The commercialisation of artists’ work and the pressure to find the next breakout star is something Merrell admits she struggles with. It becomes impossible to get a foot in the door,” she says. “For artists to get a gallery to accept or represent them, they almost need a ‘CV’ of exhibitions under their belts. “We really wanted to support these artists, encourage young people to buy art and make things much more accessible.” This idea of accessibility in a world plagued with accusations of elitism is a hot-button topic for Merrell. “We had this idea of bringing all sorts of artists together from different backgrounds and countries,” explains Merrell. That’s when I thought, ‘We need to do something together.’” That something is Wondering People: a curated platform showcasing work from under-the-radar artists. “When I had my appendix out in 2019, I ended up being ill in bed for a long time. This was where she met and became friends with Isabella Rothman. “It wasn’t particularly creative,” says Merrell with a wry chuckle. Yet, after leaving Edinburgh university in 2017 (where she studied anthropology but put on art exhibitions in her spare time) she ended up in Amsterdam in early 2018 working in post-production. To say it is in the blood is an understatement her mother is an art dealer, her father an art book publisher, her godparents are artists. That Sophie Merrell would end up working in the art world was more or less predestined. Marianna Cerini is a freelance writer for publications including Conde Nast Traveler, BBC Travel, CNN Style and Fortune I am grateful to have been able to pursue the life that I wanted.” “As I hit my forties and started working on Women Without Kids, I realised that I had no regrets about not having children,” she says.
No one side is ideal, but I think for real positive progress to happen it’s key that both are seen as equally valid. “We’re all just human beings trying to make the best decisions under often very challenging circumstances.
“While it felt important to me to speak to women who have said no to motherhood, I don’t want my work to be seen as an ‘us versus them’ piece of literature,” she said. Women Without Kids is ultimately a joyous hymn to self-acceptance, kids or no kids. From debunking the pronatalist ideology behind the notion that parents are ‘better’ to the ‘Motherhood Spectrum’ – the idea that any individual’s desire for parenthood is influenced by socio-economic and cultural factors rather than being innate – and the sexual evolution women without children are embodying by “revoking the biological imperative to procreate”. Warrington unpacks non-motherhood in its many layers and nuances. “Women have more agency over their lives,” she says. And, just as importantly, personal freedom.
“For a lot of us, that’s a conscious choice.” As Warrington points out in her extensive research, there are a number of factors behind that choice being unpartnered or unable to afford fertility treatments, but also growing environmental concerns, financial instability, the cost of childcare. “Simply put, things are shifting,” Warrington says. Globally, too, fertility rates have been dropping steadily since the 1970s. Birth rates in Europe dipped to an historic low in 2020, with 4.07 million babies born that year compared to 4.17 million in 2019 – a downward trend that began in 2008. Indeed, over 40% of all women aged 15-49 in the US are childless, according to a study published by the CDC’s National Center For Health Statistics. The truth is, more and more women all around the world are opting out of motherhood, yet there haven’t really been conversations around it.
But the numbers couldn’t tell a more different story. “The only real path to a fulfilling life. “For so long, the common belief was that having children was a woman’s main and ‘natural’ purpose,” she says. Weaving her personal story with socio-economic investigations and historical perspectives, Women Without Kids paints a wider picture of women who eschew motherhood – an entire movement and sisterhood, as Warrington tells me. Her latest book Women Without Kids is an attempt by the British-born, US-based writer to offer an answer, and “to make peace with all of this,” as she writes.Īnd not just for herself.
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