Life Without Baby

filling the silence in the motherhood discussion

Rosa Parks – Mother of the Civil Rights Movement

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year-old seamstress was making her way home from work. She was tired, her feet hurt, and although I don’t know this for a fact, I’m guessing she was feeling at odds with the world. She had two things that made her different, or more to the point, made her completely invisible. She was a black woman in segregated Alabama, and she was childless.

 

But when she refused to give up her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks made history. Her arrest sparked the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and Rosa Parks’ name became synonymous with equality and the fight for civil rights.

 

What I love about Rosa Parks is that she never set out to change the world; she just quietly, peacefully demanded her rights. Her actions have changed millions of lives.

 

Rosa was married to Raymond Parks for 45 years. After his death, she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development, to promote educational and historical programs for young people. In 1996, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 1999, she received a Congressional Gold Medal.

 

Rosa Parks is considered the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement. She never had children of her own.

Billie Jean King

By Kathleen Guthrie

I was seven years old in 1973 when Billie Jean King beat the socks off Bobby Riggs in the infamous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. Riggs, a Wimbledon singles champion, had described himself as a male chauvinist pig who whole-heartedly opposed feminism. As proof, he once said, “If a woman wants to get in the headlines, she should have quintuplets.” Nearly 50 million people watched on television as Billie Jean showed him what true feminine power looked like: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

With that win—along with 12 Grand Slam titles, 16 Grand Slam women’s double titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles—Billie Jean led the way for girls and women to pursue sports for fun and as professionals. It was an extraordinary time in our history. With contributions from great female athletes and the 1972 passing of Title IX, which opened up school sports for girls in the U.S., suddenly, it was okay to get dirty, to be competitive, and to sweat! She may not have had children of her own, but I like to think of Billie Jean as the “mother” of all future female tennis players. We witness the fantastic athletic prowess of the Williams Sisters today in part because Billie Jean gave birth to our possibilities.

In 2009, Billie Jean was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition for her work as an advocate for women’s rights and for the LGBT community. As part of the presentation, President Obama said, “This is a chance for me—and for the United States of America—to say ‘Thank you’ to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries.”

Thank you, Billie Jean, for being an extraordinary role model.

Kathleen Guthrie is a Northern California–based freelance writer. She’s finding inspiration in the stories of many of our “cheroes” (heroes who are childfree) as we celebrate National Women’s History Month.

Anne Sullivan – The Miracle Worker

Helen Keller opened up the world for the blind and deaf-blind, but she couldn’t have done it without the persistence and encouragement of her teacher, Anne Sullivan.

22-year old Anne Sullivan taught Helen Keller to communicate by spelling the names of objects into the palm of her hand. Her technique formed the blueprint for teaching blind, deaf-blind, and visually impaired children, and her methods are still used today.

In a letter to her friend Sophia Hopkins, Sullivan relayed the story of her breakthrough with Helen. She wrote:

“As the cold water gushed forth […] I spelled “w-a-t-e-r” in Helen’s free hand. The word coming so close upon the sensation of cold water rushing over her hand seemed to startle her. […] A new light came into her face. She spelled “water” several times. Then she dropped on the ground and asked for its name and pointed to the pump and the trellis, and suddenly turning round she asked for my name. I spelled ‘Teacher.'”

Sullivan added a postscript to the letter:

“Last night when I got in bed, she stole into my arms of her own accord and kissed me for the first time, and I thought my heart would burst, so full was it of joy.”

Anne Sullivan never had children of her own, and yet she was able to reach through to a child lost in a dark and silent world—something the child’s own parents had been unable to do.

Annie Oakley: Peerless and Childless!

Kathleen Guthries kicks off National Women’s History Month with Annie Oakley:

In the musical Irving Berlin based on her life (Annie Get Your Gun) she’s the gal who sings, “Anything you can do, I can do better!” She was considered one of the world’s greatest sharpshooters, who performed with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Chief Sitting Bull gave her the nickname “Little Sure Shot.”

Depending on the source, Annie Oakley was six or nine years old when she started shooting game to help feed and support her twice-widowed mother and seven or eight siblings. When she was sixteen or twenty-one, she entered a contest against Frank Butler, an accomplished marksman ten years her senior who was also a vaudeville performer. She won. They were married the next year, and he set aside his career to serve as her manager and assistant.

Though only 5 feet tall, there was nothing small about her talent. Annie was equally adept with pistols, rifles, and shotguns, and she dazzled crowds around the world with spectacular stunts. She could shoot a dime tossed into the air 90 feet away. She shot holes through playing cards. She shot the ashes off her husband’s cigarettes. She smashed records, and she wasn’t shy about wearing her many medals and ribbons.

Annie was also a trailblazer for and promoter of women. In 1898, she wrote to President McKinley to offer the services of 50 “lady sharpshooters” for the war in Spain. (He declined.) It’s possible she taught as many as 15,000 women how to use guns, for physical and mental exercise and for protection.

Annie Oakley was feisty, skilled, generous, talented, entertaining, legendary, and inspiring. And she was childfree.

Kathleen Guthrie is a Northern California–based freelance writer. She’s mostly at peace with her decision to be childfree.

National Women’s History Month

March is National Women’s History Month here in the U.S. (thanks, Kathleen for the heads up!)

This year’s theme is “Our History is Our Strength.” Never a truer word spoken. There have been many great women who have blazed the trails for us to follow, and given women a voice.

I think this theme also rings true on a personal level. Our own histories—our lives and experiences—are what have shaped us into the women we are today. All of us here have stories that have made us who we are today, sometimes a little the worse for wear. “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and (not counting those days when we would rather stay in bed and make the world go away) I think we’re all stronger for our experiences.

So, in celebration of Women’s History Month, I thought I’d put a little Life Without Baby spin on things and share with you some of the women who have shaped our world and who weren’t mothers.

The NWHM brochure features five women who changed the world. Two of them were childless:

Alice Paul, represented the last generation of suffrage leaders, and brought fearlessness and tenacity to the fight for women’s right to vote. She organized the first pickets at the White House in 1916 and 1917. Along with dozens of women, Paul was imprisoned, went on a hunger strike, and was force fed. After winning the vote, she worked to enact the Equal Rights Amendment.

Rachel Carson is known as the founder of the contemporary environmental movement. In 1962, Carson published “Silent Spring,” which documented the dangers of air pollutants and pesticides on animals, people, and land. Her writing boldly challenged the practices of agricultural scientists and even the government. Carson called for a change in the way humankind viewed the natural world.

Throughout March I’ll be posting some of favorite fabulous non-moms. If you have one of your own, let me know. If you feel like writing a short piece on your favorite Strong Childless Woman, send it my way and I’ll post it here.

Happy National Women’s History Month to all of you.