Personal life is meant to stay behind closed doors, as it revolves around matters that are none of other people’s business. And a recent post on the subreddit r/Childfree by a woman who goes on the platform by the nickname Rage_and_Kindness is the perfect illustration as to why.
In it, the woman described the time when she let a repairman inside her home, and the guy violated the boundaries of professional behavior the moment he realized that she didn’t have any kids.
This woman did her homework and picked the repairman who gave her the lowest quote for her toilet replacements
Image credits: fotoimagen / envato (not the actual photo)
But when the guy arrived, he immediately disproved all of his positive reviews
Image credits: msvyatkovska / envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Rage_and_Kindness
This story is a vivid reminder that society often reduces women to their reproductive system
Image credits: Kristina Paukshtite / pexels (not the actual photo)
The term ‘child-free’ has existed since the early 1900s, but in recent years it has really picked up.
Part of why could be research that suggests growing numbers of adults in the Western world, just like the author of the post, are actively choosing not to have kids.
In the US, for example, a 2021 Pew Research Center study showed some 44% of non-parents aged 18 to 49 don’t think they will ever have children, up from 37% in 2018.
More than half listed their main reason for the decision as “don’t want to have children” rather than more circumstantial factors such as medical issues or financial worries.
In England and Wales, a 2020 YouGov survey suggested that more than half of British 35-to-44-year-olds who haven’t had kids never plan on doing so.
Elizabeth Hintz, an assistant professor in communication at the University of Connecticut, US, who’s studied perceptions of child-free identities, agrees that there’s “a lot of strong opinions” from the general public, which hints the lack of respect the Redditor has faced from the repairman isn’t a standalone case.
Some say parents might have difficulty understanding that not having children is a choice, and so they see it as an attack on their choice of having children.
Especially when they’re interacting with women.
“Reproductive decision making has always been a burden placed on women more so than their partners,” Hintz said. “And motherhood and femininity are so closely intertwined as well, so that is also, I think, a part of it.”
As a result, this means there’s still often a lot of pressure on women to follow a traditional “life script,” even from their repairmen!
People who read it have had a lot of strong reactions
English (US) ·