Mothering

Peggy O. Heffington’s Without Children leaves unresolved a pressing moral question: Can our society create space for women who do not wish to have (more) children, who cannot have children, or who postpone this decision indefinitely. As with women who mother, this large “childfree/childless” group contains women of every ethnicity, background, and level of accomplishment. In art, theater, psychology, literature, law, and gossip, we detect the cultural and religious obligations that narrow what it means to be a woman.