And you’re right- the subtitle was inflammatory, but nothing else I read in the article was. And titles are often sensational to attract readers- but, again, the substance of the article wasn’t.

So because I wasn’t timely my opinion isn’t included in the “hashing it out”? That’s fine, but again, don’t read into that and try to turn me into a sneak.

The subtitle of the quoted article was “Why won’t feminists admit the pleasure of infants?” That was “making commentary about people who don’t have or want babies themselves” – and don’t even try to tell me otherwise. It involves a boatload of Roiphe stereotyping feminists while simultaneously attacking them for beliefs they don’t actually hold.

That subtitle would’ve been all it took to start the vitriol, as it always does whenever one extremely privileged person makes decidedly hostile and negative blanket statements about large groups of people without any understanding of said group.

If you don’t read it that way, well, that’s your issue. But please don’t tell the multitude of people who hashed this out months ago that they were wrong in how they did read it.

You mean that having a baby, not having a baby, enjoying other people’s babies, adopting a baby, or simply shutting yourself away from anyone under the age of 18 are not ALL feasible options?

Wow, I wonder why people WILLINGLY put themselves in dualism-land and then expect the rest of us to live there too?

My brother and my best friend have both decided that they don’t want to have children. I guess according to Roiphe, my brother will be able to lead a fulfilled life without having children but my female best friend will spend her days pining away over her unused uterus? Puh-lease. It’s a personal choice. I fully support anyone who decides to have children or not, because *gasp* I understand that viewpoints other than mine might be valid! I know, I’m a radical that way.

Her only-child prejudice pisses me off as well. One of my best friends is an only child because his mother had to have a hysterectomy or DIE due to complications with his birth. Does that mean that she is any less than an incredible mother? Hell no. Personally I think having 18 kids is a heck of a lot more “irresponsible” as a parent than having one.

Seriously, lady. Get. The. Fuck. Over. Yourself. I think this has more to do with the fact that she knows she’s not a good writer and is bitter, so she’s trying to make it seem like all these incredibly gifted women weren’t as “important” or “fulfilled” or whatever because they didn’t have BABIES like she did. J.K. Rowling is a mother. Nora Roberts is a mother. Margaret Atwood is a mother. The difference is, they’re all good writers and she’s not. (And does anyone else want to smack her upside the head with a copy of The Handmaid’s Tale? I know I do.)
Sorry for the teal deer, but pretension and arrogance make me ranty. Thanks for the awesome smackdown, SM. You rock.

Sayig that all people who term themselves childfree are universally baby-haters is tarring us all with the same brush. Yes, some CFs are nasty and spiteful; but some of us love kids. In the same vein, some Christians are fundamentalist wackos, and some are rational, reasonable people. The terms childfree and Christian encompass both ends of the spectrum (and everyone in between!)

As for why I call myself childfree and not childless – well, it’s because I’m not missing children from my life. To my ears, ‘-less’ implies a loss.

FWIW, I had my tubes tied at 24, long before I got into any serious relationships. So the decision is very final for me!

IMO, we’re still at “let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.” Yes, much of Europe and parts of Asia have a low enough birth rate that they’re not replacing the population. (The U.S. is just above replacement levels, last I heard.) But in the world as a whole, the population is still growing rapidly, and is possibly already at a level where a first-world standard of living can’t be supported for everyone. First-world nations that want to grow their populations can just relax immigrations regs a little. We probably will get to the point eventually where underpopulation becomes an issue, but I’m more worried about overpopulation at this point.