This was, and is, very much a thing in my generation and older generations (ppl over 45yo). Any woman who dared question having children or outright said they didn’t want children were shunned, ostracized, yelled, seen as evil, horrible, unloving, etc. I know the younger generation do not view having children the same- more flexibility and acceptance in thought and divergence now- ie it’s now OK to NOT have children or NOT get married. It was treated like a cardinal sin just a few decades ago when I was a kid if a women said they didn’t want to get married or have children. It was considered heresy- unthinkable. Women who said it out loud were seen as evil heartless witches.
There are SO many women who get pushed into motherhood- bc after all, that’s what society EXPECTS- The reality is that a good 80% of them are NOT equipped physically, mentally, emotionally or financially-to take care of children. Or love and dote on them. Society would be MUCH better off if women were given a choice- yes I see that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are finally seeing the “light” (mainly bc of finances and unrealistic ability to get married and have children with the way the economy is these days). But anyone older than 45yo knows society was so inflexible and harsh on women who expressed they did not want to have children. We were considered as heartless evil b*tches. “OMG, How could you NOT want children”?? was the default outcry by other women.
How many children are abandoned? How many children are snuffed to death, thrown in garbage bins? We hear more and more stories of mothers throwing their babies out in garbage bins these days. This was very much done in the past as well, only there wasn’t social media to make the stories viral.
How many children grow up abused? Or neglected? Or simply not given the love and care they deserve/needed? How many women find out after birth that they HATE being a mother? I know LOTS of mothers who absolutely RESENT and REGRET having children- yet outwardly they will project this image of a loving doting mother. Smiling in public, putting up lovely family photos. It’s all an act.
Society would be better if children weren’t PUSHED onto society. I’ve questioned this when I was in my 20s when it was still taboo to even question it- WHY does society push women into having children? Well- our overlords need a steady supply of workers and consumption-ers. That’s probably the reason why. -_-
EDIT- Also, LESS children = MORE Space = LOWER rent/lower housing costs. Why Americans don’t get that idk.
16 comments
Hello Eternal, Thank you for expressing this. You are making a lot of good points here. Absolutely. Saying that “80% of women are not equipped” to have children is no exaggeration.
I am a man who was affected negatively by the notion back then that all women should reproduce. Back then I too believed (wrongly) that women who didn’t intend to reproduce were somehow strange. The stink of it was I did NOT want fatherhood (it is NOT my calling) but did want to marry. The conflict inside was fierce:
To marry I could choose a “normal” woman and have sharp conflicts over how many to have, which is what I did, or marry a likeminded woman (thought to be strange). Turns out the latter would have been a far better idea for me.
I plan to comment some more soon.
Good to hear from you A1957. Are you born in 1957 or is that the # of your former cessna?
Yes, our generation was brainwashed to believe that ALL women SHOULD have children, and if you didn’t, there was something wrong with you. Which is absolutely bonkers if you look at crime rates, poverty, domestic violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, ppl on welfare, overcrowding, cost of skyrocketing housing, etc. But naw, every women should have tons of babies to strap them down and families be in debt forever.
Even my generation (between Gen X and Millennial)- it was all about shaming women for NOT having children. Literally 80% of ppl having children should NOT be popping out children. And it is the worst and most incapable ones popping the most children out. The stable, well to do middle and upper middle class ppl have 1-2 children- if that. Seems like the poorer you are, the MORE children you knock out, which makes you MORE poorer. Like make it make sense, right? But nah, lets shame all childless women for not having babies in an overcrowded f*cked up world.
?I’m a boomer from 1957. Cessna would have been nice! Hey there is a movie (Idiocracy) that brings that brings your points out really well in the opening scenes. But yes, life is hard and a child born into low income faces a ton of even more stressors. I thought it was strange enough pressuring boomers to reproduce but to do that to women between Gen X and Millennials (circa 1980) is even crazier.
I just can’t figure out the have a family thing. I suppose a few (very few) women might really be up for it and be able to find a guy earning two incomes to give that family financial stability (or some other arrangement) and oh by way not haul each other into divorce court after having a few. But this kind of arrangement is far and few in between. But back to what you were pointing out.
