Life Without Children May Writing Prompt
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, 21 May
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So far, we’ve had a couple of amazingly insightful conversations.
Maria Garcia and I untangled her inspiration behind writing her piece, Mother, Choice, and the Endless Need for Justifications. If you missed our LIVE chat, you can catch up via the recording here.
Nadia Huq and I dove deep into the beauty of her breathtaking piece, The Childless Woman Who Soared, the recording of which can be found here.
Our next Writer Spotlight is with Lisa Kissane on 8th May at 6pm UK time, which is 10am PST, 1pm EDT and 7pm CET.
Lisa and I will be discussing our wonderfully poignant piece called Every One Of Us Is A Unique Work Of Art — Whether We Have Kids Or Not.
Join us via this link.
Still in May, on the 22nd May at 6pm UK time (10am PST, 1pm EDT and 7pm CET), I will be joined by Y.L. Wolfe to discuss her piece Let’s Be Honest About Why People Are Angry at Chappell Roan and It’s Not Because She’s Judging Mothers.
Yael and I both wrote on this topic, which should make for a passionate and insightful conversation.
Join us via this link.
Life Without Children writing prompt for May
In some parts of the world, Mother’s Day is on 11th May. Other parts of the world celebrate this day in March. While this month's prompt does not centre on Mother’s Day, I understand it is a day that evokes many emotions, so I encourage you to write about it, and the way it impacts you.
The actual prompt for May is about cultural diversity.
21st May is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
When outlining why culture matters, this article on the United Nations website states:
Three-quarters of the world’s major conflicts have a cultural dimension. Bridging the gap between cultures is urgent and necessary for peace, stability and development.
I can’t help but recognise an intersection with pronatalism interwoven into culture. I believe we need to bridge the gap between the childless, the childfree and parents to bring a greater sense of peace and stability into our world.
Right now, it feels like this “us and them” chasm is increasing, not helped by Trump and his bromates and their pronatalist messages.
May Writing Prompt: What does the intersection between culture and pronatalism look like for you? How does not having children affect the way you are treated in your culture?
Perhaps you endure pressure from family and friends, or maybe perfect strangers minimise and diminish your life because reproduction is so revered where you are from? Or maybe your culture celebrates you for not having children?
Tips for writing to our prompts
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Reflections from April at Life Without Children
The writers here regularly inspire me. Here are the editor's picks for our April stories.
Lisa Kissane shines a light on pronatalism and the ways it infiltrates every aspect of our lives.
Pronatalism is More Than a Far-Right Extremist Movement
Elanor R. L. tackles the prickly topic of women’s health, sterilisation, population and the freedom of choice.
Birth Dearth: The Price of Society’s Apathy Toward Women
Saumya Sharma talks about the way COVID-19 changed her mind about having children.
I Always Assumed I’d Have Kids Until the World Fell Apart
Y.L. Wolfe addresses her own internalised pronatalism in the workplace and shares her journey of taking back her power with us.
As a Woman Without Children, I Was Held to Unfair Expectations in the Workplace
What will May bring?
It’s all about Substack LIVE and focusing on the Writer Spotlights.
If there is a particular piece published here at Life Without Children that you would love to hear the backstory of and learn about the writer’s creative process and inspiration source, let me know, and I will do my best to schedule a Substack LIVE conversation with the writer.
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