Stop Asking Childfree Women When They Are Going To Have A Baby. Seriously, Stop
I can’t believe it’s 2014 and we still insist on tying a woman’s worth and value to whether she has married or procreated yet. The women’s lib movement happened almost 50 years ago – didn’t anyone get the memo? We’ve all collectively decided that a woman does not have to use her uterus for baby-making or take vows to be considered “complete.” Can everyone let that sink in, please? Women do not have to get married or have babies. In fact, no one has to get married and have babies. Can we stop asking single, childless people when they are going to get married and have babies?
Carson Daly sat down for an interview with Jennifer Aniston this morning, and as usual – the issue of her being childfree and unmarried came up. I don’t think it will ever stop coming up – I think when Jennifer Aniston is 75 years old, tabloids will still be claiming “she’s pregnant!” To his credit, Daly wasn’t drilling her on the issue, he seemed to be in agreement that it was ridiculous she was always having to answer to it. He reminded her of something she said in a conversation she had with Gloria Steinem at the Maker’s Conference. Aniston said:
“Being a woman your value and worth is associated with marital status or whether or not you’ve procreated… It is always such and issue of like, ‘Are you married yet?’ or ‘Do you have your babies yet?’ It’s just constant… I don’t know. I don’t have this sort of checklist of things that have to be done, and ”¦ if they’re not checked, then I’ve failed some part of my feminism or my being a woman or my worth and my value as a woman.”
Can we leave this woman alone? Clearly, her life is fantastic. She’s swimming in money, engaged to a smoking-hot actor and she’s free as the wind. She’s living the dream, people. I don’t think she’s crying into a bowl of Haagen Daz every night because she hasn’t made use of her uterus. I’m pretty sure if she wanted to have a child so bad she could have made it happen somehow by now.
Why do we do this to women? And it’s all women – not just famous ones. I’ll never forget the time I was at a Greek Easter celebration and one of my mother’s friends was talking about her astrophysicist daughter. I’m not really even sure what an astrophysicist does, that’s how dumb I am. But I know it’s impressive. She bragged about some incredible job her daughter had just gotten at NASA or something, but punctuated her brag with this: “Yeah, but she’s still not married.” What? What are you talking about lady? Is managing to get engaged more impressive than managing to become an astrophysicist? I think not.
The public turned on Aniston because she was rumored to want a career over children, which clearly thrust then husband Brad Pitt into the arms of another woman. She’s never won that public back. Remember how she was “America’s sweetheart” with the best hair in the land? Now she’s just some unmarried, barren broad as far as the tabloids are concerned.
How can we make this stop? Anyone? Ideas?
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
(photo: Everett Collection/ Shutterstock)
