In Harpy: A Manifesto for Childfree Women, Caroline Magennis argues that woman need not feel guilty for not having children. After searching for an appropriate description of herself as a woman without children, she settled on ‘harpy’: “I had tried on different words, and none of them stuck until Harpy.”
Although a harpy is generally depicted negatively, as a winged monster, the book attempts to redefine the term: “Through the harpy I want to find a way to turn both the passive-aggressive and direct stigma into something that felt like it had a terrifying power... The harpy came to mean, to me, all the ways in which we had been depicted but also a way out, even if we had to fly away and use our claws to get there.”
Magennis shows how childfree women are demonised by popular culture (specifically, tabloid newspapers and Hollywood films). She cites Lady Macbeth as “the epitome of the ruthless childless monster”, though she also highlights negative cultural archetypes such as wicked stepmothers.
Although a harpy is generally depicted negatively, as a winged monster, the book attempts to redefine the term: “Through the harpy I want to find a way to turn both the passive-aggressive and direct stigma into something that felt like it had a terrifying power... The harpy came to mean, to me, all the ways in which we had been depicted but also a way out, even if we had to fly away and use our claws to get there.”
Magennis shows how childfree women are demonised by popular culture (specifically, tabloid newspapers and Hollywood films). She cites Lady Macbeth as “the epitome of the ruthless childless monster”, though she also highlights negative cultural archetypes such as wicked stepmothers.