There are many things that make women feel successful and happy, and one of them may be creating a family. But I don’t think women’s success should be measured by having a family alone.

Many women are taking jobs as doctors, engineers, and astronauts, and they are taking over the world. Society should be encouraging this measurement of success and worth for today’s women.

Back in the 1950s, women were expected to be happy being a mother and wife. Women were deemed successful by having a few kids and a husband. But as a young woman in the 21st century, I don’t want to stick to the past. I want to make my own path.

In my opinion, many girls as they grow up dream of meeting their true love, getting married and having a few kids of their own, and that gives the feeling of living a full life. There is nothing wrong with a woman wanting to have a husband and kids. But I know this feeling doesn’t come to all women, and they shouldn’t have to live out the “perfect” family to feel valued.

Personally, I want to go to college and have a long career. It’s not that I don’t enjoy children or don’t want to have any. I think that there are many aspects that contribute to a woman living a full life, not just having children.

There are strong women in the public eye that don’t view kids as a necessity. Actress Renée Zellweger, for example, said according to Kiwireport, an entertainment news website, “Motherhood has never been an ambition. I don’t think like that. I never have expectations like ‘When I’m 19 I’m going to do this, and by the time I’ve hit 25 I’m going to do that.’ I just take things as they come, each day at a time.”

She is only one example. There are many other women who don’t have kids by choice, like Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, Betty White and Dolly Parton. These amazing women and so many more are still happy and flourishing even without having children of their own.

If a woman defines her happiness as having a family, why should we stop her? Everyone has a right to decide how to fulfill their lives.

There are so many other ways women’s success and happiness can be measured. Women should be able to set their own standards for what makes them happy.