It's International Women's Day... not International Mother's Day!
Celebrating unseen women on IWD
Happy International Women's Day #IWD to the many (and growing) number of childless and childfree women who feel unseen and uncelebrated in a pronatalist society that equates womanhood with motherhood.
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women's Day to all the unpartnered women who feel unseen and uncelebrated by a society mired by singlism (thank you, Bella DePaulo) and who, this day, as every day, navigate all of life's tasks and milestones, big and small, without recognition or support.
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women's Day to my LGBTQIA+ childless and childfree sisters, both single and partnered, creating their own definitions of womanhood in our homophobic, heternormative society
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women's Day to my Black and Brown childless and childfree sisters, who deal with extra layers of prejudice against and exclusion of their experiences due to systemic racism.
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women's Day to all the non-mothers navigating elderhood without the social validation of grandparenthood in a society where pronatalism, sexism and ageism collide to make the experience of aging without children additionally challenging.
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women’s Day to all of those non-mothers spoonies who struggle with chronic illness, disabilities and both visible and invisible challenges, and whom, whilst managing the complexities of their daily lives with minimal or zero support, are often told that it’s probably ‘a good job you didn’t have kids.’
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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Happy International Women's Day to all the writers, healers, podcasters, therapists, bloggers, activists and women in the non-parent community, both the ones I know and the ones I hope to know.
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I see you and I celebrate you.
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And of course, Happy International Women's Day to all the mothers in our lives and world who 'get it', and who join non-parents in the work of anti-pronatalism by recognising that #IWD isn't 'International Mother's Day'!
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I see you and I celebrate ALL women on International Mother’s Day.
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May every female person be knowing their inherent beauty, value, love-abilities. Thank you for a lovely recognition of us all, especially those of us marginalized, and otherwise uncelebrated, noticed.
So much love for this. Our minds are in a similar place. The March writing prompt for Life Without Children this month is about how IWD often defaults to another Mother's Day.