Yes, in the late 1970’s I saw a lot of women having children who did not even have enough wherewithal for themselves. Crazy!
I know, and the boomer generation had it good compared to the younger generations. Yet still “you must have children” cries from everywhere and everyone. The one thing I like about Gen Z and Gen Alpha is that they KNOW they don’t have the financial means to have children. Well, at least half of them know.
Right indeed about Gen Z and Gen Alpha. In Canada, USA, and most of Europe housing is so expensive it is about all they will be able to do to keep a roof over their head. On top of that in the USA health care premiums are so high as to rival mortgages! I look for reproduction to grind to a near halt in these countries. I remember as a kid seeing women pushing baby carriages regularly, daily even. Now I rarely see a baby carriage and that mostly in a few places of conspicuous disposable income. It really is different day. Oh yeah, I notice too, many times, that the parents of babies/young children are living with their own parents.!!! Does not sound appealing at all.
yeah, bc the younger generation cannot afford to move out. hell, i can’t either.
and you know what else? bc young millennials and especially Gen Z and Gen Alpha are not having children, guess what happens to Gen X/older Millennials? There won’t be enough people nor money to take care of us when Gen X/Older Millennials become elderly. More great things to look forward to -_-
I just don’t see any “pluses” to living…
Hey, even as someone who wants children, I think it’s absolutely terrible forcing people who don’t want them to have them. Our current vice president decided to call anyone in government without children “childless cat ladies” and that should be cause to remove him from office, what an absolute ghoul, he has no idea what living and working in America is like right now. He’s a billionaire, I seriously doubt he’s ever met a working class person.
People have unloaded their kids on me to raise most of my life, yet I haven’t been able to afford to have kids. Not getting into the biological issues. I already know full well how bad the parents out there are, we don’t make normal children anymore. Most kids now are suffering from a lot of trauma and medical issues.
Then there are the massive amount of children who end up wards of the state…. and it bugs me because there are potential parents out there, myself included who could do the job, but the system doesn’t want to help them, they want to abuse and neglect those children, and force women to carry pregnancies to term even if, ESPECIALLY IF it kills them.
“We want to increase the amount of families” is the biggest lie in our society. “Pro life” is the most pro death policy there is. They don’t want to feed people, or provide medicine, but if they can hurt women and children, that is their jam.
And I just keep serving my penance, trying to find solutions, trying to find the right words or actions to stop this. There aren’t any, not that I’ve found. I mean….. I really think taking 60% of billionaires wealth and using it to fix education and healthcare would do it…. but I don’t have the authority to do it.
Oh, and a dunk tank full of some rank liquid for anyone who said anything as stupid as calling childless people cat ladies might wake those people up….. or maybe a stretching machine? Something really dramatic and a bit painful. Idiots.
The people in power are often the WORST people on the planet- the MOST corrupt, the MOST morally bankrupt, the MOST unqualified, the MOST cut-throat, the MOST callous, the MOST swayed and bought by money, and the MOST psychopathic. On BOTH sides of the political aisle. They’re all self-serving vultures. And yet fools continuously vote for them. And so here we are… -_-
“The people in power are often the WORST people on the planet- the MOST corrupt, the MOST morally bankrupt, the MOST unqualified, the MOST cut-throat, the MOST callous, the MOST swayed and bought by money, and the MOST psychopathic.”
^ It’s exactly THIS that proves existence is hopeless.
Anyone who rises to the top does it at the expense of others. No exceptions.
Every billionaire became rich by exploiting someone, cheating someone, cutting corners that hurt someone, or by simply hoarding money that could’ve been used by someone in desperate need. Nobody ever got rich by being a good person.
Likewise, every politician got to the top by playing the corrupt game: making shady deals & alliances, greasing palms, lying about promises, or by straight up bullying others out of the way. Nobody ever rose to power by being a kind, compassionate human being.
And this is the 1 glaring rule of the universe. We aren’t any different than a feeding frenzy in the middle of the ocean. The sharpest teeth win. That’s why not just America is fucked, not just politics and economics in general, but the very fabric of existence is made to favor the biggest assholes.
Sounds bleak? Then invent a god to pat your hand and tell you everything will be ok. Why not, there’s no other way to accept this bullshit, aside from suicide.
