Word: childlessness
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...could not write, and all the devils came out--hairy black ones. To be 29, and unmarried--to be a failure--Childless--insane too, no writer...
...women are a hell of a lot more liberated than they ever were," he continued. "And I think they ought to be liberated more, at least in terms of their intellectual pursuits, but I don't think that most of them want a childless marriage...
Despite its frequently childish espousal of childlessness, NON makes some valid points. It observes that the cultural bias against childless couples is so strong that husbands and wives cannot choose non-parenthood freely; they know they will be branded selfish, shallow and neurotic. In fact, the organization stresses, motives for parenthood are not always what they seem. Some parents use children, like drugs, to shield them from the realities of life. Others want offspring only to fulfill their own frustrated hopes, to have someone to possess and control, or to ensure financial support in their...
...does not advocate that everyone be childless. It recommends a maximum of one child for couples who really want youngsters, and no babies at all before age 21. According to Washington Psychiatrist E. James Lieberman, a member of NON's executive committee, there are good psychological reasons for practicing that restraint. "Our society thrusts people into parenthood prematurely," he says. "The best preventive psychiatry is becoming a parent at the proper time and for the right reasons...
...into the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center (one of the nation's oldest) are rated high risk. The judgment depends on a number of things, among them age, economic and marital status. Not surprisingly, the single are more likely to go through with it than the married, the childless more likely than those with children. Also important for friends and counselors, says Pretzel, is a quick estimate of how strong the caller's death wish is. A rough measure is how specific a means he has chosen, how deadly it is, and how easy to get hold...