For 15 years at four different univ

For 15 years at four different universities, Stephanie Bohon has asked students if they intend to have children. “They all raise their hands," she says, "and then I ask why一and no one has an answer for me. That's what social convention does.” Eleanore Wells, a market researcher in New York City, says that even in her mid-50s, she finds judgment at every turn. “So many women take my choice personally," she says. Recently, she told me, a woman on the subway inquired if she had children and then asked, "Who is going to take care of you when you're old” Instead of answering the question, she just smiled, went home and packed her bags for an annual trip to Venice with friends. “When I was younger I found it more exhausting," she says. “Now I don't care what anyone thinks. It gets easier.”