” Then invent a god to pat your hand and tell you everything will be ok.”
—THIS. Religion was created by the elites to quell any uprising. After all, the “good” and “meek” will be rewarded in the afterlife right? Meanwhile, it allows the rich to continue to pillage and steal and everyone lets them.
—And if you refuse to be brainwashed by religion, they tell you YOU are the one that’s crazy and push crazy pills on you. But naw, there’s NOTHING wrong with society. Only something wrong with YOU.
what is that school of thought called? would like to join like-minded ppl online. maybe just maybe, everyone is either asleep or in denial bc the truth is ugly.
It would be awesome if there were an online community of ppl who think this way. People who face the ugly truth from churches & governments, refusing to fall for the scams. Bonus points if they’re suicidal, or at least they accept suicide as a possible answer.
Years ago I thought Libertarians believed this, distrusted religion & governments, but they sold their soul to the right wing and now the government is stronger & more fascist than ever.
It’s funny how Libertarians and Liberals share the same root word (freedom) and they both want the same thing: freedom to live your life without the govt in your face, but somehow they ended up on opposite teams. It’s like you said earlier, the rich & powerful will turn the masses against each other, red or blue.
You’re right it’s so ridiculous that the ones in power (churches & government) get to decide what’s “crazy”. If you refuse to believe in a god then you’re “crazy”, you’re a “heretic” and they’d burn you at the stake. On the other hand if you say you had a vision from the archangels (like Joan of Arc) they’d say you’re a witch and burn you at the stake anyway.
Ofc we don’t have burnings anymore, but the attitudes are still there. If you don’t conform to the masses then you’re a trouble maker and you’ll get cooked one way or another :/
How DO we find like-minded ppl? I know very few believe what I do, but they do exist. What key words should I search for? Legit question.
I’m anti-woke, anti-republican, anti-democrat, anti-liberal (was a “liberal” until 2016, 2020 and 2024 showed me “liberals” were just as stupid as conservatives, but in different areas). I’m also anti-libertarian. These ppl are nuts and too extreme. We need govt- but a NON corrupt govt.
I’m aware of all the political and financial and medical corruption. The rich are evil fucks who keep us in peasant chains . JFK was assassinated. Epstein did not kill himself. Mangioni is a Hero. And Life is Rigged. If you weren’t born rich or middle class, then good fucking luck.
I’m a “conspiracy theorist” (most of these rational ones have turned out to be true) but not a right winger nor do I believe in crackpot stuff like the Loch Ness monster.
I’m jaded, skeptical, cynical, a pessimist but a realist. Anti-children (and anti-humans for that matter). But idk. Can’t really put a word to all the things I believe in so I can search for like-minded ppl. I mean I am SANE and LOGICAL but apparently 90% of the world isn’t. At least Americans aren’t.
I think you hit on the reason why there are no groups of ppl like us. As soon as something becomes a large group or movement, an “institution”, it gets ruined. It gets snatched up by either red or blue.
For example. like you I place importance on protecting forests & wildlife from human interference & pollution, but that’s been snatched up by the left, so if you look for “conservationist” groups you’ll find liberals. On the flip side, if you want the government to get its nose out of your bank account (lower taxes), that’s been snatched up by the right so you’ll find yourself in hard conservative territory.
I’m with you, I’m a realist to the bone. I never trust anything at first glance. Things that everyone else is flocking toward, like the American dream (married, have children, go to church, work for the machine) reek to high hell. But if you search for groups that reject these mainstream ideas, you usually get batshit extremists.
ig you gotta play the game that everyone else plays, pick a group that mostly aligns with your views and just accept the batshit. For example I mostly agree with “hippies” who reject the government & church, but I’m not really a fan of flower power & love as the solution either. But I just kinda accept it. So sometimes I’ll search for “hippie forum” and sometimes find ppl who are into the same music, movies, art as well as distrusting the govt. There actually used to be a huge community called Hippyforums I think? (been a while) but like most communities it died off when the social media giants stole the show.
well…for me, i don’t think i can find anyone who believes most, or even half, of the stuff i do. usually there’s some disagreement on something (since i don’t subscribe to left-right ideologies) or mainstream/popular views on topics.