Recognizing that you are privileged because you fit a certain mold that society deems more valuable is important, and asking people who fit that mold to understand that is perfectly reasonable.

I'm sorry your friends seem so preoccupied with that issue. Absolutely, there's a subset of "supermommies" who feel like they were always meant to be mothers, and I don't relate to those people either. Badgering someone about whether or not they'll have kids is bullshit (especially when you already have stepchildren -…

In all fairness though, pretty much any time a study comes out, people swarm to the comments section to talk about how their anecdata proves the study false.

If it is, we can sit here in our wrongness together.

I guess mine is mostly on the internet (which, since I'm kind of isolated right now between the little one and my husband's hours, is my greatest social outlet). I do have one friend who is kind of anti-kid, but she and I are growing apart for other reasons. And to be clear, I don't mean liberals as a whole tend to be…

Well if all women would stay home with the kids and let the men run the economy and handle all the money and wealth it'd work out well for them, right?

Thanks for reading. I feel like an ass whining about how tough it is to be making completely socially acceptable choices :) and I really appreciate your responses throughout this thread. It's not parents vs the childfree, it's women vs patriarchy, and the more time we spend fighting against each other the more…

Exactly. Women having kids are happy/feel fulfilled/have lives that are profoundly changed in a way that they're happy with? That must mean without kids women can never be happy/fulfilled/profoundly changed. Bullshit! That's like saying if you really love the city where you lived, you would never be happy in another…

I'm sorry you deal with that. I have a toddler, and it has its ups and downs (it's difficult but rewarding) but ultimately I'm happy.

Sometimes I feel like being a mother is the biggest bill of goods ever sold. Absolutely, there's the unspoken assumption that every woman will have kids, is dying to have kids, to be a mommy, that it's the most fulfilling thing a woman could do, that every woman falls instantly in love with their baby and blah blah…

Motherhood is already pretty lonely

It's absolutely the ultimate test of a relationship. Nothing brings out the old gender roles like having kids. I've seen very happy couples torn apart because after the baby comes, suddenly Mom finds herself handling all the childcare issues (choosing a daycare, choosing a pediatrician, taking off work when the kid is…

I feel the same way you do sometimes. I haven't read all the replies, I hope they aren't too negative, because it sounds like you "get" that the anti-parent sentiment isn't as strong in society as a whole as the assumption that all women want to have babies, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck when once again,…

BUT realize that every. other. thing. in the fucking world is all about Mothers this and babies that and families and commercials and OK! and inTouch and Hallmark and the tax code and what we consider work-life-balance etc. etc. etc.

This is me. I agree with everything you've said. I also think that sometimes it's a matter of who you surround yourself with - young, liberal circles tend to have some of the more outspoken childfree-ers, the ones who talk about SAHMs as wasting their talents or talking about how their friends aren't any fun anymore…

This! I'm a mom and I don't give a rat's ass about whether other people have kids or not. I'm not denying that there is a strong societal message that all women want to be moms, and I'm sure it's annoying for couples to be asked "when" (not if) they're planning on having kids.

Compare the public outrage over Michael Vick to any time anyone popular ever is accused of domestic violence and/or rape. "Well you know maybe she provoked him or maybe it wasn't really rape" vs "OMG YOU CAN'T HURT DOGGIES YOU MONSTER!"

I so miss my little guy's baby-carrier phase. He used to love being carried, and I loved having him against my chest (and my hands free). Now he's a very rambunctious toddler and those days are OVER.

It's such a pet peeve of mine that people with a platform to discuss their personal experiences are accused of "politicizing" or "profiting off" their tragedies. I mean, journalists write/talk about things for a living. Why not use that platform to share your experience and how it has changed you? What's so bad about…

I don't think anything could make me skip coffee. But yes, water first, above all. The thought of eating or drinking anything in the morning before I have my water makes me shudder.