The Algorithms Want Me Pregnant
Plot twist, I don’t want to be pregnant.
Last month I turned 30. The big 3 0. I currently live in New Zealand so I spent my birthday in lockdown, not that I’ve ever done much to celebrate my birthdays, anyway.
For me, nothing really changed between 29 and 30. The only difference I feel is one of mild failure over not earning as much as I thought I would be by this age and not being as successful as I really want to be. As I aspire to be. For not making enough money that I can send my grandma checks to spend however she wants.
The algorithms that quietly follow our lives, however, had a big change. It’s been a month since my birthday and for the past month all of my social media ads have been pregnancy centric.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok (especially tiktok). I feel like I’m seeing a lot more baby content in my timelines where I’ve never follow babies. Unless it’s a friend’s baby and I can say congratulations from a very safe distance, because I don’t like kids, I don’t want kids, I don’t want to babysit kids, and I really just don’t want to be around kids.
I don’t hate kids. They’re fine as long as they’re not mine and not under my responsibility. I have a cat, and I’m happy with our arrangement of cuddles and food spats and company.
