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Do fewer men want children now than did bef — ?
Just kidding. No one cares.
Hulu’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale has inspired women to wear handmaid costumes when protesting threats to reproductive rights. The red robes and white headdresses feature so prominently in memes on social media that one would think reproductive rights restrictions have nothing to do with men.
But maybe it would be closer to the truth to say no one cares one way or the other, really, about men’s role in conversations about reproduction.
The following is a true story about a man I know personally.
A few years into his marriage, Luke*, who had told his wife from the beginning of their relationship that he didn’t want children, underwent (unrelated) surgery.
He took post-surgery pain medication after arriving home from the hospital and fell asleep.
While Luke was all but unconscious, his wife climbed on top of him and impregnated herself without his knowledge or consent.
Whether this man’s story horrifies a reader or evokes a *tsk* and a shrug is a good indicator of how much (or how little) concern the reader has for a man’s right to decide when he’s copulated with, as well as his right to determine whether he becomes a father.
