The thing about JD Vances ‘cat lady comment’ that gets a little obscured by 'you have angered the cat ladies’ is that when asked about it he clarified.
And doubled down.
That it wasn’t about cat ladies, but the fact that that they are childless, and the sense that someone who has no children cannot possibly have a stake in the future of this country.
I found out this year that I cannot have children. Not on purpose, not by accident, not by science and not by miracle. There is a fibroid the size of a grapefruit in my uterus that has given my reproductive organs so much trauma that there’s no possibility of carrying a child to term. The only way to remove it is with a hysterectomy.
For me, this decision was easy. But when my gynecologist spoke to me about it, they gave me a box of tissues, expecting it to take a lot more emotional bargaining. They were surprised that the decision was so easy for me.
I don’t want children. I never have. I never 'wanted them someday.’ I will probably not adopt.
But I understand how many people do- and why the news of infertility would make someone upset.
When assigning a value to someone based on their status of parenthood, you are including people who want, desperately, to have children but for whatever reason cannot.
To say that I, or anyone without children, could be apathetic about the future of the country is saying the quiet part out loud. Perhaps he was unconcerned until he had children of his own. But the thing is, you don’t have to have a family legacy in order to want good things for the future.
You just have to have a heart.
Which I’ve got.