Reconceiving Women: Separating Motherhood from Female Identity by Mardy S. Ireland
Amazon Reader Review: "This book is a little more in-depth than some other books on the subject -it's not a quick read- but is well worth the time invested. I think psychology and women's studies students - even if they don't agree witht the content - should read this book. I really hope the author is right when she talks about a future day when people will shudder in disbelief at the cruel stereotypes that were directed at childfree women - just as we do now at past thinking that a woman not married by the age of twenty-five was an old spinster!"
Childless By Choice: A Feminist Anthology by Irene Reti, ed.
Amazon Description: ". . . a book written by the women themselves, an anthology which approaches this complex and sensitive subject from a positive, feminist perspective. The writing here is by women of diverse backgrounds and ages -- working class and middle class; Jewish, Chicana, Euro-American, African American, Native American, lesbian and heterosexual; rural and urban. The style is accessible and creative, ranging from narrative, to short story, to poetry."
Without Child: Challenging The Stigma of Childlessness by Laurie Lisle
Amazon Reader review: "I've spent countless hours reviewing and explaining my choice, often for people who had no right to know but insisted anyway. But here, for the first time ever, all the arguments and thoughts I've had about choosing childlessness are discussed in-depth and wonderfully in this book."
The Mask of Motherhood - How Mothering Changes Everything and Why We Pretend It Doesn't by Susan Maushart
From Amazon Reader review: "Read this book! Basically a sociology book, "The Mask of Motherhood" explores the reasons why this generation - the 30 and 40-somethings - are having the most difficult time in history adjusting to the demands of parenting. Like it or not, we are the unwilling guinea pigs of the Feminist Experiment. We are the first generation raised to expect much more out of life than just home and children. Our higher expectations make it tough for us to handle the almost complete sacrifice of self that caring for an infant or small child requires."
The Effect of Children on Parents by Anne-Marie Ambert
From Amazon: "Describes the various aspects of children's effects on their parents (little-studied, compared with the reverse, yet important in understanding family dynamics), from the points of view of sociology, psychology, psychiatry, and other disciplines."
