Why Even Feminists Don’t Want to Talk About Childlessness
It’s time we made room in the cultural conversation for the growing number of women who don’t become mothers
In late 2018, I left my job to pursue freelancing full time. One of my biggest goals as a freelancer was to speak up as a voice for childless women — a seriously underrepresented demographic. However, I was surprised to find that nothing received a faster rejection email than a pitch about childless women. Even feminist publications weren’t interested.
I realized I might need to try another strategy, so I started doing some research. I would visit women’s magazines and search their archives for articles on motherhood and then do a second search on childlessness. If you’re a childless woman, you won’t be surprised to find that the numbers were something like this: 695 about motherhood, 1 about childlessness in one publication; 1,233 about motherhood, 0 about childlessness in another; 2,478 about motherhood, 3 about childlessness in a third. I’m sure you see the trend here.
If you’re a mother, you probably won’t be surprised, either. Maybe you’re thinking, Well, of course those numbers make sense. Almost all women are mothers.
