Newsflashes from across the world!
Explanation: There is a pretty sexist but prevalent notion within societies around us that a woman’s life follows a series of inevitable steps that ultimately lead to childhood. Humankind in separate microcosms of our world has come to accept motherhood as an inevitable step and a central theme of femininity; that is to say that without motherhood, many people judge these women as not fully “feminine”. In other cultures, some believe that it is a fine thing to be childless and that it’s a completely “a-okay” thing to do. As a result, my newspaper reports and newsflashes discuss 5 different regions of this world, their cultures, and how they perceive childless women. The five regions discussed are India, China, the U.K., Sub-Saharan Africa, and America.
It seems as though crooked teeth aren’t the only things wrong with the United Kingdom!
By Akshay Sadeeshkumar, 11/29/2016
It’s been over a year since Andrea Leadsom ran for the Prime Minister position in Great Britain, yet, that nation and its constituents can’t seem to get over her controversial words. In an interview with The Times, Andrea Leadsom indicated that her motherhood over her opponent (Theresa May) in the Prime Minister race meant that she’d be a better leader to Britain. She claimed that her maternity gave her a leadership edge over Theresa May and that she, may, was somewhat incapable of being a leader because of her lack of maternity.
Now, apart from the fact that this statement is an incredibly incendiary and awfully mean comment, it does shed some light on how some people in the United Kingdom view motherhood. Of course, Andrea Leadsom does not speak on behalf of the entire UK, but it’s important to recognize that there are people that do indeed think and feel this way in the U.K. After all, she did earn enough support to enter the race.
Childless women in the U.K. seem to face this retrograde perception that their lives are somewhat unfulfilled and lost because they aren’t mothers, even though childless mothers are slowly becoming a dominant minority. According to an article written by Elizabeth Day for The Telegraph, she believes that childlessness is viewed as a taboo here in the U.K. still. She says that there is this ignorant belief accepted by the English that there must be something wrong with a woman for not wanting children, and consequently, there is this perpetuating shame that clouds the psyches of these women. Whether it’s infertility or purely based on choice, childless British women can’t seem to escape this air of judgment that surrounds them day in and day out. This issue must resolve itself in this decade because as mentioned above, childless women are growing in numbers. 1 in 5 women, according to the article by Day, are childless by choice and this number is steadily growing. If the U.K. population doesn’t learn to be more accepting of this choice, then they’ll be voluntarily isolating a big portion of their population.
Newsflash: Great! I Don’t Want a Child! Hopefully My Family Will Understand…
By Akshay Sadeeshkumar, 11/29/2016
With India’s population being over 1.2 billion (and counting), it’d seem as though there culture would follow suit to what China has in place: a society where desired childlessness is not ostracized and lambasted as being “selfish”. I mean, with less landmass and resources compared to China, it would seem that childlessness is the advisable plan of action for the women in India. However, this isn’t the case as women in India are HEAVILY ostracized and criticized for being childless.
In the BBC article “Indian women who are choosing to be child-free”, Anjana Kumar, the interviewee, claimed that her choice of childlessness was a strained one that she couldn’t make easily. She called maternity “overrated” and stated that “[motherhood] is a big long-term responsibility that I could never prepare myself for”. Pressure from her friends, family, colleagues, etc., mounted over time and she never understood why. Her family would ask things like “what’s wrong with you” and her friends are quick to judge her as “barren”, something she finds to be very offensive. She says “Why should I have to define [my choice] in terms of a lack?” and is vehemently against the assumption that a childless woman is a disabled woman in that sense. It seems that the Indian community is quick to undermine a woman’s decision for childlessness and instead label her as “barren”.
This sort of harsh, reprehensible behavior cannot continue for the sake of the mental health and lives of women in India. Childlessness isn’t necessarily a disability on the part of women and should not be treated as such. The aforementioned cruel judgments and unfair perspectives can ruin the psyche of a childless woman and force her to do things that she may not want. It’s clear, according to this article, that Indian women face a lot of pressure from their families and elders on how to conduct their lives. However, if Indian women lived their lives according to the expectations and desires of others, then they’re not living their lives for themselves.
Newsflash: Maybe China has it figured out!
By Akshay Sadeeshkumar, 11/29/2016
There are many things that exist within the dichotomy presented between Western and Eastern Global societies. From the way we eat to the way we shower, there are collective habits and nuances that separate our global cultures. However, it seems as though there’s one thing the Eastern global society has gotten right (China’s society more specifically), and that’s the way they perceive childless women. In Western Cultures (North America and Western Europe for the most part), there’s a negative perception and stigma aimed towards childless women because of their desired childlessness. We, the citizens of America, want women to have children and when they don’t, we see it as a loss in opportunity and a slightly bone-headed decision. However, in China, this is clearly not the case.
