this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Do you post about other stuff you don't have or is it just children? Like do you post in different gaming consoles communities to say you don't have that console.
I'm not arguing with the fact you don't have children, I'm all for it, in fact. You should live life the way you want as long as it doesn't harm others mentally or physically.
But an entire community dedicated to not having something screams that you're not ok with this that it needs to be spoken about to be reassured, that it takes up more of your brain than not having other things would take up.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't understand the reason this community exists?
It exists because people are constantly flooded by a torrent of pressure to have children by society, and this is a place for a little catharsis and relief. Relief that there are a small number of people that won't pressure you into doing something you don't want to do. It's a place for like-minded people to blow off steam.
I don't personally come to this or similar communities, even though I don't plan on having kids. I understand why it exists though.
Why do you go into other communities to complain about someone’s posts? An entire condescending post dedicated to complaining about something that has zero effect on your life - why bother? You could just ignore it, or even downvote it, and then just move on.
Having or not having children is a significant life decision. Maybe people want to talk about it? That’s why this community exists.
Why do communities exist for - to pick an example - atheists? In lots of parts of the world, there is huge social pressure to conform to a specific religion. If you decide not to, or leave the religion, or have questions, it can be a terrifying and lonely experience.
It's the same here. Lots of us feel huge pressure from family, friends, co-workers, and society to do something that we don't want to do. So it is nice to have a community where we can discuss that and reassure each other. Because it is difficult to do what is right when everyone is telling you you're wrong.
Must admit, I didn't see it from this angle. Perhaps because of my personal experience in life and the few people in my social circle have never been pressured into having kids, it's just not really been a thing in my 40 odd years on the planet. Perhaps cultural differences etc, either way adjusting my view point to be that of people constantly being pressured to have kids when they don't want kids/can't have kids allows me to understand the community's existence.