Hello and welcome?
My project focuses on narratives and assumptions regarding childbirth, pregnancy and motherhood. Discover more.
Who: me, Ira L. Whitlock. No, that’s not my real name. No, I don’t care for my name to be known. Anonymity is freedom.
What: my project aims to explore the realities and narratives surrounding man-made horrors beyond my comprehension, that is, pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.
When: whenever I manage to create a piece of research/writing that I’m satisfied with. Optimistically, it should be about once a month. Could never be less, will definitely be more.
Where: here, on Substack.
Why… this project? I always felt a visceral rejection of everything related to pregnancy, and I would like to explore it in a more structured way. My coping mechanism is obsessive semi-academic research. I’d also love to apply for a PhD in the future.
Why… Substack? Publishing my writing will force me to organize my thoughts in an intelligible way. It will also give me the small sense of accomplishment necessary to start on a new piece.
Philosophical lens
In order to be transparent about the biases in my writing, I think it’s crucial to disclose my philosophical lens (a courtesy that Western universities seem to often not extend to their students nowadays…).
Most of the time, I subscribe to a (proto) existentialist, classically liberal, second-wave feminist point of view and tend to disagree with postmodern and radical feminists. In short, I usually find myself siding more with Simone de Beauvoir than with Judith Butler.
While I do my best to read as widely as I can, be mindful that my essays will ultimately reflect this point of view. I’m not sorry about it.
When to interact:
Comments: I’m always delighted when someone engages with my writing - I simply don’t expect anyone to. If you have something to contribute, your comment will be cherished as an unexpected surprise - the best kind in my opinion.
Reading recommendations: please, please, send good articles or books my way. Scouting Google Scholar and LibGen is a lonely task, and I appreciate all and every tip, including links to videos and podcasts.
Editing: if you notice any incorrect information, please let me know. I’ll be very grateful if you can help in making my research more accurate.
When not to interact:
“PrEGnaNcy iS a MIracLe aND yOU’ll DiE aLOne”: I’m delighted motherhood was everything you wished it to be, and thank you for your concern. I do not intend to insult anyone’s choices. My position is and always will be that each one of us should have the right to make their own choices without fear, ignorance and dogmatism when it comes to procreation. However, I can’t and won’t hide my feelings, not here, in a space meant to be mine: I find pregnancy nothing short of revolting, childbirth horrific and motherhood existentially terrifying. I wish to explore the literature surrounding these issues, as well as my own feelings, with the absolute, radical transparency that only anonymity can provide. Please don’t waste your time being offended about silly old me writing on the Internet. Go live your life with my very best wishes.
“You ignored your role into an intersectional, inescapable system of oppression and your own unconscious bias…”: I’ve addressed my philosophical biases above. I most categorically do not agree with identity politics. Hence, I’m anonymous. I have no identity you can latch on to. Vade retro with your postmodern gaslighting and slave morality.
“You call this an essay?!”: This Substack is one editing round removed from an unadulterated brain dump. Therefore, it will be over-simplistic, raw, often incorrect and surely not respecting academic standards and quotation etiquette. Again, please don’t get mad about it, you’ll be wasting your time. Write a better essay (it should be an easy feat!) and send it to me, I’ll be delighted to read it.
“Your grammar/spelling/syntax is rubbish.”: English is not my first language, and I can’t be bothered pretending.
For anything else, drop me a message or a comment. I’m an introvert and I get spooked easily, but I’ll do my best to reply to you.
That’s it, folks. Thank you in advance for reading, and see you around.