I’m done with feeling less-than. I’m done with allowing people to use the ‘childless cat lady’ label as a negative. So let me take apart some of the common accusations flung at Harris and other women who aren’t biological mothers.

I’m childless by choice. That doesn’t make me miserable, jealous or uncaring about the future. It doesn’t mean I don’t get to have a say in what the future looks like. Not having children doesn’t preclude a woman from caring about the wider world; child-free women can still be bothered about making the world better even if they’re not physically creating the next generation to benefit from it. Why? Because – shocker – you can care about people who aren’t biologically related to you. Just as a parent doesn’t only give a toss about their offspring, those without children are entirely capable of caring about people well beyond their immediate circle. We’ve got the capacity to care for the entirety of humanity, in fact.

I’m a cat lady. I have a cat called Babka who I frequently declare is “the most precious being in the world”, who serves as my phone background and whose health and happiness is one of my proudest achievements. Being a cat lady doesn’t make me miserable or crazy. According to one study, cat owners tend to have better psychological health than people without pets, and I can vouch for that. I live with depression and OCD, and count caring for Babka as a major component of my mental wellbeing.

“Like Kamala Harris, I’ve been labelled a ‘childless cat lady’ – and I refuse to be shamed for it”