Otherhood

Essays on being childless, childfree and child-adjacent

Kathryn Van Beek, Alie Benge, Lil O'Brien, Kathryn van Beek

• Publisher: Massey University Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781991016751
• Print ISBN:
  9781991016744

In New Zealand the number of people who will never have children is growing — and they' re pushing back against the narrative that if they don' t, their lives will be somehow ' less than' . Otherhood' s essays are by writers who' ve felt on the outside looking in, who' ve lived unexpected lives and who' ve given the finger to social expectations. Some chose to be childfree, some didn' t get to choose and some — through bereavement or blended family dynamics — ask themselves: Am I a mother or am I other? Thought-provoking, moving and often hilarious, Otherhood opens a more inclusive conversation about what makes a fulfilling life.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Famous last words
• More schlongs, more cats—Steff Green
• Mother issues—Kerry Sunderland
• For the love of aiga—Amie Taua
• No masturbation allowed—Lil O’Brien
• Send her back—Melanie Newfield
• How to not be a mother—Feby Idrus
• Kingfisher—Hinemoana Baker
• Shaping space—Gabrielle Amodeo
• Selfish—Donelle McKinley
• Why are there so many songs about rainbows?—Kate Camp
• Gender rebellion: An Iranian birthright—Golriz Ghahraman
• Of wire and cloth—Gráinne Patterson
• The feminist shelf—Hazel Phillips
• We’re your mother now—Helen Rickerby
• Stranded on a shore I never wanted to visit—Iona Winter
• Possible names for myself—Henrietta Bollinger
• Atmosphere—Lucy O’Connor
• Auntie in charge—Jackie Clark
• The Addington house—Lily Duval
• Blinded—Anna Borrie
• I am not on a beach—Kathryn Van Beek
• No car, no kids—Andi C. Buchanan
• Benevolent deadbeat baby-daddy—Janie Smith
• The child—Shaneel Lal
• Departure from the motherland—Linda Collins
• This is a lie—Lori Leigh
• No kidding—Linda Rooney
• Another good year—Michaela Tempany
• Weaving a life horizontally—Carolijn Guytonbeck
• Trunclehood—Sam Orchard
• The happy wanderer—Raina Ng
• Another birth—Ghazaleh Gol
• Synchronicity—Nicola Brown
• Auntie—Paula Morris
• My favourite girl—Jazial Crossley
• DINKs on a plane—Alie Benge
• About the editors
• About the writers
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright