Reviews
Why Have Kids?: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness by Jessica Valenti
aharman13's review against another edition
5.0
Highly recommend for any new moms or women thinking about becoming a mom. Quick, thought provoking read !
real_life_reading's review against another edition
3.0
This book was not really what I was expecting. I expected it to be more of a memoir about her experiences as a new mother, but instead it was mostly about statistics, and the successes and failures of parenting culture in the United States. I felt like a lot of the information wasn't new to me, but it did give me some good perspective on what it means to be a parent in America these days. The biggest lesson I learned from this: parenting is not a job, it is a relationship. Once we start looking at it that way, I think a whole new world opens up to us as we cultivate relationships with kids instead of being employed by them.
sutherslat's review against another edition
5.0
This is easily the best book about parenting I've ever read. It isn't a manual, it isn't a how-to, it isn't even a cautionary tale. It is a feminist examination of the state of parenting today, and I absolutely loved it.
jeremiglio's review against another edition
2.0
This is an excellent exploration of the issues of modern parenting and particularly motherhood, but ultimately it fails to answer its own core question.
The issue is possibly me and my reasons for reading it - as I near 30 with a good job, solid income, happy marriage and home ownership all ticked off, I'm running out of excuses for making the decision about whether I want kids. I perhaps naively expected some insight into the reasons why I should or shouldn't, particularly from a feminist perspective, that might help me navigate this decision. That's not what this book is, and although it does a good job looking at the ideas it examines it left me unsatisfied.
The issue is possibly me and my reasons for reading it - as I near 30 with a good job, solid income, happy marriage and home ownership all ticked off, I'm running out of excuses for making the decision about whether I want kids. I perhaps naively expected some insight into the reasons why I should or shouldn't, particularly from a feminist perspective, that might help me navigate this decision. That's not what this book is, and although it does a good job looking at the ideas it examines it left me unsatisfied.
kbecker40's review against another edition
2.0
A very short book that touched on a lot of subjects...
The title is deceiving -- I initially thought this would be a book about gauging the happiness of parenting; there were chapters devoted to this topic, but the book as a whole addressed several issues superficially. Much of it concentrated on the status of female expectations: those we put on ourselves and those that our modern society loads on mothers. However, Valenti used many web references and blog sites to confirm her ideas; these references are the "Wikipedia" of reputable research and many of her statistics were sketchy and questionable. Bloggers are not experts and blog posts are not readable content in book form. The books is too short to sufficiently address some of its important issues, and Valenti's tone is preachy and opinionated.
The title is deceiving -- I initially thought this would be a book about gauging the happiness of parenting; there were chapters devoted to this topic, but the book as a whole addressed several issues superficially. Much of it concentrated on the status of female expectations: those we put on ourselves and those that our modern society loads on mothers. However, Valenti used many web references and blog sites to confirm her ideas; these references are the "Wikipedia" of reputable research and many of her statistics were sketchy and questionable. Bloggers are not experts and blog posts are not readable content in book form. The books is too short to sufficiently address some of its important issues, and Valenti's tone is preachy and opinionated.
cerrasand's review
3.0
There were definitely some good points made, but I think Valenti took it too far some time. I agreed with her on the parenting roles aspect, but did not agree on her affinity for daycare. This was a good read for anyone who is a parent or is thinking about becoming a parent.
thuismuis's review against another edition
4.0
This book raised the potential pros and cons of having children. But more importantly it raised questions about how motherhood is viewed in the United States, and the unrealistic cultural expectations heaped upon women who choose to have children. Even though I have no intent to procreate at this time, I recommend this book to anybody who has ever been in a restaurant where a child was crying and a parent was desperately trying to shush it.