Download or read book Negotiating Space and Recognition for the Childless in a Pro-natalist Society written by CarolAnn Mary Hook and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the growing percentage of childless women today, social definition of women which essentialize motherhood need to be reconsidered. By tracing the development of women's rights alongside and frequently in regard to their roles as mothers, [the author hopes] to elucidate for the reader the still prevalent stereotypes and over-simplification of the childless, and how this leads to the marginalization and exclusion that many childless women experience in the pro-natalist society of America. In contrast, a work such as Jane Gardam's The Man in the Wooden Hat candidly portrays both the childless and those who raise children, complicating our views of the role of raising children for the contemporary women. With these diverse examples, the reader gains greater insight and depth in understanding women as complex, independent social beings who cannot and should not be defined solely by their reproductive capabilities.