LAST WEEK, JOURNALIST Holly Brockwell was subjected to an enormous backlash after she wrote an essay for the BBC about not wanting to have children.
In her essay, Brockwell wrote of her desire to get permanently sterilised and the difficulties surrounding getting such a procedure in the UK.
Following its publication, Brockwell was forced to leave Twitter after being on the receiving end of “unprecedented levels of nastiness”.
It seems that some delicate flowers just can’t cope with the idea that a woman may not want to have children.
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So here’s a little reminder: some women don’t want children and that’s perfectly fine
Want children? Fantastic. Don’t want children? Grand.
That’s all there is to it.
If a woman tells you that she doesn’t want children, that isn’t an invitation to start telling her why she’ll change her mind
If someone told you that they didn’t want mayonnaise in their chicken fillet roll, would you berate them and tell them that they’re wrong? “You’ll change your mind. Everyone does.”
Of course not, so don’t presume to tell a woman (or anyone, for that matter) that you know better.
Not wanting to have children doesn’t make someone any less of a woman
Are men defined by their ability to procreate? Not at all.
So why should women be? We’re not just living, breathing babymaking machines, you know.
Having children isn’t the only way to live a happy, fulfilling life
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Sure, it’s certainly one of the ways, but it’s not the be all and end all to human existence.
And not wanting to have them doesn’t mean that you’re a selfish child-hating monster
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As Jennifer Aniston (or “Poor Childless Jen” as she’s known in some quarters) told Allure last year:
I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women—that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated. This continually is said about me: that I was so career-driven and focused on myself; that I don’t want to be a mother, and how selfish that is.
Having a child is a massive undertaking and if someone doesn’t want to have them, it shouldn’t be seen as a character deficit.
In short? It’s all a personal choice and it’s none of your damn business what women do/don’t want to do when it comes to having children
As Catherine Mayer wrote in Time:
If you want babies, have babies. If not, not. Whatever you decide, pursuing your goals with a determination that in men would be lauded as ambition risks labeling you selfish. Go right ahead. Be as selfish as Angela Merkel, Helen Mirren, Park Gyeun-hye, Dolly Parton, Gini Rometty, Diane Sawyer, Betty White, Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Aniston.
Amen.
