Warning: Capitalism has priced out motherhood. Get ready to sell your womb.
Creators: name: Ren Morton, C.
Publisher: name: unknown
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Reproduction
subject: FOS: Medical biotechnology
subject: Labor unions
subject: Feminism
subject: Feminist theory
subject: Postcolonialism
subject: Work and family

description: The 4B worldwide movement has captivated the attention of many feminists and childfree women. The 4B movement calls for the refusal to date, marry, have sex with, or birth children for men. Starting in South Korea in 2019, the movement has quickly spread around the world. The 4B movement in the U.S. adds momentum from the legacy of the childfree movement initiated in the 1970s. As the 4B movement builds, childfree advocates have shifted from discussing the "choice" to have children to discussing why no one can afford to have children. Curiously, the figures cited for birthing and raising children match the price of engaging surrogacy services. 

This essay is meant to help us think through the capitalist, colonial, and patriarchal underpinnings that have led to both the 4B movement and the growing surrogacy industry. Mimicking the questions one might ask if they were considering becoming a surrogate, I compare books on the childfree movement with surrogacy industry research. I demonstrate that the two conversations, while never in conversation with each other, actually focus on the same reproductive issues: National Motherhood, Maternal Instincts, Reproducing for Love or Money, and how "choice" obscures past and present inequalities. I conclude that capitalism (along with patriarchy and colonialism) has created conditions under which none of us have reproductive choice. Without reproductive choice, capitalism prices out motherhood so it can continue to extract the reproductive labor on which it depends. The 4B movement offers us a pathway to undermine capitalism by reclaiming our reproductive power.
description: The 4B worldwide movement has captivated the attention of many feminists and childfree women. The 4B movement calls for the refusal to date, marry, have sex with, or birth children for men. Starting in South Korea in 2019, the movement has quickly spread around the world. The 4B movement in the U.S. adds momentum from the legacy of the childfree movement initiated in the 1970s. As the 4B movement builds, childfree advocates have shifted from discussing the "choice" to have children to discussing why no one can afford to have children. Curiously, the figures cited for birthing and raising children match the price of engaging surrogacy services. This essay is meant to help us think through the capitalist, colonial, and patriarchal underpinnings that have led to both the 4B movement and the growing surrogacy industry. Mimicking the questions one might ask if they were considering becoming a surrogate, I compare books on the childfree movement with surrogacy industry research. I demonstrate that the two conversations, while never in conversation with each other, actually focus on the same reproductive issues: National Motherhood, Maternal Instincts, Reproducing for Love or Money, and how "choice" obscures past and present inequalities. I conclude that capitalism (along with patriarchy and colonialism) has created conditions under which none of us have reproductive choice. Without reproductive choice, capitalism prices out motherhood so it can continue to extract the reproductive labor on which it depends. The 4B movement offers us a pathway to undermine capitalism by reclaiming our reproductive power.