tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post3384866464675427535..comments2011-11-07T15:20:03.508-05:00Comments on No to Children, Yes to Childfreedom:: IntroductionPVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02528845912780352534noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-24138550994422864942011-03-31T12:16:24.673-04:002011-03-31T12:16:24.673-04:00Dear PV,
I'm a postgraduate student in Gender...Dear PV,<br /><br />I'm a postgraduate student in Gender Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. I am currently researching childfreedom for a paper on the Childfree Movement as a queer (anti-)social movement. Would it be alright with you if I used material from your thesis in my work? Everything would be appropriately referenced, of course. <br /><br />I would be grateful if you could get back to me on this. <br /><br />Thank you and best wishes,<br />Mercedes.Mercedes Pöllhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675857779441566858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-34524680273845236612009-09-02T20:54:07.337-04:002009-09-02T20:54:07.337-04:00Thank you so much for posting your fascinating the...Thank you so much for posting your fascinating thesis. I am 99.9% sure that my husband and I will remain childfree, barring any unexpected maternal urges. This is a very refreshing read after the thesis I was reading this morning - Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell. He took issue with use of contraceptives -- even by married couples!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-8483723320471460452009-06-22T00:16:36.328-04:002009-06-22T00:16:36.328-04:00Having never had any maternal or other urge to rep...Having never had any maternal or other urge to reproduce - I found myself smiling while reading your thesis.<br /><br />Nail on the head - that's what you've done.<br />Happily in a relationship with a terrific man for 7 years and not wanting to change it for anything - I've known since entering into my teen years that I had no attraction whatsoever to motherhood. I'm 41 now and nothing has changed.<br /><br />What a fabulous piece of research.carita knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-41332031218205403392009-05-08T09:22:00.000-04:002009-05-08T09:22:00.000-04:00Thank you Anonymous and Alma for your comments. A...Thank you Anonymous and Alma for your comments. Alma, your comment was very interesting and thought provoking - thank for taking so much time to post a very thoughtful response to the research. <br /><br />Your post raised a couple questions that I hope you will answer (if you see this).<br /><br />My first question is, since you are a parent, how did you come across this project on the internet? What led you to it?<br /><br />My second question is one that I often like to ask parents. Imagine that there is such a thing as reincarnation and you get to come back and live another life. You come into the new life with full knowledge and understanding of what parenthood is like. Would you choose to be a parent again? (this question assumes you would not have the same kid you had in this life...in your new life, you would have new kid(s).<br /><br />I'd love to hear your response if you care to reply.<br /><br />Thanks!PVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02528845912780352534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-76217431349634217122009-05-07T22:37:00.000-04:002009-05-07T22:37:00.000-04:00Thank you for making these interviews available to...Thank you for making these interviews available to read. The questions put to the women were great. I am not exactly childfree; I have a 21-year old son who works and goes to college full time and still lives at home with us, but since we no longer have that day-to-day responsibility you have with a young child, our lives nearly mirror that of the childfree or at least the "empty nesters" which we pretty much nearly are now! In our neighborhood, which is pretty much all Hispanic(we are Hispanic too)your interviews would probably be shocking for the parents(and grandparents)around here to read. For a Hispanic to not have children is viewed, unfortunately, as some kind of freakish thing in the culture and because we only have one child(and he's an adult now anyway)we are viewed as the "weird" people. At the same time, many of these neighbors have four or five or more kids that they cannot even afford, and in a couple of cases there are people raising their own grandchildren because they were dumped on them by parents who apparently had never heard of birth control and had these kids anyway who are for the most part being raised by grandparents who are not old(we're talking about grandparents ranging in age from late 40's to mid 50's),but who are too lazy to teach them basic manners, right from wrong, or even to stay in school. As a result, these kids are bratty and will probably end up raising their own kids the way they were "raised". And the cycle will repeat itself. I sincerely believe many of these parents probably could not really fully explain WHY they had kids(and how to explain how some of them could raise kids that would actually dump their own kids on Grandma and Grandpa to bring up). Your interviews should be required reading for young women and men(especially in the minority communities)so they can understand that there is another side;that they are NOT required to have kids,that there are actually people in this world who do not feel they have to have kids to make their lives complete, but if they do want kids in the future that they have to understand that this is how their lives would change, this is what freedoms they might miss, and that they need to put a great deal of thought in this very important decision. It would be interesting to do interviews with the other women, women who had kids and why they had them. It would also be interesting to find out if they resent women they know who did not have children because they chose not to.Almanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-650649616406193275.post-89289055528996369192009-04-21T22:55:00.000-04:002009-04-21T22:55:00.000-04:00What an excellent read! I've just read your whole...What an excellent read! I've just read your whole thesis, as well as some of the interviews. A pleasure to read--some great writing and great thoughts! Thank you for making this available on the web.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com