In an article written by David Pierson in the LA Times, Pierson says that there has been a steady decline in childbearing in China that hasn’t met any sort of criticism from popular media and culture. Even though the childbearing rates declined 6.3% in the last decade, Chinese women have not met any backlash for it. Now, he goes on to argue that this may be due to many reasons. There are the one-child laws set in place in China that incentivizes not having children in the first place. And the cost of living in China has sky-rocketed in the past couple of year due to overpopulation, which would also de-incentivize having children. However, even with all of these factors and conditions in place, the Chinese community seems to be okay with women opting out of maternity.
Overall, this cultural anomaly set in place in China seems to be working for both sides of the community: the childless mothers and everyone else. The childless women more often than not, according to the article, go on to pursue a higher-level education, so kudos to them! With regards to the childless women in China, it’s clear that childlessness, although not necessarily encouraged, is widely accepted by the Chinese community and this totalistic behavior is something that outsider societies should look at and follow suit.
Newsflash: It’s AfriCAN, not AfriCANT!
By Akshay Sadeeshkumar, 11/29/2016
In the depths of the oases and expansive deserts in Côte d’Ivoire are men and women that live just about the same lives as anyone else. They work for their food, vote for their rights, and sleep during the night. However, it seems as though the one thing that’s stigmatized more than anything else in their Sub-Saharan African culture is childlessness, both on desire and physical ability. There’s this widespread belief that the ultimate goal and accomplishment as a woman in Sub-Saharan African cultures is having a child. According to the article “Why the stigma attached to being childless in Africa is far greater than in the West” by Nina Steele, in Africa, a marriage without children is considered a failed marriage, as if there was lost potential because of this childlessness on the women’s part.
In another article written by the World Health Organization “Mother or nothing”, WHO describes the stigmatization and perception of childless women in Sub-Saharan African cultures to be cruel and nothing short of extreme. According to the WHO, childless women are often looked at as a burden on the socioeconomic well being of a community. Relatives and close friends are often disappointed and ashamed at the woman’s choice and/or inability to have children, and often times, the woman experiences more guilt and shame.
The aforementioned articles go on to explain that there are a variety of reasons as to why there is this merciless and, quite frankly, ruthless perception of childless women in Africa: religion, failed expectations, traditions, etc. However, it’s important to take note that: 1) African cultures are often deeply rooted within their own traditions and heritage and 2) carrying on a family’s legacy and/or community’s inherent values are important to a family. In an article for Emory University, “The Importance of Children in African Cultures”, it’s mentioned that in African cultures altogether, children are considered as ‘blessings’ that should carry the honor and traditions of the family. In this sense, it’s important to avoid ethnocentrism by acknowledging this thought process on the part of the Africans. However, it’s just as important to recognize that these African women have an innate and sole right to their own body and choices, and consequently should NOT be ostracized for their choice of childlessness in the communities they live in.
Newsflash: CHILDLESS WOMEN ARE NORMAL TOO!
By Akshay Sadeeshkumar, 11/29/2016
Western Society has struggled in the past to accept women as independent people in terms of finances, survivability, and decisions. There was always a shock factor and a gasp whenever the waves of feminism would role by in the 20th century, demanding things like the right to vote (the 19th amendment), the Equal Rights Amendment, etc. However, even though the American governments and societies of the past have done a lot to rectify this predominant issue of sexism that had existed in several facets of our life, it seems as though in small and subliminal ways it still exists, especially when it comes to mothers (or rather, non-mothers).
In the “Unnatural Women: Childless in America” report in Psychology Today by Melanie Notkin, it’s stated that even though there’s been a steep decline in the amount of American women having children from 1976 to 2013 (a decline of 15%), there’s still this common notion that women are supposed to have children. Notkin states that childlessness is “not quite understood or seen as a norm”, and this makes sense. Western culture, and for the most part our world, has become accustomed to the standard nuclear family of two parents and two (or more) children. So it’s not hard to see why people would view childless women as “out of the norm” or “unfeminine”. However, that’s a retrograde path of thinking that alienates women who 1) physically cannot have children or 2) do not want children.
In the Psychology Today article, Notkin mentions a 2011 Women in America study that childless women in their forties were perceived by outsiders as “unhappy”, “abnormal”, and that they were looked upon as people who had wasted their potential as mothers, rather than people who’ve capitalized on their success. They, the childless women studied, felt that their bodies were made to exist solely for the purposes of being a child’s vessel, and this led to questions about their identity and damage to their self-esteem. This is wholly unacceptable as these sexist presumptions made on behalf of women are unfairly thrust upon them because of the precedent set before them. So rather than viewing these older, childless women as inept members of our society that have committed a mistake by not being pronatalistic, let’s celebrate their choice to carry on their lives in ways they deem fit. After all, childless women are still humans that deserve respect, care, and love, aren’t they?
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/02/business/la-fi-china-no-child-20110903
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-25396743
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/family/why-does-society-still-view-childless-women-like-me-with-suspici/
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/being-a-mother-gives-me-edge-on-may-leadsom-0t7bbm29x
