‘Unselfish?’ Huff Po’s 270 Reasons Not to Have Children
HuffPo wants to “open people’s minds to the wide range of mature, unselfish motivations” regarding women’s decision to forgo having children.
“Far too often,” the article stated, “women who choose to be childfree are asked to defend their ‘immature,’ ‘selfish’ lifestyles. They’re told that motherhood is the ‘most important job in the world’ and face accusations of living ‘meaningless’ lives.”
So, HuffPo gave 124 childless women the opportunity to give their own reasons for their choice. 64 percent of responders simply preferred their current lifestyle.
Then HuffPo opened the discussion to 270 readers. Explanations were divided into five categories, including “I want to prioritize my career,” “I don’t like children,” “I have a bad relationship with my parents,” “I don’t want the financial responsibility,” and “I like my life as it is.”
One responder wrote, “They [children] are gross, destroy your free time, drain your money, and are generally selfish and egotistical through most life stages. Plus, there are 7 billion people on this planet. It’s time we stopped breeding like wild rabbits, the planet is ruined enough as it is.”
Another opined, “The moment you have children, you’re life ceases to be about yourself. Kids always take priority and I feel like I can do more for this world than just generate offspring.”
A third said, “Because it is so lovely to have a dinner without someone crying in the background. And dogs are more fun.”
HuffPo is right, “these women don’t owe anyone an explanation,” but it doesn’t seem quite accurate to class their reasons as unselfish motivations.
