Penelope Trunk, career columnist for the Boston Globe, used her boston.com blog this week to lecture those of us with fulfilling jobs and empty uteruses (uteri?). The gist is that we'd better get cracking on the baby-making if we know what's good for us.
She doesn't go so far as to tell single women to go on a husband search, but....oh wait:
"Waiting until your midthirties to start a family, if you want to carry the babies yourself, is a risky endeavor. Which means, of course, you probably want to find a partner by the time you're 30. The good news is that psychology research shows you will gain more happiness anyway by finding a partner than by having a good job." -Trunk
Trunk's personal blog has an extended version of her Boston Globe piece. It includes this little gem:
"1. Get a husband. I know, this is not popular advice, but it's practical advice. A husband is like a
career. If you are not looking for one, you're not likely to find one. If it's not a high priority goal, it's probably not a goal you will meet. So if you want to make sure you're making babies with your own healthy eggs, think of your twenties as the time to find a mate."
Well, then. It's settled. Once you've decided you want the perfect match - Poof! - there he shall be. Easy, right? I'm glad Trunk reminds us to set goals for ourselves. What other helpful bits of advice has this Uppity Bitch learned from Trunk's piece?
1. Your career is far less important than establishing yourself in a hetero-normative marriage. Also, don't
wait around for the right match, take what you can get and get while the getting is good (...or passable, as
the case may be)!
2. Babies, babies, babies! Make lots and lots of precious, precious wittle babies before you - and your
ovaries - shrivel up like the old hag you are otherwise destined to become.
3. Never mind if you aren't certain about marriage or children, this isn't so much about you. It's not about your desires, goals, dreams, state-of-mind, capabilities or maturity level. It doesn't matter if
you're emotionally ready to have children in your 20s, if you've got money - and being the uppity career climbing woman that you are, you do - and eggs, it's really your duty to use them both to create and support - say it with me - babies!
The saddest part is that she admonishes our mother's generation for encouraging today's women to
find their own niche in life. So, mom, when how you told me it was OK to wait until I was ready to get
married and have babies, well, you screwed me! I've spent my 20s having fun, traveling the world, establishing a career, pursuing a broad range of interests and all I've got to show for it is disposable income and a wealth of knowledge that I could *maybe* one day pass on to my children.
