Poor Things
on mothers and monsters and fantasies of power
A huge thank you to everyone who upgraded to a paid subscription after my last post! I was blown away by the response! I’m only 22 paid subscribers from hitting my goal. If you liked this post, consider upgrading your subscription to help support me in making more work like this!
Very interesting take! It brought to mind Barbara Almond's book, 'The Monster Within,' which explores the idea of maternal ambivalence, and the strange and sometimes troubling power of our ability to create life — and the societal expectation that we should do so. She spends a good deal of time talking about Frankenstein, and the fact that it's not surprising that book came out of the mind of a woman.
When my son was 7, he asked why "you made me born if I'm just going to die?"
😳
Because I wanted something to love me I guess?
That really helped reframe for me just how selfish it is to have children.
And yet, humans are also animals wired to procreate.
It's a fascinating conversation.
Thank you for your work!