Why aren't we giving birth, citizen?
August 1st is International Childfree Day. It was established in 1973 to support people who voluntarily choose not to have children.
Russian authorities are trying to drum into citizens' heads the idea that having a child is a harsh necessity, not a free choice. So, by supporting childfree people, we're not supporting the idea of childlessness—we're reminding the state that it shouldn't poke its nose into its citizens' beds or their heads.
1. Childfree (from English childfree - free from children) - voluntary refusal to have children, conscious childlessness.
There are different types of childfree advocates. Rejectors (childhaters) are people who fundamentally dislike children and detest everything related to childbirth and breastfeeding. Affectionados don't dislike children, but they embrace a free lifestyle that sees children as a hindrance.
2. There are also intermediate options. For example, those who postpone having children continually postpone them until later, but ultimately decide not to. Meanwhile, those who refuse to have children fluctuate between desires, which, in a situation where accessible contraception prevents accidental pregnancy, leads to childlessness.
3. Since December 2024, a law banning information promoting childlessness has been in effect in Russia. The ban applies to information posted online, in the media, in films, in advertising, and even in the presence of minors. The law's wording is extremely broad and vague, and its application (as well as regulations banning the promotion of abortion), according to experts, leads to restrictions on freedom of expression, violations of women's rights, and increased state control over private lives.
4. In August 2024, at the request of the prosecutor's office, the court blocked several VKontakte public pages featuring childfree memes for causing "harm to the morality of citizens." In October of the same year, VKontakte announced its closure of one of the most popular groups dedicated to the birth and upbringing of children, #HappinessofMotherhood, which had nearly 150 members, due to threats of colossal fines.
5. The community shared stories about the challenges of pregnancy, childbirth, and the early years of motherhood, including accounts of the traumatic experience of postpartum depression. Thousands of women wrote about how this helped them cope with their own difficulties. "...I remember very well how, while on maternity leave, these posts from other mothers helped me stay grounded. It's very sad that others won't have such support," commented a user named Inot Cherdakova.
Source: Takie Dela
5. Russian writer and Cosmopolitan journalist Anastasia Maximova, who writes under the pseudonym Una Hart, reported on her Telegram channel that the editor of the new edition of her book "Troll Peak" (a Young Adult fantasy) ordered a change to the episode in which the troll king's wife dies giving birth to a daughter.
6. Editor's comment: "Recently, depictions of the negative consequences of childbirth outside of specialized literature have been banned. It's better to rephrase: she died when Ingrid, Torvald's mother, was a tiny baby (something like that. She may die, but not because of childbirth)."
7. So far, only one fine for "childfree propaganda" has been reported. A court in annexed Sevastopol fined a local resident 50 rubles for publishing "misanthropic posts" on social media, which law enforcement officials deemed "statements about the appeal of foregoing childbearing in favor of a carefree lifestyle." One of them was an image of director Quentin Tarantino with the quote, "Making films, not children, is my motto."
