Read this article by S.E. Cupp about some of the pitfalls of our (her?) generation as regards motherhood. It’s an interesting article, if a bit tenuous in its connections between feminism and a generation of women who can’t seem to want to be actual grownups. And that leads me, inexorably, to the comments section. Jesus wept. I will spare you that pain, and use this space to give you a few salient points regarding Ms. Cupp, her premises, and the article.
Point the First – Feminism is not to blame for your perpetual adolescence. YOU are to blame for that. Feminism did not make you self-centered, and yet here you are, bragging about how pleasant it is to exist only for yourself. I’m thinking your mother tried to raise you better than that.
Point the Second – Maybe no one has ever told you this, but let me explain how reality works: you can have it all, you just can’t have it all at once. Choices. You must make them, and then you must LIVE WITH THEM. Whining doesn’t help.
Point the Third – Biology is real, and has a real effect on your life. So for all of the commenters getting all “We’re more than our uteri, dammit,” I would merely like to point out that your yelling doesn’t change the fact that you possess said uteri, and that possession of said uteri means that your experience of life will differ from a man’s, particularly if you think you may want children. Not even the POWER OF STEINEM can change biological reality, sisterhood. So you need to take that into account. As someone who experienced firsthand the hypothesized increased fertility at 40, let me tell you that while it’s fun being a mom later in life, it’s also harder. Biology is a total beeyotch.
Point the Fourth, Somewhat Related to Point the Third – The aforementioned uterus is not a magical bag that directs your emotions mommy-ward. Your BRAIN is the organ you need to use there. Do you picture yourself having a family in the future? Okay, your brain will help you calculate the ways and odds of that happening, not your uterus. Women don’t have a mystical holy conversion experience wherein a glowy uterus appears to them in a dream and says, “Go forth and multiply!” and then they are filled with a longing for wombfruit. Although if you’re waiting around for that sort of thing to happen, maybe you’re better off without kids.
Point the Fifth, and Really the Most Important Takeaway Here, Regardless of Your Gender – Grow up. No, really. You are 32 years old, for crying out loud. Take a big gulp from the coffee mug marked “real world” and then grow up. It’s actually kind of pleasant here in adulthood land.
