Guest Writer: Jordan Flewellen
Do you one day want to have a child? Today, women are expected to have children and be married. Some women feel like if they don’t have children, they are not accomplished or they won’t find a sense of fulfillment.
At the same time, there are women who do not want children and still feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment in life.
Women have been told and shown in many areas throughout society that they should have children and stay at home to raise their children. Society shows women through social media, television and movies that they will feel more accomplished in life if they have a child.
You can, though, have the opportunity to see single mothers taking care of their children and pursuing a career. Today, women feel obligated to have children in order to feel accomplished and fulfilled.
I interviewed women in my hall asking them two questions. The first being, “Do you feel that if you have a child you will feel accomplished in life?”
The second question was, “Do you think women are pressured to have children?”
Natalee South said that she would feel accomplished in a different way, not in life, but in motherhood.
Kymana Whelan said she would feel extremely accomplished as a mother because she has had baby fever since she was young. She has always wanted to be a mother, so her goal is to have children and a family. She believes that God made us to repopulate, and that’s what she plans to do. Kymana will feel very accomplished when she has children, but not entirely, because there are other things she feels she is supposed to do in life.
Cassandra Guerra said that she sees children as a blessing, so if that’s what God decides to give her, she will feel accomplished but not all the way. She still wants to have a career.
Abigail Stamper said she does not need to have a child to feel accomplished or a sense of fulfillment in life because she has a lot of gifts and talents that can be used for other good things.
She can use her gifts to better know other people she cares about. She does not feel she has to bring children into the world in order to add to society.
Abigail feels that, even though the pressured to have both children and to have a career is supposed to be empowering, it puts a lot of pressure on women, too.
Personally, I would not feel a sense of accomplishment or fulfillment in having children. If God wants me to have a child, I will have one. However, I want to accomplish my dreams and desires first.
Jordan is a freshman elementary education major from Southfield, Michigan.