Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood, by Ruby Warrington.
This is one of my favorite sociological books. Fully went into this one worried it would be filled with girl boss-y manifestos that ran a through-line between not having children and attaining the power of “the man.” Instead, Ruby was very instructional with the duties those of us who do not have children (for whatever reason — doesn’t matter) still hold: making society and the world more friendly, more kind, and more helpful to those who do have children; being intentional about building a community of support around oneself; leaving a helpful legacy (not inclusive of people) that can positively impact your aforementioned community, and possibly transcend it; and what perhaps spoke most to me, not hoarding the time, resources, and energy one will amass by not having children. Being able to forego parenthood choicefully is a privilege, and with that privilege comes a responsibility to healthily redistribute everything we’ve accumulated by not having kids: time, money, capacity, energy, etc. To not capitalize on that is to participate in a sort of community capitalism, and what is that except a repetition of what is already destroying us anyway?
Woven in this book are threads of intersectional feminism, sentiments borrowed from Audre Lorde, and an extension of gender equality that goes beyond “anything you can do I can do better.” An essential read for everyone who has and/or has not been touched by the joy of children.