Not Just Sleeping In

Lee and Tyger talk about childfree heroes who find themselves in parental roles and the impact this sort of representation has. 

We're actually back! Tyger and Lee recount their recent exploits that have kept them from recording, and more importantly, chat about how CF people are often pathologiezed.When people find out about our choice to be childfree, there is a tendency to treat it as dysfunctional, abnormal, or borne from trauma. How do we counter these assumptions? Why are we pathologized in the first place? 

Tyger and Lee are no strangers to work taking them away from their respective partners. A life of travel and adventure can be great fun, and it's the reason many of us are Childfree, but it comes with its downsides as well.

Lee explains where the heck we've been. We still love you, and we can't wait to get back up.

Pooping. Everybody does it. Parents spend a lot of time talking diapers and shit, but what about the fecal trials and tribulations of the rest of us? Poop belongs to everyone!

The University of Washington published a study in The Lancet covering global birth rates since the start of the pandemic. And guess what? People aren’t having babies in the middle of a global crisis. This, coupled with a trend toward declining global fertility, leads to some big questions for humanity as a whole. But also, media outlets are being SOOOOO dramatic about it.

Recently a tweet by art Historian Dr. Katherine Schofield made the rounds on Twitter where she stated “You don’t get Michelangelo’s Pieta until you have a child, and then you can’t bear to look at it.” She was roundly dragged for her bad take and the responses and comments are priceless. Most point out the Michelangelo had no children and likely gay. At the heart of her argument is something CF people have been actively or passively subjected to for a long time: The idea that a parent’s love for a child is the supreme expression of love between humans and CF people will never be able to comprehend this emotion without experiencing it. Lee and Tyger explain why this is dumb.

Much of spiritual discourse has to do with father- and mother-figures, patriarchy, matriarchy, and family systems. Even a lot of casual atheist discussion is about what kids should and shouldn’t be exposed to in school or how morality should be taught to The Youths. So how can you soothe your soul and find a spiritual path (or not!) as a childfree person?

Telling others you're childfree or bringing it up in casual conversations often triggers a barrage of invasive and unwanted questions. What do we actually owe other people? Lee and Tyger try to answer this question.

A common check off the old CF bingo card is the "Idiocracy Problem," in which people think that more of "the right type of people" should be having children. Tyger and Lee do a deep dive into why this is such a deeply disturbing belief.

Tyger and Lee talk television. Childfree characters are few, far between, and fall into only a small number of less than flattering categories. Here's the Lindsay Pugh essay we reference: https://www.womaninrevolt.com/televisions-representation-of-childfree-women-sucks/

Regardless of external factors, childhood is grueling gauntlet. Tyger and Lee talk about coming to terms with how awful childhood is, the way its romanticized, and how great it is to be a childfree adult.

No, this isn't another COVID episode - Lee is a massive X-Men fan! We talk legacy, lineage, and coming to terms with some of life's biggest questions without progeny. Once again, this was recorded on the day Tyger forgot to check her mic settings, so bear with the audio quality!

Since we don’t want offspring, we have to prevent it. Just as every body is different, every CF person’s preferred method of pregnancy prevention is varied. We talk a little bit about our experiences in this arena.Fun fact: Tyger forgot to check her mic settings, so the sound this week is a little weird. Thanks for bearing with us!

The dreaded baby announcement brunch and subsequent baby festivals are some of the most uncomfortable CF social situations to navigate. Tyger and Lee talk about their responses to friends' baby announcements, and the accompanying mourning period.

Many folks choosing to live Child Free also have deep connections to their domesticated pets, some even refer to them as their “children” or “babies.” For every proud CF person in a “Cat Mom” tee-shirt, there’s plenty that don’t have any pets at all. How does pet ownership factor into a Child Free life?

Tyger and Lee talk about the highs and lows of of navigating the holidays while childfree.

There’s a big overlap in the CF community and the queer community, and the former has a lot to learn about finding your tribe from the latter.

If it takes a village to raise a child, where do we fit in? Tyger and Lee discuss how they fit into their communities, families, and friend groups and where they see their responsiblities toward future generations.

The ubiquity of parenthood at the center of culture has conflated a lot of body changes that occur as we age with parenthood, mostly because of the stage of life when parenthood occurs for most people. Turns out some of these changes occur for people even when they don’t have children and we don’t talk about it.

One of the great privileges of not having kids is being a little more able to pursue passions and hobbies. But if no one is going to celebrate with you the way they do for parents, is it worth it? And how do you deal with the guilt of not filling every spare moment with something awesome?

This pandemic has presented a lot of new and massive divides between the lives childfree folks and those with kids that can be really difficult to digest. But we're here to help.

Our generation has been allowed to hold onto certain things reserved just for kids. Tyger and Lee discuss whether or not there's room to hold onto their childish ways and hobbies in a childfree environment.

Lee and Tyger countdown the “Greatest Hits” of the most common comments and questions they encounter being Child Free.

This week we want to take some time to introduce ourselves, tell you why we’re here and our paths to realizing that we wanted to be Child Free.