Actress Renee Zellweger enjoys being an aunt, but perceives parenthood as a form of slavery.
"Motherhood has never been an ambition. I don't think like that. I never have expectations like, 'When I'm 19 I'm going to do this, and by the time I've hit 25 I'm going to do that'. I just take things as they come, each day at a time, and if things happen then all well and good."
"My brother has two children now, so I've been playing aunt Renee. They're two and four. It's chaos. Moms out there, kudos to you. The cool thing about being an aunt is like, I can leave. No offense to my big brother Drew, but that is slavery. I dare you to take a shower. You can't do anything unless they let you. It's a dictatorship. They're little dictators in their crib."
"Every now and then I'll step up and say, 'You know what, everybody sleep in, because you guys need some sleep and aunt Renee is going to take charge. I've got it, I've got it.' I so didn't have it."
Want to see what other celebrities are childfree by choice? Check out my list and be sure to let me know if you learn of others so I can be sure to add them!
I've found myself becoming something of a CF advocate. Not I that I regret becoming a mother. It's definitely enhanced my life. I just think a lot of people have children for the wrong reasons. Despite what those feel-good mom blogs say, there is a such thing as a "wrong" reason. I can give a list.
ReplyDeleteI hope people can look at CF celebrities and have it change their perspectives a bit. They follow hair, shoe, and handbag trends. Hopefully this catches on, too.
Thanks for sharing this! I love Renee, she's one of my favorite actresses. Good to hear she's CF. :-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I enjoy Renee's movies, and it's great to hear she's CF!
ReplyDeleteI find being an aunt definitely preferable to having any kids of my own - it's great to read someone of Rene's celebrity stature saying so, and with good humor!
ReplyDeleteI haven't quite gotten around to taking any nieces and nephews for the day to give their parents a break, but I'm sure that when I do, the only way I'll be able to make it through is with a very generous helping of wine - before, during and after!
Fantastic, I love to see this. It's so nice to hear a CF voice amongst all those clambering to be celebrity mommies. You GO Renee!
ReplyDeleteI look at Brangelina and I'm utterly mystified at what compels them to collect lives like stamps. Hooray for Renee and other celebs that eschew the cult of mommy!
ReplyDeleteHi--Author of Families of Two here. Can you tell me where you found the quote by Renee Z? In a pronatalist dominant celebrity world, I am gathering info on those who are not fitting into that mold. I sure wish Patrick Swayze and his wife said more about this before he died! Back when Families of Two came out, I came verty close to being on Oprah. The reason she decided against doing the topic? She did not want to be asked about why she had decided to have kids...I hope one day she will change her mind. It would go a long way to finally making this choice seen as just as legitimate as the choice to have kids! Thanks for the post and would love to know of more stars you find.
ReplyDeleteHi familyof2,
ReplyDeleteI usually find my quotes by googling and then poking all around the internet. I don't remember specifically where I found those quotes, but I am sure if you google any of them, the sources will come up.
Very interesting about Oprah. I am not surprised she doesn't want to discuss her decision not to have kids. Her audience is mostly moms and she spends a lot of time kissing their butts on her show. I am sure she is worried that if she discusses her reasons for not wanting kids, she will turn off a lot of her viewers. I actually wrote a thoughtful email to her producers once suggesting that Oprah do a show on the childfree lifestyle. I never got so much as a reply.
That's a funny analogy and quite true too. I believe awhile back Cameron Diaz was also interviewed and had some cool comments about being childless/childfree too. Nice to see successful women talk about this.
ReplyDeleteFamily of 2: Oprah has made several comments on WHY she doesn't want kids. I've come across them in articles, heard her say it once while being interviewed. And you find a quote from her if you google childfree celebs. And now that she's announced her show is going off the air I doubt if she'll be reluctant to discuss it now!
ReplyDelete