Auntie Brigade- a tribute to supporting Caribbean Women

This post is a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert (you know- the author of "Eat Pray Love") from her new book "Committed".  The book follows the author on a research journey, through history and throughout the globe, to learn all she can about marriage as she is unexpectedly forced to (reluctantly) consider marriage for the second time when her boyfriend is stopped by US immigration and no longer allowed to enter the US.

In the Caribbean there is a lack of appreciation and sometimes downright discrimination of or distaste for women who are unable to, or choose not to, have children. You are either 'not woman enough' or you are 'selfish'. I love Elizabeth's take on it... so the rest of this post is a direct quote.

" ... the number of women throughout history who never become mothers is so high (so consistently high) that I now suspect that a certain degree of childlessness is an evolutionary adaption of the human race. Maybe it's not only perfectly legitimate for certain women never to reproduce, but also necessary. It's as though, as a species we need and abundance of responsible compassionate childless women on hand to support the wider community in various ways. Child bearing and child rearing consume so much energy that the women who do become mothers can quickly become swallowed up by the daunting task- if not outright killed by it. Thus, maybe we need extra females, women on the sidelines with undepleted energies, who are ready to leap into the mix and keep the tribe supported. Childless women have always been particularly essential in human society because they often take upon themselves the task of nurturing those who are not their official biological responsibility. Childless women have always run orphanages and schools and hospitals. They are midwives and nuns and providers of charity. They heal the sick and teach the arts and often become indispensable on the battlefield of life. Literally in some cases. (Florence Nightingale comes to mind.)

      Such Childless women- let's call them the "Auntie Brigade"- have never been well honored by history..."

 She goes on the say more but I leave it here. I find it so fitting that she should use the term "Auntie Brigade" given the multitude of ways we use the term auntie in the Caribbean. Heaven knows that many aunties- literal and otherwise have been instrumental in my life as my own child consumed me as a single parent. No matter where on earth I was at the time, they seemed to be there- these aunties- you know who you are. So I raise the proverbial glass to all the professional Caribbean Aunties and to all aunties of world. And on behalf of society I say, Thank You.