Expectations
Recently I've been going through some old college papers. One of the classes that I took in Bible college was called "Christian Home". The class took us through dating, engagement, marriage and parenting. It reminded me that when I was in high school and college, I assumed that I would have kids. Even though I wasn't thrilled about the idea, I had decided that if the man I loved wanted kids, we would have them.
So I expected that I would have children. In reading a paper I wrote, I talked about my fear of how to raise children in the current world.
Expectations of society are very strong. I believe that if I had married someone who wanted kids, I would probably have kids by now. The choice not to have children became an option when the man I loved expressed his lack of desire to have them. The whole future of my life opened up for me.
I hope that as Purple Women™ we can open the eyes of those around us that we all have a choice. We don't have to follow society's expectations just because.
Technorati Tag: Childfree
1 comment:
Choice, there's that word again.
That's really what it's all about. We are lucky to have the choice, that we have an awareness of it, acknowlege it. That makes us Purple.
Some women in the world do not have the same choices. Let's face it. There are women on this planet whose lives are proscribed.
The word "choice" came up in the interview I did yesterday.
I wonder how differently family planning classes are taught in high schools today than when I came through the system. I really don't recall discussing a childfree option. I do remember that students in the class had to carry a baby around with them for a week! I am sure the boys particularly liked this assignmment.
Let's keep blogging about this topic. I am sure in another generation or so, they'll wonder what all the fuss was about.
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