Actually, I would say that the urge for sex is very strong, and that for a lot of history, that naturally lead to children whether people wanted them or not. One of the leading causes of death of women was childbirth - having children was not really a choice for most people, and if it had been a choice then many of them might not have risked it.
I'm told that there was a plant available in Roman times that was a fairly reliable contraceptive, but that it was made extinct through overharvesting to supply the demand of Roman women. (It came up in conversation, sorry no references).
If Heortlings have reliable contraception, (and reasonably frequent deaths in childbirth) I can see a proportion of women choosing not to have children. I think GAG suggests that the Vingans at least have reliable contraception - is that right?
> They're extra workers, more spears in
> the fyrd, someone to yell agreement at moots, comfort in old age,
> etc.
But is the limit to the number of children based on the number of men you have available to procreate, or the number of women? I don't think the clan would really care about homosexual men not wanting to have children, as long as they're available to support the children of the people in the clan who choose to have them.
> The cliche of the mother pestering people about when they're going to
> settle down and start a family has been a strong universal in human
> society. (Even worse in a large extended family where you've got
> aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents to pester you).
How much of that is wanting the good bits out of child rearing (The neotonous grins, the ability to spoil them, the reactions and unalloyed pleasure you can see in their faces) without the bad bits (living with not enough sleep for far too long.) Grandchildren are apparently loads more fun than children :)
I also think there's a certain amount of self-verifying proselytisation. I've noticed a pattern of people who get married or who have children trying to convince their friends to do the same, as if they want people to agree they made the right choice.
> I find it
> extremely unlikely that Heorlting society would look favourably on
> someone who didn't start a family UNLESS they had some cult reason
> for not doing so.
If children are raised by the clan, not by a nuclear family, then does it matter if Uncle Valmar never married and had children, as long as he's there to help raise his brother's children? The limiting factor is not men who want children as much as it is women who want children.
Stephen
-- Stephen Rennell steve_at_... Wellington, New Zealand GPG fingerprint - CD0F 78C6 1AAE 8726 803A F1D0 F123 8486 062F 0317
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