US actor Liz Vassey had this to say: “I had absolutely no idea I was miserable. Thank God there was a man around to tell me.”
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J.D.Vance’s blistering attack on women and their reproductive rights is something I’d expect to see Commander Fred Waterford make in an episode of dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale. And yet, here we are.
I must have replayed the video of J.D.’s interview a dozen times. I was deeply unsettled afterwards – not just by the political implications of his words but because it was like his piercing stare was aimed at me and he was calling me out as ‘other’ – a childless, single, social pariah.
This type of deep-seated misogyny is not just alive and kicking women face down into the dirt, it is being meted out by a man who could become Vice President of the leader of the free world. There’s obviously a certain irony in the word “free”, as in J.D. Vance’s world it seems that freedom of choice isn’t a democratic right for all – only those who have ditched their birth control pills.
I grew up ambivalent about having children. That didn’t change as I sailed through my 20s and by the time I hit my 30s, it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that I wasn’t going to have children. I’m not going to waste column inches here with the reasons why. I shouldn’t need to – it’s my choice.
But sadly, it seems that today I probably do have to put in writing that I love my life as a childless woman. It’s not perfect but I’m never short of a smile. I love my career as a beauty editor, I love having the freedom to travel and the time to devote to meaningful relationships with family and friends. I don’t feel like I’m missing out by not having a baby.
I’m also a proud cat lady. I love animals but, no, I don’t refer to them as ‘fur babies’ and they are in no way my substitute for a human baby. I am, however, the friend who is always a phone call away if you need a babysitter, and I wouldn’t rule out helping to raise someone else’s child, either through adoption or, like Kamala, as a stepmother.