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vixenesque93[Error: unknown template qotd]
Aww...look. A writer's block topic I can actually talk about.
Sure, anyone should be able to bear children if they want to. We already tried restricting people from having children based on various "undesirable" factors (including race), but when a certain European dictator heard about the eugenic philosophies being discussed in academic circles...well, we all know what happened next.
But if you want to *raise* said children...well, we already have restrictions in place. No beating/starving/neglecting them. Feed, clothe, nurture, educate, keep them healthy and make sure they grow into adults who aren't complete and total assholes. And remember, they call it the hardest job in the world for a goddamn reason--so don't look so shocked when someone says they don't want them.
Yeah, there's some folks who don't like children at all (or the people who choose to have them). As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lupabitch put it, that vitriol is a backlash against the social privileges afforded to parents. Until recently, there really wasn't much of a social place for people without children in this culture; that's a relatively new phenomenon. Because that pretty well sums it up. Until the advent of birth control, if you had no children it was assumed you were either 1) unmarried or 2) incapable. Voluntarily not having children has only really been an option for a couple generations, and is still uncommon enough to be regarded with suspicion (especially if you're female. Dammit.).
Supposedly, I'm supposed to be having a biological clock going off soon. Mine peaked about a decade ago and has been declining ever since.
Aww...look. A writer's block topic I can actually talk about.
Sure, anyone should be able to bear children if they want to. We already tried restricting people from having children based on various "undesirable" factors (including race), but when a certain European dictator heard about the eugenic philosophies being discussed in academic circles...well, we all know what happened next.
But if you want to *raise* said children...well, we already have restrictions in place. No beating/starving/neglecting them. Feed, clothe, nurture, educate, keep them healthy and make sure they grow into adults who aren't complete and total assholes. And remember, they call it the hardest job in the world for a goddamn reason--so don't look so shocked when someone says they don't want them.
Yeah, there's some folks who don't like children at all (or the people who choose to have them). As
lupabitch put it, that vitriol is a backlash against the social privileges afforded to parents. Until recently, there really wasn't much of a social place for people without children in this culture; that's a relatively new phenomenon. Because that pretty well sums it up. Until the advent of birth control, if you had no children it was assumed you were either 1) unmarried or 2) incapable. Voluntarily not having children has only really been an option for a couple generations, and is still uncommon enough to be regarded with suspicion (especially if you're female. Dammit.).Supposedly, I'm supposed to be having a biological clock going off soon. Mine peaked about a decade ago and has been declining ever since.
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Date: 2010-09-24 06:54 am (UTC)I believe the 'social privileges' refer more to things like "when are you going to have a family of your own?" and other prevailing attitudes that suggest that no one can possibly be complete without reproducing.
I've also heard it suggested that one cannot POSSIBLY be mature until they've had kids. And yanno, those of us without kids who do work hard for what we have (even if we don't necessarily have stunning careers) may resent that just a tiny bit.
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Date: 2010-09-24 06:56 am (UTC)"Oh that's too bad"
seriously
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Date: 2010-09-24 06:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-24 07:01 am (UTC)"What, you can't stop at 3 kids! That's a prime number!"
"Well, we were trying for pi."
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Date: 2010-09-24 07:02 am (UTC)awesome sauce
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Date: 2010-09-24 07:06 am (UTC)Mostly because I also like pie. And pi makes me think of pie.
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Date: 2010-09-24 06:59 am (UTC)