I forgot to have children! Untangling links between feminism, careers and voluntary childlessness

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/51935

Title: I forgot to have children! Untangling links between feminism, careers and voluntary childlessness
Author(s): Dever, Maryanne; Saugeres, Lise
Abstract: This article examines the ways in which voluntarily childless women are represented in contemporary public discourse and sets these representations alongside the voices of thirty-five voluntarily childless women interviewed as part of a larger project on reproductive decision-making in the context of Australia's falling birthrate. Through the findings presented here we seek to challenge a key stereotype: the image of voluntariiy childless women as selfish career-driven feminists who prioritize work, are actively anti-mothering, and live unfulfied lives. The findings presented directly challenge popular perceptions of a simple causal link between feminism, careers and childlessness.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology
Source: Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, Vol. 6, no. 2 (2004), pp. 116-126
Publication year: 2004
Keyword(s): Feminism; Mothering
Publisher: Association for Research on Mothering
ISSN: 1488-0989
Publisher URL: http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/jarm/issue/view/355/showToc
Peer reviewed