Reading “Let’s hear it for the single, childless women: We get tired too,” by Mika Sarmiento got me thinking, especially when she writes about a “specific kind of guilt that comes with talking about sleepless nights and long days with said great wives and mothers.” What’s behind this particular kind of guilt? Continue reading “The Childfree, Childless & Guilt”
Tag: pronatalism
Advice on the “To Baby or Not to Baby” Question
A recent “Ask Polly” on The Cut shocked me. A woman writes in with the question, “Should I have a baby?” and even though Polly assures readers the “column is not a parody,” I admit I read the response more than once to be sure her advice actually seemed serious. Continue reading “Advice on the “To Baby or Not to Baby” Question”
On the Myth of Maternal Instinct
In my 2017 childfree trending piece, I discuss how in recent years we’ve been seeing more talk about pronatalism. Some articles use the word directly, some not. An excellent feature article that appeared on money.good.is magazine last fall by Mike Mariani gives us a great example of the latter. Continue reading “On the Myth of Maternal Instinct”
Q&A With Research Scholar, Amrita Nandy on her Book, Motherhood and Choice
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing New Delhi research scholar and activist, Amrita Nandy, about her new book, Motherhood and Choice: Uncommon Mothers, Childfree Women. Check it out: Continue reading “Q&A With Research Scholar, Amrita Nandy on her Book, Motherhood and Choice”
Riffing on Childfree Lilli Blackmore’s, “Why Having Kids Is Not A Retirement Plan”
I have been enjoying Lilli Blackmore’s posts on her site, the American Spinster. Her most recent post, “Why Having Kids Is Not a Retirement Plan” inspires me to riff on this important topic. Please indulge me. Continue reading “Riffing on Childfree Lilli Blackmore’s, “Why Having Kids Is Not A Retirement Plan””
Not Having Kids: From Moral Outrage toward Moral Duty
One particular phrase relating to a study that came out last spring continues to pop up online: moral outrage. The study, “Parenthood as a Moral Imperative? Moral Outrage and the Stigmatization of Voluntarily Childfree Women and Men” has a finding that not having children by choice “inspires moral outrage in others.” While the study’s author Leslie Ashburn-Nardo acknowledges “mean levels of moral outrage were small overall” and it can be argued that the media have overblown this finding, it’s worth asking why people can feel morally outraged by the childfree. Here are two big reasons why. Continue reading “Not Having Kids: From Moral Outrage toward Moral Duty”
Musings on IVF as an Employee Perk
Have you heard that Starbucks is now offering IVF as an employee perk? A few other companies have started offering an IVF benefit, but Starbucks is going further. Continue reading “Musings on IVF as an Employee Perk”
Talking Childfree & To Kid or Not to Kid with filmmaker Maxine Trump
Check out my interview with filmmaker Maxine Trump!
Interviewing the prolific childfree author Laura Carroll tonight live at 5.30 EST.
Posted by To Kid or Not To Kid: the choice to live childfree. The movie on Thursday, 14 September 2017
I also did a Q&A with her recently about the making of this film – Check it out!
From Sacrifice to Privilege: Reframing the Role of Motherhood
The title of the recent opinion piece in the New York Times Sunday Review, “Motherhood Isn’t Sacrifice, It’s Selfishness” sure caught my eye. Was Karen Rinaldi going to get into pronatalism? Sort of… Continue reading “From Sacrifice to Privilege: Reframing the Role of Motherhood”
Smart Talk about Conversing with Childless and Childfree Women
We see a lot of pieces out there with titles including “X number of things” to do/not to do or say/not to say regarding childless and childfree people, but a piece by Helene Tragos Stelian is one of the smartest I have seen in a while. Continue reading “Smart Talk about Conversing with Childless and Childfree Women”
