While I can't even begin to contemplate what drove all these girls to get pregnant - from, by the sounds of things, a number of highly inappropriate men - but I'm pretty sure it wasn't sound reasoning. It sounds like a pretty naive notion of what motherhood will be like. "Oooh, we can have baby showers!" These girls are in for a shock. They have no idea what's in store for them.
I think carreer vs family vs juggling both is a personal choice, and you can't say that one or the other is more "natural". Every woman - and man - needs to decide what is important to him/her, and follow whatever that is. Unfortunately, we are constantly bombarded by often conflicting pressures and expectations, which can make it hard to figure out who we truly are.
Not every woman is born to be a mother. Just as not every woman is born to smash the glass ceiling with her stiletto heels. And the two aren't always mutually exclusive, either! I may turn into a pile of goo when I see a newborn baby, but I have no intention of ending my carreer the moment I get pregnant. At the same time, I'm realistic enough to know that I will never be a top-ranking surgeon or anything similar, because I would like to have a family.
But I don't think any woman who feels differently is weird, unnatural or somehow messed up. Some people just don't want babies. Fair enough. You can create a whole lot of problems by trying to convince such people otherwise. I know several older women who say that if they had their time again, they wouldn't have children. And I know a couple who say they'd have more children if only they still could. It comes down to the individual. There is no rule to define all women.
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Date: 2008-06-20 12:16 pm (UTC)I think carreer vs family vs juggling both is a personal choice, and you can't say that one or the other is more "natural". Every woman - and man - needs to decide what is important to him/her, and follow whatever that is. Unfortunately, we are constantly bombarded by often conflicting pressures and expectations, which can make it hard to figure out who we truly are.
Not every woman is born to be a mother. Just as not every woman is born to smash the glass ceiling with her stiletto heels. And the two aren't always mutually exclusive, either! I may turn into a pile of goo when I see a newborn baby, but I have no intention of ending my carreer the moment I get pregnant. At the same time, I'm realistic enough to know that I will never be a top-ranking surgeon or anything similar, because I would like to have a family.
But I don't think any woman who feels differently is weird, unnatural or somehow messed up. Some people just don't want babies. Fair enough. You can create a whole lot of problems by trying to convince such people otherwise. I know several older women who say that if they had their time again, they wouldn't have children. And I know a couple who say they'd have more children if only they still could. It comes down to the individual. There is no rule to define all women.