The Truth About M(O)therhood: Choosing to be Childfree PDF Download
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Author: Helene A. Cummins
Publisher: Demeter Press
ISBN: 1772583154
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
In a world full of messages about the joys of motherhood, ticking biological clocks, pronatalist ideologies, and socio-cultural imperatives for women to mother, what does the alternative look like? That is, what is the experience of women who choose, or find themselves without progeny, when they are deemed "other," instead of being a "mother"? This anthology of interdisciplinary work links to sociology, anthropology, psychology, demography, religion, language, literature, popular media, medicine and child and family studies. Are women that choose to be childfree always narcissistic, self-obsessed, and lonely? Or can they be free, mobile, and successful? Do all women who choose to be childfree do it in the same way or have the same motivation? What is the role of age, partnership status, trauma, or poverty in this decision? Using techniques such as literature review, ethnographic interviews, autoethnography, and textual analysis and reframing, these sixteen authors from around the globe unpack largely pronatalist, racist, sexist, and heteronormative views and assumptions about childfree women.
Author: Helene A. Cummins
Publisher: Demeter Press
ISBN: 1772583154
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221
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Book Description
In a world full of messages about the joys of motherhood, ticking biological clocks, pronatalist ideologies, and socio-cultural imperatives for women to mother, what does the alternative look like? That is, what is the experience of women who choose, or find themselves without progeny, when they are deemed "other," instead of being a "mother"? This anthology of interdisciplinary work links to sociology, anthropology, psychology, demography, religion, language, literature, popular media, medicine and child and family studies. Are women that choose to be childfree always narcissistic, self-obsessed, and lonely? Or can they be free, mobile, and successful? Do all women who choose to be childfree do it in the same way or have the same motivation? What is the role of age, partnership status, trauma, or poverty in this decision? Using techniques such as literature review, ethnographic interviews, autoethnography, and textual analysis and reframing, these sixteen authors from around the globe unpack largely pronatalist, racist, sexist, and heteronormative views and assumptions about childfree women.
Author: Ellen L. Walker
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
ISBN: 1608320731
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 179
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Book Description
Examines the rewards and challenges childfree adults face living in a world that celebrates traditional families, offering advice on how to cope with the pressure of friends and family to have children, taking advantage of leisure time, and financial considerations.
Author: Dr. Amy Blackstone
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1524744107
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
From Dr. Amy Blackstone, childfree woman, co-creator of the blog we're {not} having a baby, and nationally recognized expert on the childfree choice, comes a definitive investigation into the history and current growing movement of adults choosing to forgo parenthood: what it means for our society, economy, environment, perceived gender roles, and legacies, and how understanding and supporting all types of families can lead to positive outcomes for parents, non-parents, and children alike. As a childfree woman, Dr. Amy Blackstone is no stranger to a wide range of negative responses when she informs people she doesn't have--nor does she want--kids: confused looks, patronizing quips, thinly veiled pity, even outright scorn and condemnation. But she is not alone in opting out when it comes to children. More people than ever are choosing to forgo parenthood, and openly discussing a choice that's still often perceived as taboo. Yet this choice, and its effects personally and culturally, are still often misunderstood. Amy Blackstone, a professor of sociology, has been studying the childfree choice since 2008, a choice she and her husband had already confidently and happily made. Using her own and others' research as well as her personal experience, Blackstone delves into the childfree movement from its conception to today, exploring gender, race, sexual orientation, politics, environmentalism, and feminism, as she strips away the misconceptions surrounding non-parents and reveals the still radical notion that support of the childfree can lead to better lives and societies for all.
Author: Jeanne Safer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0671793446
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 212
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Book Description
Women from all over the country share their experiences and offer insights into what it is like not having children, and describe what factors helped shape their decision to remain childless.
Author: Amrita Nandy
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 9385932497
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 395
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Book Description
How can women live fully? If autonomy is critical for humans, why do women have little or no choice vis-à-vis motherhood? Do women know they have a choice, if they do? How 'free' are these choices in a context where the self is socially mired and deeply enmeshed into the familial? What are implications of motherhood on how human relatedness and belonging are defined? These questions underlie Amrita Nandy's remarkable research on motherhood as an institution, one that conflates 'woman' with 'mother' and 'personal' with 'political'. As the bedrock of human survival and an unchallenged norm of 'normal' female lives, motherhood expects and even compels women to be mothers—symbolic and corporeal. Even though the ideology of pronatalism and motherhood reinforce reproductive technology and vice versa, the care work of mothering suffers political neglect and economic devaluation. However, motherhood (and non-motherhood) is not just physiological. As the pivot to a web of heteronormative institutions (such as marriage and the family), motherhood bears an overwhelming and decisive influence on women's lives. Against the weight of traditional and contemporary histories, socio-political discourse and policies, this study explores how women, as embodiments of multiple identities, could live stigma-free, 'authentic' lives without having to abandon reproductive 'self'-determination. Published by Zubaan.
