Confronting Discourses of Pronatalism

This book addresses a topic that until recently had been underexplored: women who voluntarily forgo having and raising children. Grounded in a discourse approach, it examines reproductive decision-making in the context of pronatalist discourses, such as 'biological clock' and 'having it all', that encourage procreation in some while discouraging it in others. To contextualize pronatalism sociohistorically, the book also examines the relationship between pro- and anti-natalist discourses that emerged during the 20th century eugenics movement, especially its promotion of procreation by white middle-class women while discouraging poor immigrant women and women of color from reproducing. Other topics include online communities devoted to childfreedom, 20th and 21st century women authors who wrote about their decision not to procreate, responses of academic women in the field of applied linguistics to questions about their childlessness, and a personal narrative of the authors childlessness. The author calls for solidarity between mothers and 'nothers' (her term for childless women) to defy the policing of womens bodies worldwide.