Courtesy of wikipedia.org
One of the pluses of being old is that I’ve lived much of my life without the internet. That means I don’t fear having my youthful opinions thrown in my face years later. For that reason, I pity J. D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 Presidential election. Three years ago, he made an unflattering comment concerning women without children, depicting them as “cat” ladies. Today, the observation claws back at him through various memes.
One iconic cat lady, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a U. S. House Representative from New York, has been quick to yowl that Vance’s professed family values didn’t keep him from voting against expanding the child tax credit. “He just wants to surveil & subjugate women,” she hissed.
All this flying fur overlooks a physiological fact that affects women. Pregnancy speeds up biological aging. No one understands the reason, but the drawback could explain why a growing number of females between the ages of 25-44 are postponing pregnancy or deciding against it–a trend that has grown by 10% since 2018.
One PEW report cites other reasons for remaining childless. They range from a desire to focus on a career to concerns about climate change, the state of the world, and lifestyles. Many young couples want to travel, for example. Or, buy a house. Or, socialize with friends. These swingers fear that a pregnancy might prevent them from enjoying such amenities. Knowing they could face stigma for being childless or risk being alone in their old age didn’t seem to give them pause.
Their alternative to loneliness, for example, was Pet Parenting. A 2023 survey showed respondents aged 18 to 26 chose to get a dog instead of having a child. They saw four-footed friends as part of a flexible lifestyle that also satisfied the human desire to nurture. An added plus for these young folks was their belief that pets enhanced mental health whereas rearing a child was akin to life on a rollercoaster.
Will pet parenting affect population growth? Worldwide fertility rates have declined. The reasons, however, are likely to be many. Even so, a growing number of folks, men and women, have chosen barking dogs and yowling cats over howling babies.
D. Vance’s criticism of childless females could leave him spitting furballs on election day. What these cat women model from their pets is an air of independence and a determination to do as they please.