Author: Dr. Amy Blackstone
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1524744093
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
From Dr. Amy Blackstone, childfree woman, co-creator of the blog we're {not} having a baby, and nationally recognized expert on the childfree choice, comes a definitive investigation into the history and current growing movement of adults choosing to forgo parenthood: what it means for our society, economy, environment, perceived gender roles, and legacies, and how understanding and supporting all types of families can lead to positive outcomes for parents, non-parents, and children alike. As a childfree woman, Dr. Amy Blackstone is no stranger to a wide range of negative responses when she informs people she doesn't have--nor does she want--kids: confused looks, patronizing quips, thinly veiled pity, even outright scorn and condemnation. But she is not alone in opting out when it comes to children. More people than ever are choosing to forgo parenthood, and openly discussing a choice that's still often perceived as taboo. Yet this choice, and its effects personally and culturally, are still often misunderstood. Amy Blackstone, a professor of sociology, has been studying the childfree choice since 2008, a choice she and her husband had already confidently and happily made. Using her own and others' research as well as her personal experience, Blackstone delves into the childfree movement from its conception to today, exploring gender, race, sexual orientation, politics, environmentalism, and feminism, as she strips away the misconceptions surrounding non-parents and reveals the still radical notion that support of the childfree can lead to better lives and societies for all.
Author: Denise L. Carlini
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781945252167
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 474
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Book Description
"Deciding yes or not to motherhood can be fraught with confusion, pain, and loneliness. Many a woman is undecided about arguably the most important life-defining decision she'll make in her lifetime. With the 'Motherhood -- Is it for me?' program, the authors of this book, both dedicated and seasoned psychotherapists, created a process that has helped countless women over the last 25 years. Finally available in print, this program is the perfect resource for closely examining ambivalence around this crucial life choice. Through precise steps, readers are guided on their own personal journeys toward deeper understanding and learn what they really want. The process even allows a woman who is experiencing extremely painful immobilization to find her way through to her true desire. The authors know from their professional experience that an analytical pros-and-cons approach often fails to successfully answer this most personal question. Interspersed throughout this book are twenty diverse stories of women who made conscious choices, half deciding yes and half deciding no. Their stories -- and sometimes advice -- create a valuable community that provides support to every reader, breaking the isolation they may feel."--Book cover.
Author: Meghan Daum
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1250052947
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
SIXTEEN LITERARY LUMINARIES ON THE CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT OF BEING CHILDLESS BY CHOICE, COLLECTED IN ONE FASCINATING ANTHOLOGY One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed "fertility crisis," and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all-a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children-before their biological clock stopped ticking. Now, however, conversation has turned to whether it's necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life. The idea that some women and men prefer not to have children is often met with sharp criticism and incredulity by the public and mainstream media. In this provocative and controversial collection of essays, curated by writer Meghan Daum, sixteen acclaimed writers explain why they have chosen to eschew parenthood. Contributors include Lionel Shriver, Sigrid Nunez, Kate Christiensen, Elliott Holt, Geoff Dyer, and Tim Kreider, among others, who will give a unique perspective on the overwhelming cultural pressure of parenthood. Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed makes a thoughtful and passionate case for why parenthood is not the only path in life, taking our parent-centric, kid-fixated, baby-bump-patrolling culture to task in the process. What emerges is a more nuanced, diverse view of what it means to live a full, satisfying life.
Author: Jody Day
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 150980904X
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 296
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Book Description
‘The book to recommend to patients when they face coming to terms with unavoidable childlessness.' – British Medical Journal In Living the Life Unexpected, Jody Day addresses the experience of involuntary childlessness and provides a powerful, practical guide to help those negotiating a future without children come to terms with their grief; a grief that is only just beginning to be recognized by society. This friendly, practical, humorous and honest guide from one of the world’s most respected names in childless support offers compassion and understanding and shows how it’s possible to move towards a creative, happy, meaningful and fulfilling future – even if it’s not the one you had planned. Millions of people are now living a life without children, almost double that of a generation ago and the numbers are rising still. Although some are childfree by choice, many others are childless due to infertility or circumstance and are struggling to come to terms with their uncertain future. Although most people think that those without children either 'couldn't' or 'didn't want’ to be parents, the truth is much more complex. Jody Day was forty-four when she realized that her quest to be a mother was at an end. She presumed that she was through the toughest part, but over the next couple of years she was hit by waves of grief, despair and isolation. Eventually she found her way and in 2011 created Gateway Women, the global friendship and support network for childless women which has now helped almost two million people worldwide. This edition, previously titled Rocking the Life Unexpected, has been extensively revised and updated, with significant additional content and case studies from forty involuntarily childless people (mostly women) from around the world.
Author: Sue Fagalde Lick
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781733685238
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 300
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Book Description
First you marry a man who does not want children. He cheats and you divorce him. Then you marry the love of your life and find out he does not want to have children with you either. The three he has are more than enough. Although you always wanted to be a mother, you decide he is worth the sacrifice, expecting to have a long happy life together. But that's not what happens. This is the story of how a woman becomes childless by marriage and how it affects every aspect of her life. This is the book of my heart, the one I had to write. Ever since I realized I was not going to have children, I have felt recurring grief and an emptiness in my heart. I am different from most women, but I have found that I am not alone. There are many of us childless women, and I think it's important to share our stories about what it's like when you don't have children in a world where most girls grow up to become mothers. I hope this book offers comfort to those who are childless and understanding to those who are not. If it makes you smile here and there, even better.
