Selfish, Child-Hating And Unfulfilled.
Is This The Perception Of Childless Female Entrepreneurs?
Childless or not, professional women face a myriad of battles driven by their choice to pro-create. But as a seismic shift occurs to celebrate the #mompreneur on social media and beyond, female business-owners continue to face a cultural discrimination, perception and radical assumptions based solely on their choice not to have children.
In the 1970s, a woman named Marcia Drut-Davis appeared on 60 Minutes in a segment and publicly explained her decision to not have children. The outcome of that appearance saw Marcia being ostracised, losing her job and receiving threats to her life. Such were the opinions of the times. This vile treatment of Marcia of course would not be tolerated in a modern day society. That being said, can it be denied that the loud and proud vilification of childless women in the 1970’s still exists in mutterings and musings in 2021?
The Gender Perception of Ambitious
The stark contrast between the perception of childless men versus childless women is steeped in a deeply entrenched societal expectation. Partially, this is fed by the fact that men can produce children in later life. But in all honesty, it is predominantly fuelled by an unrelenting cultural expectation that continues to stereotype womanhood with motherhood.
The reality is this. At social gatherings, the first question, more often than not, to the Father is “How’s business?” and to the Mother is “How’s the kids?”. Even a simple hyphenated adjective such as career-driven or work-focused usually produces totally different perceptions for men than women. The latter of course, being the negative.
The Acceptable “Why”
Deakin University conducted a study into why childless women are childless. They found that -
“While for many women childlessness is about choice and circumstance, women also feel the need to explain and justify their childless status. Furthermore, these findings indicate childless women are stigmatised and socially excluded.”
The unfortunate truth is that in our modern reality, though not having children is more accepted than in the past, it is still a choice that needs a “reasonable” justification. It seems to be the case that women face a biased jury of professional acquaintances, friends, family members and other women, set to decide if their reasons for not having children are deemed “good enough” for them to be allowed to make that decision.
Add this to the growing possibilities to have children where before it may have been more difficult, fertility options, adoption and so on, and it seems that if women don’t answer with a climate-change based response or some other self-sacrificing response they are often still subject to criticism and presumed to be selfish instead. The fact is however, there are a thousand reasons women don’t have children. From those that are health or fertility based to financial to environment to the simplicity of not wanting to do so. All legitimate and none that should be judged.
The Financial Impact of Having Children For Women In Business
Business is synonymous with income and for women, having children has a huge impact on how much income they will earn. A study published by Vox and conducted by The National Bureau Of Economic Research in Denmark reveals some shocking statistics about how having children affects a woman's ability to reach higher income and for men, how it has little effect at all. The image below outlines how the birth of a child reflects in a man’s earnings.
The following image shows the shocking contrast between the effect on women’s earnings in comparison.
Of course this study was conducted in Denmark, but it reflects the world over.
So Why Is This?
“Although women comprise nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they still fulfil a larger share of household responsibilities. Married or partnered heterosexual couples in the U.S. continue to divide household chores along largely traditional lines”
For the most part, women take on the majority of the housework and childcare and with a growing expectation from investors, the workforce and entrepreneurs themselves to be flexible and work long hard hours, I would argue that for women, the “you-can-have-it-all” narrative could be seen as a fantasy. Often leaving women with a choice between continuing to thrive, flourish and grow in their businesses or give birth to a child.
“For me, not having children has been a choice that has come with many consequences. It’s left me alienated by my friends with kids, uninvited to events because I don’t have children. When it comes to women who don’t have children people make assumptions that it’s a can’t not a won’t. When they find out it’s a choice I have made I feel the air around me weighed in judgment.
In a professional capacity, I believe changes need to be made so women with children can work remotely with more flexibility.
In a personal capacity, Women need to stop asking other women about their child status all together.”
The Aftermath?
The perception of childless women in entrepreneurship reflects narratives and expectations of gender that extend far beyond that of just business.
Frankly, it would seem that women in entrepreneurship continue to be judged for not having children. Where in fact, what should be judged are gendered societal dynamics, expectations and injustices that create a world in which men are celebrated for their ambitions, experience no impact to their earnings if they have children and carry no expectation to equally contribute to the household or child related responsibilities.
For women however, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Women face a choice between having children, that likely brings a huge drop in income, relentless responsibility and burnout. Or not having children, that brings intense scrutiny, judgement and criticism.
Of course this is not the case across the board. This is based on a statistical analysis that narrates the majority, and there are many different types of families with many different work and household dynamics.
But the case still remains that as a society, we must stop judging women for any choice they make within their own lives. Instead, we need to question that which creates an environment where once again, women continue to find themselves making these choices from a far weaker position than that is experienced by men.