This guest article from YourTango was written by Lisa Steadman.
Ever since Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article Why Women Still Can’t Have It All appeared in The Atlantic last month, I’ve been fired up and pissed off … because she’s absolutely right.
First, let’s define what Slaughter means by “having it all.” She’s referring to that constant juggling act of having a thriving and high-powered professional career outside the home and a loving, supportive husband and children at home. Again, by that definition, I agree with her. But here’s what rattled my cage about her article: Slaughter’s definition of having it all assumes that all women want the same thing.
And it’s not just Slaughter. With all of the advances to women’s rights in the 20th and 21st centuries, including our new normal of out earning men, it seems as though society and the author has decided that women all want and choose the same life path. First comes career, then comes love, then comes baby.
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Thank you for speaking up on this choice! I knew when I was 6 that I didn’t want children. 50 years later I do not regret this choice at all. Bringing life into this world is a tremendous responsibility and requires more than 100% lifetime commitment. So many people undertake parenting lightly. The results of this are far too obvious in today’s society. More people should accept that it is fine –often the nobler chocice– not to have kids. Thanks again.
Great article. Not childless by choice, unlike the author, but childless due to infertility. But I found that I could really relate to all that this lady says.
If you don’t want kids, you shouldn’t have them. Period. Some people are simply not long-term parent material, and if you know that about yourself, you should take the hint and leave the procreation to someone else. Not all women are automatically perfect mommies the minute they get pregnant.