'Voluntarily Childless': An Auto-ethnographic Account of a Man's Struggles in India. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bahttacharyya, Anindya
• Is Part Of: Indian journal of gender studies. Volume 29:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 236
• Page End: 247
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: Childfree -- masculinity -- masculinities and voluntarily childless -- voluntary childlessness in India -- auto-ethnography -- patriarchy and men; Women's studies -- India -- Periodicals; Women in development -- India -- Periodicals; 305.40954
• DOI: 10.1177/09715215221082187
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0971-5215

Abstract

This article is an account of the struggles of a man in a patriarchal cultural context, where the idea of childfree men is despised and regularly confronted. Autoethnography is a method and a means to story-telling not only of the struggles that a man faces but also is a living document of the interactions, relationships, acquaintances and family regarding a choice over voluntary parenthood. The idea of voluntary childless men is a rarity in Indian cultural context of compulsory motherhood, especially in a pronatalist culture. Women's struggles have been documented but it is rarely that a man's position is located.