I am cranky. I have a cold, and I would really rather be spending my time curled up watching the Olympics, because men's water polo and the fascinating overabundance of gymnastic barrettes (so I'm shallow), but no, I have to go to work and meetings like the responsible volunteer I am. Also, I need to integrate with the other teachers in the office and answer questions about myself in order to Educate the Peoples Served About American Values (which is some sort of Peace Corps goal, or possibly objective).
Which is how I ended up telling my fellow teachers, in response to inquiries on my future plans, that I do not want children, because I do not like them. As I should have anticipated, this sparked a shocked outcry. Women who do not wish to procreate, unthinkable! When I failed to have an existential crisis considering the possibility of my hypothetical non-being if my parents had thought similarly, my coworkers switched to telling me that my boyfriend* might have other plans. When I replied that children was something my hypothetical future husband and I might discuss, but ultimately I have bodily autonomy and the decision is mine because, well, I'm the one who has to be pregnant and risk all sorts of interesting health problems including death, I was told that my husband had the right to force me to have children.
This is one of those situations for which I have no words, just incoherent fury. This, gentle readers, is why I always reply to the constant questions of "would I marry a Tanzanian?" with some slightly more polite version of "absolutely not." Because cultural differences where I sort of like to have the same value as a human being as a man gets automatically and I am not convinced that I could get that in Tanzania. So the US isn't exactly a beacon of egalitarianism, but it is slightly better.
*For the purposes of Tanzania, I always have a boyfriend whether I do or not, and when traveling, I am married, particularly to any male volunteer who happens to be present. Life gets a little easier and safer that way.
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