‘Voluntarily Childless’: An Auto-ethnographic Account of a Man’s Struggles in India

Anindya Bahttacharyya

Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 2022, vol. 29, issue 2, 236-247

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.

Keywords: Childfree; masculinity; masculinities and voluntarily childless; voluntary childlessness in India; auto-ethnography; patriarchy and men (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indgen:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:236-247

DOI: 10.1177/09715215221082187

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