Saying No: Women’s Experiences with Reproductive Refusal

Abstract

The experiences of intentionally childless heterosexual women are often misunderstood and misnamed. Women who purposefully do not have children are not taken on their own terms but are measured by the idealized standard of motherhood and thus found deficient. Guided by the assumptions of a feminist poststructuralism, two contradictory experiences that are predictable for many non-mothers are redescribed. One experience, the ‘wavering no’, has to do with unexpected and short-lived disturbances in women’s otherwise comfortable relationship with childlessness. The other has to do with childless women’s subjective experiences of openness and freedom, the ‘saving no’ feelings that are related to the generation and perpetuation of a life without children. The article ends with reflections on the importance of reproductive diversity as a political goal.

“It’s the Choices You Make That Get You There”: Decision-Making Pathways of Childfree Women

“…They cited obtaining a higher education, focusing on careers, and retaining other adult freedoms (Bartlett, 1994;Gillespie, 1999Gillespie, , 2000Ireland, 1993;Kelly, 2009;Lisle, 1999;McAllister & Clarke, 1998;McEvoy et al, 1984;Tomczak, 2012). When women compared the benefits of a childfree life to socially prescribed benefits, they chose not to mother (Morell, 2000).…”

“…Existing research uses many terms to describe childfree women: voluntary childless (Callan, 1983;Heaton et al, 1999;Kelly, 2009;Majumdar, 2004;Morell, 2000;Park, 2002), intentionally childless (Feldman, 1981;Morell, 1994), voluntarily childfree (Koropeckyj-Cox, Romano, & Moras, 2007), childless by choice (Park, 2005), and childless (McAllister & Clarke, 1998). We use childfree and childfreedom because childless connotes a loss of something (Bartlett, 1994;Clark, 2012;DeLyser, 2011;Gillespie, 2003;Ireland, 1993;Lisle, 1999;McEvoy et al, 1984;Tomczak, 2012;Vesper, 2008;Vinson, Mollen, & Smith, 2010).…”

“…Research demonstrates that some women's explanations for choosing childfreedom include obstacles to marital happiness (Callan, 1986) and advantages linked to a childfree lifestyle like higher education, a career, or other adult freedoms (Gillespie, 2000;Kelly, 2009;McAllister & Clarke, 1998;McEvoy, DeVellis, Strudler, & Acker, 1984;Morell, 1994). Women may want adventure or personal development, act on their reproductive choice, lack a pull toward motherhood, or reflect on their childhood (Gerson, 1985;Lisle, 1999;Mezey, 2008;Morell, 2000). Economics may influence the choice to be childfree as women compare the costs of raising children to socially prescribed benefits (Gerson, 1985;Gillespie, 2003;Ireland, 1993;Morell, 2000).…”

“…Women may want adventure or personal development, act on their reproductive choice, lack a pull toward motherhood, or reflect on their childhood (Gerson, 1985;Lisle, 1999;Mezey, 2008;Morell, 2000). Economics may influence the choice to be childfree as women compare the costs of raising children to socially prescribed benefits (Gerson, 1985;Gillespie, 2003;Ireland, 1993;Morell, 2000). Rather than a simplistic negation of motherhood, the decision to be childfree results from many intricately woven factors.…”

A Qualitative Research on the Voluntary Childless Family's Choice Motives and Social Perceptions

“…가 진행되었는데, 주로 무 자녀 가족의 특성 (Byrne, 2000;Park, 2005)과 자발적 무자 녀여성의 성정체성 탐구 (Gillespie, 2003), 무자녀 선택 동기 (Veevers, 1980;May, 1995;Griffin, 1996;Morell, 2000;Mollen, 2006 (Houseknecht 1987: 377-378, Park et al, 1999 등이었다. 무자녀가족의 장점으로는 여가시간, 소 비, 여행, 직업, 자기관리 그리고 무엇보다 자유를 강조했다 (May, 1995;Morell, 2000;Mollen, 2006) …”