Childfree Across the Disciplines : Academic and Activist Perspectives on Not Choosing Children

Recently, childfree people have been foregrounded in mainstream media. More than seven percent of Western women choose to remain childfree and this figure is increasing. Being childfree challenges the 'procreation imperative' residing at the center of our hetero-normative understandings, occupying an uneasy position in relation to--simultaneously--traditional academic ideologies and prevalent social norms. After all, as Adi Avivi recognizes, "if a woman is not a mother, the patriarchal social order is in danger." This collection engages with these (mis)perceptions about childfree people: in media representations, demographics, historical documents, and both psychological and philosophical models. Foundational pieces from established experts on the childfree choice--Rhonny Dam, Laurie Lisle, Christopher Clausen, and Berenice Fisher--appear alongside both activist manifestos and original scholarly work, comprehensively brought together. Academics and activists in various disciplines and movements also riff on the childfree life: its implications, its challenges, its conversations, and its agency--all in relation to its inevitability in the 21st century. Childfree across the Disciplines unequivocally takes a stance supporting the subversive potential of the childfree choice, allowing readers to understand childfreedom as a sense of continuing potential in who--or what--a person can become. "Recently, childfree people have been foregrounded in mainstream media. More than seven percent of Western women choose to remain childfree and this figure is increasing. Being childfree challenges the 'procreation imperative' residing at the center of our hetero-normative understandings, occupying an uneasy position in relation to-simultaneously-traditional academic ideologies and prevalent social norms. After all, as Adi Avivi recognizes, "if a woman is not a mother, the patriarchal social order is in danger." This collection engages with these (mis)perceptions about childfree people: in media representations, demographics, historical documents, and both psychological and philosophical models. Foundational pieces from established experts on the childfree choice--Rhonny Dam, Laura Lisle, Christopher Clausen, and Berenice Fisher--appear alongside both activist manifestos and original scholarly work, comprehensively brought together. Academics and activists in various disciplines and movements also riff on the childfree life: its implications, its challenges, its conversations, and its agency-all in relation to its inevitability in the 21st century. Childfree across the Disciplines unequivocally takes a stance supporting the subversive potential of the childfree choice, allowing readers to understand childfreedom as a sense of continuing potential in who-or what-a person can become"-- Provided by publisher Recently, childfree people have been foregrounded in mainstream media. More than seven percent of Western women choose to remain childfree and this figure is increasing. Being childfree challenges the ‘procreation imperative’ residing at the center of our hetero-normative understandings, occupying an uneasy position in relation to—simultaneously—traditional academic ideologies and prevalent social norms. After all, as Adi Avivi recognizes, "if a woman is not a mother, the patriarchal social order is in danger." This collection engages with these (mis)perceptions about childfree people: in media representations, demographics, historical documents, and both psychological and philosophical models. Foundational pieces from established experts on the childfree choice--Rhonny Dam, Laurie Lisle, Christopher Clausen, and Berenice Fisher--appear alongside both activist manifestos and original scholarly work, comprehensively brought together. Academics and activists in various disciplines and movements also riff on the childfree life: its implications, its challenges, its conversations, and its agency—all in relation to its inevitability in the 21st century. __Childfree across the Disciplines__ unequivocally takes a stance supporting the subversive potential of the childfree choice, allowing readers to understand childfreedom as a sense of continuing potential in who—or what—a person can become.

Recently, childfree people have been foregrounded in mainstreammedia. More than seven percent of Western women choose to remainchildfree and this figure is increasing. Being childfree challengesthe 'procreation imperative' residing at the center of ourhetero-normative understandings, occupying an uneasy position inrelation to-simultaneously-traditional academic ideologies andprevalent social norms. After all, as Adi Avivi recognizes, "if awoman is not a mother, the patriarchal social order is in danger."This collection engages with these (mis)perceptions about childfreepeople: in media representations, demographics, historicaldocuments, and both psychological and philosophical models.Foundational pieces from established experts on the childfreechoice--Rhonny Dam, Laurie Lisle, Christopher Clausen, and BereniceFisher--appear alongside both activist manifestos and originalscholarly work, comprehensively brought together. Academics andactivists in various disciplines and movements also riff on thechildfree life: its implications, its challenges, itsconversations, and its agency-all in relation to its inevitabilityin the 21st century. Childfree across the Disciplinesunequivocally takes a stance supporting the subversive potential ofthe childfree choice, allowing readers to understand childfreedomas a sense of continuing potential in who-or what-a person canbecome.

Contents Introduction: Childfree across the Disciplines Part I Childfree Subjectivities 1 Affirming Social Value: Women without Children 2 Childfree Minority Stress: Considerations for Life at the Margins of Adulthood 3 “You Will Change Your Mind” The Controlling Function of Microaggressions on the Minds of Parents and Non-parents 4 Selfish Is Not a Four-Letter Word: Self-Care and Other-Care among Childfree Women 5 Childfree in Toyland 6 The Annual Global Childfree Event: International Childfree Day 7 Reproductive Villains: The Representation of Childfree Women in Mainstream Cinema and Television Part III Childfree Economic and Environmental Perspectives 8 Excerpts from An Atypical Chick: A Gay Man in a Woman’s Body 9 The Breadwinner Dilemma: The Real and Opportunity Costs of Children 10 Voluntary Childlessness: An Upstream Choice in the Anthropocene Part IV Childfree Redefinitions 11 Recognizing Our Womanhood, Redefining Femininity 12 Refusing to Be Othered: Redefining the “Silent Bodies” of Childfree Women Concluding Thoughts Notes on Contributors Index Childfree Across The Disciplines: Academic And Activist Perspectives On Not Choosing Children Focuses On The Relationship Between Childfreedom, Social Ideologies, And Community Activism. The Authors Ask (and Frequently Answer) The Question: How Do Childfree People Negotiate Their Subjectivity In A Changing Demographic, Economic, Media-saturated Cultural Landscape?