Seventh Generation

[beetiger]

postvixen spent a little time writing about how qe's unhappy about how years of practical evolution have perhaps begun to breed the dreamers and visionaries too far out of us. And leto_lapin posted a recent justification for her choice to be childfree. It's not really such a surprise that most of my queer geeky pagan gamer fringish never-grow-up wonderful friends have no interest in rewriting perfectly good lives by raising kids. But I'm making the choice to have a child, some day that maybe isn't all that far away, and I'm hoping that this doesn't make me desperately lonely in my world.

I'm hoping to put a new beacon of light into the world, a little piece of joy, and feed zir on my love and my worldview and my work, and teach zir what gives my life meaning, and how beautiful the world is. And I want to give zir wings and wtch zir pursue dreams I've never even imagined. And I want zir to have good company.

Teddy Roosevelt and the eugenicists of that period were very concerned with the whole issue of 'racial suicide', the idea that superior white people were going to die out as sophisticated American women weren't breeding as fast as those damned immigrants. It's popular stuff among the KKK and other racists to this day. Not pretty. But at the same time, I can understand something about the fear that what we value will die with us.

Overall, the world needs zero population growth, it's true. We're not going to make the world a better place by having unwanted kids around, and I daresay we're not going to win over the religious right by outbreeding them. Somehow it worries me that the people who realize these things are the people who I'd most like to see populating the world of my future. I do believe that maybe there is something genetic about the creative mindset, and a part of me wants to tell you all to consider it, consider passing those trends on.

But really, what I want to do, is to exhort you all to be crazy aunts and uncles, as you desire and are able. Kids need to be exposed to the kinds of ideas that peopple who don't have kids have. Make an impact on the lives of young people who will be here once we're cycling back into the circle of life. Keep that bright flourescent spirit flowing and growing. Please support those of us on the fringe who are choosing to have children. We're really not transforming ourselves into suburban drones, and we really still have all of the crazy dreams we always did, even if we won't always be manifesting them the same way.

Comments

Crazy aunt AND uncle

[tikvah.livejournal.com]

"...exhort you all to be crazy aunts and uncles, as you desire and are able.."

Funny you should mention that. I have to be child-free of medical necessity, but one of my missions in life is to be that zany aunt - or uncle. No, I don't do male drag intentionally (I know *how* to do it, but I'm just not appropriately designed to pass, alas). What's really amusing is that I am a member of a co-ed service fraternity, where all duly initiated members are referred to as "brothers" in order to maintain gender equity in all our rules and documents, so I often joke to children of my friends from the fraternity that I am their "uncle" (and am the brother of either or both parent), and I let the kid(s) stew about the gender confusion for a bit. It's quite fun, and the adults often go with it and help me get the kids thinking and questioning. Thus, the kids are already primed to explore gender roles and identities at a ripe young age.

You are right on, beetiger! Those of us who cannot or choose not to reproduce need to find other ways to help the little ones know that mundane life is only one choice out of many.