the next generation without actually adding to that mix.
And its been fun as all get-out to boot!
Research is showing women who had no kids are happier in old age. I can believe that.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)Signed,
Child-free by Choice
Bettie
(16,071 posts)A lot of my friends don't.
It is a personal choice. You never know if you're ready to have them if you want them, but if you don't want them, you tend to absolutely know that.
Someone who doesn't want to be a parent should not have to.
Some days I wonder what the heck I was thinking...usually about this time in summer break when I haven't had a second to myself in weeks!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)people with children. I want to make that clear. It's just that there are so many people out there that feel the need to tell women what their priorities in life should be without considering the fact that many of us are perfectly capable of sorting out our priorities for ourselves. I know you support that and I wish more people were like you.
Bettie
(16,071 posts)but eventually decided that we did. However, our first ten years of marriage were filled with "when are you going to have kids?"...over and over.
It is maddening. By the time we decided we wanted to do it, people had stopped asking!