And I completely agree - no lifestyle should be elevated above another.

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However, this statement:

"I'm not going to get mad at things that aren't targeted specifically at me. "

is a pretty dangerous one when you extrapolate it out a bit. I understand that you are not viscerally offended by this ad - neither am I - but I do see it as a piece of a larger, insidious culture. And I think that's what people are reacting to here.

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I refuse to believe market research indicates that women who DON'T want kids aren't the main users of pregnancy tests. That's where the money is. They're just pretending it's not.

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@queenieinmanhattan: Agreed. I am generally firmly of the opinion that we as a culture take offense far too easily. That said, all of the messages we get every day combine to form our baseline expectations for how things are done and what is "right". Even if I don't care to listen to a particular message, it doesn't mean that people who have an influence on me won't listen and perhaps take away take away a slightly stronger sense that butting in on my reproductive life is the right thing to be doing. One dumb ad won't change anything, but decades of dumb ads just might.

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I disagree. Women who don't want to be pregnant tend to buy pregnancy tests every now and then, when they've taken a risk. Women wanting to get pregnant tend to buy pregnancy tests every month. And they buy multiple packs at a time, testing every day around when their period is due. The process of trying to have a baby consumes many women and although it's not a healthy state of mind to be in, it's the reality.

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If you can think of a better way to get on TLC's I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant I'd like to hear it.

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Also, what an odd, incredibly presumptuous comment for her to make, unless she knew you were trying to get pregnant - which you obviously are not.

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Either way, the ad is cheezy, no?

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(And yes, I choose this particular example because a "feminist" ex said precisely that.)

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And yeah, my husband and I talk about havin' little ones all the time--hanging out with my nieces- playing in the pool, wrestling in the grass, lying the four of us in the hammock the other day- MIGHT have sped up the process for us.

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I'm not loving the cat gif, but I'm sure I've never read a baby-hating comment here. Just lots of "no babies for me, please" and lots of "get your baby expectations out of my uterus, please."

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@AnotherStory: No one's asking for reverence. But many posters who aren't mothers seem to believe mothers are "privileged" when it's really motherHOOD that is privileged. How actual mothers are treated by society? Not all that privileged.

Your choices are constantly questioned, someone's always suggesting that you're doing the wrong thing (staying at home, working, not breastfeeding, etc.) EVERYONE has societal pressures. They don't magically go away when you have a kid. I didn't have a baby until I was 31 and I've definitely felt more societal pressure re: how I raise my baby than I ever did for not having one. I shrug it off because I'm a grown-ass woman who doesn't let other people dictate how I should feel.

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(pardon the bad English, it had to be done.)

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I also find it weird that all pregnancy tests think women want to get pregnant. Imagine the outrage if they ran an ad on the other side! I wish someone would do it. I would stock up on that brand just to give my moral support.

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Do I need to pull a Samanthrax and add "is sarcastic" to the end of my name?

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@ihateyourescalade: Really? You can make out claws in that blurry, pixelly gif? Look, I've had a long week, and I just felt like having a laugh and posting a funny gif, but I will say that I don't think this baby was harmed, and of course I wouldn't find this funny if a child were actually hurt. There's a video of me getting butted and knocked over by a goat when I was little, and it is one of the funniest home videos ever.

And I know that you're jumping on this comment bc you believe we're all baby-haters and mother-haters, but we're mostly just joking. Motherhood, as seen above, is taken so damn seriously in the real world, so it's fun to have a sense of humor about it here. It's not hurting anyone.

I personally think Jez should hire a writer who is a mother; I think that would add a different and interesting perspective. But this article above doesn't call for a nuanced discussion of babies/motherhood. It calls for jokes and cat gifs.

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Methinks it's all in their mind.

Last I checked, something like 85% of women will fulfill their "sacred birthright" and have a kid. It is refreshing to come to Jez and be among diverse women who aren't set on procreating.

Sometimes, the majority loves to act as if they are persecuted over their choices. You are in the majority for fuck's sake.

Let this person think we are all baby haters. DEATH TO BABIES!

My cats are in boot camp right now being trained to kick baby ass.

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(FTR this is in reference to a post a while back about some creepy safe sex ads, not a feminazi fever dream.)

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a) I love this. You are hilarious.

b) what on earth did you type into google images to come across that. obviously you had something in mind (and PLEASE don't tell me it really was "first response copywriter," b/c then I'll have to pee and have no sacred pee sticks on hand with which to catch my holy, pregnancy-hormone laden piss on).

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