While it would be nice to live in a world where people didn’t have to justify their life choices when they go against societal norms, the sad reality is that a woman’s decision to remain single and child-free is often met with pushback and scrutiny. And that’s why it’s so important to have women like Tracee Ellis Ross publicly speaking out against the negative rhetoric.
Tracee is now 52, and has never married or had kids — something she has discussed at length over the years. For example, during a Glamour event back in 2017, the star reflected on how people tell her that she should have kids to give her life “meaning,” despite the fact she already has a pretty “incredible” and accomplished life.
And last year, Tracee went viral when she delivered an empowering speech at Kamala Harris’s Unite for America rally shortly after J.D. Vance’s 2021 comments about the “childless left” being responsible for America’s problems resurfaced online.
And Tracee doubled down on this during a recent appearance at the New York Times Well Festival, where she hit back at the idea that a child-free person’s life is less “worthy” than a parent’s.
“I do not believe that my life is unworthy because I don’t have children,” Tracee begins in a video from the event. “I do not believe that my life is unworthy because I do not have a man or partner. I do believe that I mother all over the place. I do believe that I do very valued things in the world and for people that I care about and love.”
Needless to say, Tracee’s comments were incredibly well received, and they also sparked an important conversation about how wild it is that women even need to defend their life choices in this way.
Have you made the choice to be child-free? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!