By Kathleen Guthrie Woods
I am constantly on the lookout for cheros, that’s heros who happen to be childfree. When I explore different countries and cultures, I want to know if the groundbreaker I’m learning about juggled raising children with making history. When I’m in a museum, I note names of female painters who intrigue me, then I google them when I get home, hoping to discover they devoted their lives to creating masterpieces instead of babies. I want to find women like me who have lived amazing lives (sans children) and can inspire me to do the same. So when a phenomenal woman makes the news, I want to know: Is she or isn’t she…childfree?
That’s why I got really excited when I first heard about Julia Pierson, the first female head of the Secret Service.
I found out about Pierson’s recent appointment in a post by Marcy Twete, the founder of Career Girl Network. (Read the post here here.) As the head of the Secret Service, Pierson will oversee the offices that protect the president of the United States and address national security issues ranging from identity theft to terrorism. Pierson comes to the office with more than 30 years experience, having started her career as a law enforcement officer, and she’s more than up to the tasks of her new position. A woman in charge? This is a big deal!
I went in search of more information about Pierson and found her official bio. (Read it here.) Yes, I wanted to know about her background, but really I wanted to know if she was on my “team”. Could she be a role model for me? Could she be a chero?
Spoiler alert coming…. Turns out there’s no mention whatsoever of a spouse or offspring in her bio. At first I was surprised because including family details is the norm, but then I got to thinking: This is the way it should be. A professional bio should be about a woman’s—or a man’s—professional experience and achievements. Period. Is she? Isn’t she? Doesn’t matter!
This makes it possible for us to appreciate all phenomenal people for who they are and what they do, and I celebrate this.
P.S. Twete also notes that there is some serious girl power going on since Pierson will be reporting to Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security. Janet Napolitano, by the way—chero! Go, team!
Kathleen Guthrie Woods is a Northern California–based freelance writer. She is mostly at peace with her childfree status.
Kathleen,
I love the celebration of woman power in this blog post! Go team! 🙂
Cheers!
Kelly
Dr. Kelly Wheeler
http://www.drkellywheeler.com/blog.html
Thanks for the article, Kathleen. I also frequently find myself looking for Cheros, or to connect with women who did not have children, as it makes me feel less alone. I have a friend who decided not to have kids, and seems content with her life. I actually like reading posts from people who are childfree completely by choice as it encourages or inspires me to think differently about life. If they content and feel good about their life, why shouldn’t I eventually feel the same?
I think I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you a little bit. I think it is just fine to include family information. If they don’t want to, that’s just fine too. I don’t think there should be any right or wrong way to write a small bio like that. Many people indlude family information as well as interests, hobbies, and other things they just do for pleasure. Some have one of those or the other, and others don’t have either one. Any way a bio is written is just fine with me. Maybe I’m wrong, that is just what I think.
Just found your site, and I like it. I need more support from other child-free people in my life! Thanks!
A discussion and jokes about pregnancies among the friends who I play music with recently had me abruptly leaving the room and going to cry in the bathroom. It ruined a beautiful weekend of two great concerts for me. The next day I was still very sad and to boot, worrying about how they might interpret my behavior (nerves tend to take over when 11 very different practice music together and I’m very often the “devil’s advocate” and tend to become quite harsh when speaking to the group, if it all gets too chaotic). I gathered all my courage and decided to write them all an email explaining what had happened. I got the most AMAZING replies. I now know that one other women in the group has major trouble conceiving (I’d never have thought – she already has a 3-year-old) – the two other people about whom I’d already guessed that they may be childless not by choice confirmed this. Everbody replied in a really understanding way. It was a real bonding experience. I can only recommend to everybody to open with the friends whom you can trust.