I love/hate science fiction.

[featherynscale]

So, I'm reading this book called Mockymen. It's not a good book. Let's leave aside for the moment the fact that the author took all that writing advice about showing, not telling, and decided it was so much crap. Let's also leave aside the fact that it appears to have plot enough for several unrelated novels, all jammed together in one short book (this feat largely being accomplished by taking out all the motivation and most of the transition between plot points).

Aside from that stuff, what I don't like about this book is that the main character (so far) is female, and the (apparently male) author has decided that it will make her a more realistic female character if she thinks about having a baby, and when would be the right time to have a baby, and why she and her partner haven't had a baby, and so on, about once every three pages.

Now, as you might be aware if you know me, or even if you read my journal regularly, I gave up trying to be female when I realized that a) it was sort of a crap game, and b) I was never going to be any good at it anyway. So I'm willing to believe that it's possible that women really do constantly think about having babies, and that's normal for the population. Therefore, I'm seeking further data. If you're a female-type person with female-type biology (or you used to be and/or used to have same), please enlighten me by making the clicky on the poll, below.

[Poll #1095206]

Comments

Re: Shoulda made that left turn at Albuquerque...

[erl-queen.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see another 'female-type person' express such feelings, because I totally concur. And I think that might end up being one of the strangest things about me - even people I know who are total and utter freaks in every other way still seem to at least acknowledge a biological urge for children, and I don't even have that, and never have in 30 years. The idea of having a child horrifies me to my very core. And it's too bad, because I too would rather people like me breed than the majority of people who *are* breeding, but there you go...

If there's just one of you, you're a freak. If there are two, you're a small subculture.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

We are unnatural monsters together! Actually, I suspect that this is not really that uncommon, but our culture has such a horror of it that most people don't come out and say it. We treasure our gender roles, you know?

Re: If there's just one of you, you're a freak. If there are two, you're a small subculture.

[erl-queen.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

At least these days I don't get asked about it very often. When I was married, it was awful, everyone wanted to know when we were going to procreate. Then it turned out my husband (who had said he didn't want kids either) secretly *did* want kids, and was waiting for me to "come around." One of the many reasons for the dissolution of said marriage.

Fortunately I am now with sannion who also is thoroughly uninterested in having children.