Pronatalism in fiction

Recently I got thinking about pronatalism in fiction, and how the childless are portrayed. Loribeth covers it as part of her NOMO bookclub reads.  My husband and I have been fans of Outlander, the TV series, after reading most of the books years earlier. The first book by Diana Gabaldon, which I read as Cross Stitch (as published in the UK/Australia/NZ etc) was both historical fiction, fantasy, and bodice ripper, though these days, they’re much more focused on the historical fiction side of things. Last year we finished the latest episodes, and I went back to watch the first season. Of course, I got hooked, binge-watching the entire seven seasons, and staying up far too late doing it!

The main character is Clare, a feisty, independent woman. They make a lot of this, showing her bridling against the strictures of society’s views of women, both in the 18th century and in the mid-late 20th century. I’ve liked that part of her character, even though I’ve rolled my eyes at her ignorance of the place in society she was at the time expected to accept.

So on a second rewatch, you wouldn’t think I should have been so surprised with the concentration of pronatalism in the story – that the only way to have a legacy is to have children, that to have children together is the ultimate expression of a relationship, that a strong woman still needs to be seen as a mother, et cetera. Of course, it is set largely in the 18th century or in the 1950s through to the 1970s, and so antiquated views of women were still frequently plot points. The easiest to watch were in the 50s-70s, because I know that some views have changed, and I could see that they were trying to make a feminist point. The hardest scenes to watch were when it was accepted as so normal that the writers and filmmakers weren’t actually making a feminist point or setting out historical beliefs. The pronatalism just blared through, expressions of the main characters’ beliefs as if these were still universally normal in the 21st century.

And so I found it a bit isolating to watch. My fault, because I was binge-watching, that I had the onslaught of pronatalism all at once. But still, it was frustrating to feel so judged and at the same time so ignored at the same time.