Bearing Life: Women's Writings on Childlessness [Paperback]

Rochelle Ratner (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

A wall of silence surrounds the experience of women who are childless, whether by choice or by circumstance. Bearing Life is the first anthology to marshal the power of literature to break this silence. Now available in paperback, Bearing Life "widens the family circle to embrace childless women and recognize their invaluable contributions to our collective sou." (Booklist). Here, more than fifty contemporary writers, including Margaret Atwood, Sandra Cisneros, Rita Mae Brown, Grace Paley, and Amy Tan, among others, reflect in their stories, poems, and personal essays on what it means to live as women without children. Bearing Life testifies to the complexity and completeness of women's lives whatever their choices, and helps to carve out a space where true choices can be made. Rochelle Ratner is the executive editor of the American Book Review.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Touching on such themes as HIV, abortion, the lesbian/feminist movement and overpopulation, editor Ratner's (Someday Songs) collection of writings by 52 North American women illuminates the difficulties of being a childless female in our society. Grouped in three sections--"Facing Choice," "Knowing Loss" and "Bearing Life"--the poems, essays and fiction of such well-known authors as Margaret Atwood and Grace Paley appear here alongside the works of lesser known and previously unpublished writers. Irena Klepfisz, a Jewish woman whose father was killed in the Holocaust, writes in a moving essay that, despite the pressure she feels to have children since she is the last of her family line, "children are not a medicine or a vaccine which stamps out loneliness or isolation." In Joy Williams's tongue-and-cheek "The Case Against Babies," the author cites overpopulation and its devastating effects as a reason to remain childless. A poem by Diane di Prima, "I Get My Period, September 1964," not only dates back farthest but is one of the most powerful selections, expressing the anguish some woman feel at being unable to conceive a child. In Nikki Dillon's fictional interview with a childless celebrity, "Chick Without Children," the Chick echoes the theme so often repeated in the volume: "It just got lodged in my head--a link between freedom and childlessness." While a few entries are less memorable, the volume contains many well-written, thoughtful pieces, including contributions by Ratner herself, Denise Duhamel, Rita Mae Brown, Sandra Cisneros and Kathleen Norris. It is the editor's hope that, in reading it, "perhaps the next childless woman might not feel so alone." Agent, Shelley Roth. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

This compelling collection of short stories, essays, excerpts, and poetry--brought together by novelist, poet, and writing instructor Ratner, a longtime LJ reviewer--explores the lives, the fears, and the dreams of childless women. Some of the works show defiant women who do not want another human being relying on them for care; others portray women who are emotionally bruised because of their inability to conceive. But at the heart of the collection lies an analysis of society's attittude toward childless women. Together, these writings illuminate the complex issue of childlessness and the social stigma that can be attached to women who are not mothers. Divided into three sections, the volume contains pieces by Amy Tan, Sandra Cisneros, Rita Mae Brown, Joyce Carol Oates, Grace Paley, Kathleen Norris, and Margaret Atwood, along with recommendations for further reading. This fine, fascinating collection of sensitive literature, appropriate for bibliotherapy and book discussions, is highly recommended for all libraries.
-Joyce Sparrow, St. Petersburg P.L., FL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558612750
• ISBN-13: 978-1558612754
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,057,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst book on the topic I've read, November 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Bearing Life: Women's Writings on Childlessness (Hardcover)

I was extremely disappointed in this book -- a large percentage of the stories/articles are about women who have or had children. It is deceptive and inappropriate to have stories about/from women who lost or were losing their children (for various reasons) to be included in a book about childlessness. Even the clip from Amy Tan, one of my favorite authors, seemed to miss the mark on this topic.

There also seems to be an inordiantely large percentage of the articles written by lesbians, and how being a lesbian was so intertwined with why they didn't want kids -- as if women who choose not to have children are possibly all latent homosexuals.

Furthermore, many of the stories focus on women who are dysfunctional -- furthering the myth that women without kids are 'damaged' as an explination for why they don't want children, like a 'normal' woman.

There was one particular article which I found interesting -- about the author's fear of becoming a bag lady because she has no children to care for her, while also aknowledging the fact that having children is no guarentee that sad fate will not occur.

Seperating content from creativity, I also that most of the stories and poems were poorly written. I might have enjoyed this more if the writing were beautiful, or insightful, or artistically significant, even if the topic was not what I expected.

I have read several books about childless/childfree-ness, and this is the worst on the topic in every way.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complex anthology on a complicated topic, May 11, 2000

By 

Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bearing Life: Women's Writings on Childlessness (Hardcover)

This ambitious anthology includes poignant memoirs, essays, poems, and excerpts from longer works. It is unified by its subject: childlessness, from the point of view (for the most part) of contemporary American women who, for various reasons, are without children. This is, we learn, no small thing.

The book is in three sections, "Facing Choice," Knowing Loss," and finally, "Bearing Life." Some of the writers are troubled, or grieving; some (Amy Hempel) are acidly funny, and many are coping with daughterhood, rather than motherhood. There are childhood diary entries, bitter memories, and great tenderness. The variety of experience in this anthology makes it an admirable and moving collection.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be in every childless women's library..., July 5, 2000

By 

Heather & Jeff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bearing Life: Women's Writings on Childlessness (Hardcover)

I have been searching for books on the topic of childlessness for sometime now & have not been terribly successful. This book spoke to me on so many levels that I can not begin to convey the impact. As a married woman in a Big Family it has been a struggle to remain childless in many ways. I have my moments of clarity & moments of emotional disaster & that is what made this book so powerful... The stories & poems carry the full range of emtions that we all experience somewhere along the line. If you are a member of this exclusive club you owe it to yourself to read this book & see clearly that you are not alone. I loved this book so much I have given it as a gift. Read it & you will not regret it.

-hefc