Week 9: Gender and Adulthood

This week's presentations were based upon the idea of gender during adulthood. Tuesday's presentation was about gender and motherhood. I found this topic interesting as it was not something I had given much thought to prior to the class presentations.

Our class generated a lot of discussion about motherhood, children, and women who go on maternity leave. Most of us indicated we would some day like to have children of our own, but understand what reasons are appropriate when considering the birth of a child. From my parenting class in high school, I learned that there are good reasons to want to have children and reasons that can be considered selfish. For example, women should have children because they want to have a child to care for and nurture, not because they want someone to look after them when they get old. As we talked about during Thursday's class, once an individual has given birth, you can't unhave that child and unfortunately is yours to keep unless you consider other options as an alternative such as adoption or foster care.

Another interesting discussion our class had this week was in regards to celebrities that are voluntarily childless. Examples of celebrities that do not have any children include individuals such as Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, and Cameron Diaz. In Hollywood, there is a Childless by Choice club that indicates famous celebrities who have chosen not to have children for a variety of reasons.

More information about childless celebrities can be found at: http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/celebs/photos/hollywood’s-childless-by-choice-club

If I had to guess the reason why most celebrities are voluntarily childless, I would think it's because of their busy lifestyle. Most celebrities are full-time actors or television hosts, and do not have a lot of spare time. In the case of Rachael Ray (shown above), she's an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef, and author, and it is evident that she is a very busy individual. At one point, she told People magazine she doesn't know how children will ever fit into her life. "I don't have time. I work too much to be an appropriate parent. I feel like a bad mom to my dog some days because I'm just not here enough." - Rachael Ray, 2013

One of the required readings for this week was "Women's Voluntary Childlessness: A Radical Rejection of Motherhood written by Maura Kelly. This article seemed to address some interesting points in regards to motherhood. The author first indicated that we live in a culture in which motherhood is central to feminine identity. Although this is sort of seen as a societal norm, I'm not sure if this is something I entirely agree with. A woman does not need to be a mother in order to be seen as a feminine. The article also expressed the view that women who do not have kids deviate from the norm and that the main reason women don't have children is because they're single. To explain further, the article indicated that being unmarried is one of the strongest predictors of childlessness.

In my opinion, I feel as though the main reason some women are childless is strictly due to personal choice. In addition, there are many factors that are associated with having children. Some factors include the cost of child rearing, lack of independence, and full-time occupations and careers that leave little time for extra-curricular activities such as raising children. I think it would be in the best interest of society if individuals critically thought about the impact children can have prior to making the choice to procreate. This is because babies are born innocent and require one-hundred percent support and dedication in order to grow up properly.