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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This was okay! Important for this group of women to have a place to share their thoughts but it seemed not very well-written or something? She was writing about emotional topics but the writing didn’t move me to FEEL that.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Vomit, Dementia, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy
Others Like Me is part memoir, part essay collection from 14 women across the world who cannot have children and women who can have children but have chosen not to share their stories.
I was excited to see there was a book out there for people like me who don’t want children. Having children is such a controversial topic when it shouldn’t be. What gives an outsider the right to decide what I should or shouldn’t do with my body? If a woman doesn’t have children, she’s lumped under various stereotypes like a cat lady, barren, selfish childfree woman, ambitious career woman, child hater, cold-hearted, spinster, and the list goes on.
I’m 28 years old, and I never want to have kids. Nothing anyone says about it will ever change my mind. I don't care what people think of my decision. In the book, we hear from women in their early thirties to mid-sixties, which offers a broad perspective on the topic. I wish the author had included perspectives from women younger than 30. From high school, I knew I did not want children, so even talking to someone in college could have been nice to read.
One small thing I didn’t like as much about Others Like Me is that the author kept using the phrase "childless." There is a difference between childless and childfree, especially with the connotation. She goes into detail about it a little bit by saying, “Childlessness is nuanced, and the places in which women find themselves within its spectrum can overlap or change over time.”
People need to learn to mind their own business; women, whether childfree or childless, shouldn’t have random people telling them what to do with their bodies. And just because someone’s a woman doesn’t mean they must be a mother. Not every woman has a maternal instinct and is meant to be a mom, as we’ve seen many times; some people simply shouldn’t have kids.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and am glad I found it!
"Everybody deserves to live the life they desire. If you want a childfree life, I say, just go for it."
I was excited to see there was a book out there for people like me who don’t want children. Having children is such a controversial topic when it shouldn’t be. What gives an outsider the right to decide what I should or shouldn’t do with my body? If a woman doesn’t have children, she’s lumped under various stereotypes like a cat lady, barren, selfish childfree woman, ambitious career woman, child hater, cold-hearted, spinster, and the list goes on.
I’m 28 years old, and I never want to have kids. Nothing anyone says about it will ever change my mind. I don't care what people think of my decision. In the book, we hear from women in their early thirties to mid-sixties, which offers a broad perspective on the topic. I wish the author had included perspectives from women younger than 30. From high school, I knew I did not want children, so even talking to someone in college could have been nice to read.
One small thing I didn’t like as much about Others Like Me is that the author kept using the phrase "childless." There is a difference between childless and childfree, especially with the connotation. She goes into detail about it a little bit by saying, “Childlessness is nuanced, and the places in which women find themselves within its spectrum can overlap or change over time.”
People need to learn to mind their own business; women, whether childfree or childless, shouldn’t have random people telling them what to do with their bodies. And just because someone’s a woman doesn’t mean they must be a mother. Not every woman has a maternal instinct and is meant to be a mom, as we’ve seen many times; some people simply shouldn’t have kids.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and am glad I found it!
"Everybody deserves to live the life they desire. If you want a childfree life, I say, just go for it."
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
reflective