On Childfree Characters

[meridian_rose]

Someone once said I couldn’t create and write about as many childfree characters as I wanted because it was unrealistic.
1) I have no obligation to be realistic in fiction. It’s fiction. Sometimes it’s fantasy fiction. If there can be dragons there can be childfree characters.
2)
(gif: Tom Hiddleston as Loki, arms outstretched as he leans from a car window, text reads: I do what I want)

That said, you want realism?
More than one in five women do not have children. It’s not as rare as fictional media would have you believe. (Also around one in three women have abortions, I mention this for a reason.)
And even if that were not the case, why can’t I write all my characters as childfree if I want to? (Or asexual? Or both?)

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Comments

[under_the_silk_tree]

Wow I couldn't imagine telling someone that they can't write childless characters. The gall of actually trying to police someone's writing like that. What business is it of theirs what you write. I have written stories with mother's and with women who do not have children, you are right we should write what we want.

I have noticed how often it is framed on television and in books that motherhood is a woman's highest calling, above all else. It would be nice to have more representation that showed all different women.

[kellan_the_tabby]

UGH YES more childfree characters would be the BEST THING

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

1) They're your characters!

2) You created them for your satisfaction, not theirs.

3) Tell them to f**k off! (Unless they're paying you.)

Peace and joy, 😀😀✌✌🐀🐀

[ryl.livejournal.com]

*swipes .gif for future use*

[tinny]

tbh, childfree characters are realistic in more ways than typical fanfic tropes are. Most characters in shows (the ones I watch) do not have children, so who is to say what their stance on having children is? Making them all childfree is way less forcefully bending them than "making everyone gay" or "making everyone a superhero" or "alpha/beta/omega". All of these tropes are incredibly wide-spread.

People complain about them, too, but they have just as much right to exist and be explored. Fiction is about exploring interesting concepts. That is always reason enough to do it.