News of July

With this month’s new testimonies included in our Live Archive, we address one of the most debated topics regarding non-parenthood: social pressures, different but ultimately very similar in many parts of the world.
Even when the choice not to procreate is supported by solid internal reasons – be they physiological, character-based, ideological, political – the confrontation with the ‘outside’, with the millenary tradition of the sacredness of the parental role and in particular of the maternal one, remains conflicting.

Let’s have a look at them!

Silvia: “When I was 13 I knew I would not have children”

Silvia, a young Italian-French woman, reflects on the work-life relationship that women have to manage in addition to the commitment of having a child. She recounts her private life characterised by her choice not to have children, her relationship as a couple and her relationships with friends with children. Silvia feels a sense of guilt with respect to her choice not to have children: it is a response to the need to compensate for the judgement of deresponsibility suffered by the woman who makes an anti-natalist choice.

*The testimony was realised in collaboration with the Fabbrica dei Gesti in Lecce, within the framework of the Festival Equality_ identities, arts, territories, included in the Body Awareness Practices Workshop “Nelle Trame del corpo” (In the Wefts of the Body) organised by Stefania Mariano, with the women of the Cooperativa Rinascita.

Ariana: “Being a mother is a lifelong responsibility”

After watching the docufilm Lunàdigas in Quito, Ariana focuses her thoughts on motherhood: she admits that she does not feel mature and stable enough to bring a human being into the world. Motherhood is a condition that must be carried on with awareness and that implies ongoing responsibility.

Isabella: “The world does not need more unhappy humans”

Isabella, a 34-year-old Colombian woman now living in the United States, traces her story and the reasons that led her to choose not to have children. Social pressures as much as family pressures and the perception of other people’s suffering further convince her of her decision. Isabella’s reflections on education and self-determination of the body contribute to the possibility of a free choice regarding women’s rights, in accordance with new forms of parenting. Her cultural references reflect her feminist attitude to being in the world.

In the Stories section, Claudia Mazzilli reads Simonetta Sciandivasci’s (edited by), I figli che non voglio (Mondadori, 2022). The book, the brainchild of Simonetta Sciandivasci for a column in the daily newspaper LA STAMPA, collects the testimonies of mothers and non-mothers (but also fathers). An editorial and publishing adventure that becomes an experiment in self-awareness and which, going beyond the stale discussions on the purely economic causes of Italy’s demographic winter, sheds light on the change in perspective of Italians with respect to parenthood.

Also a new special impossible monologue, a shortened version taken from MONOLOGHI IMPOSSIBILI Le esclusive rivelazioni di 35 mitiche Lunàdigas (The Impossible Monologues – The exclusive revelations of 35 mythical Lunàdigas) by Carlo A. Borghi (Arkadia editions) which, through the voice of Lia Careddu and the pen of Grazia Deledda, recounts the life and story of Adelasia di Torres, a noble queen and homosexual judge at the medieval court of Frederick II of Swabia.