Ever since we started reading “Feminist, queer, crip” I have been doing a lot of self reflection as well as asking myself a lot of questions that don’t have easy answers.
One of the questions that I just can’t shake off is the question of why reproductive time is used as the default scale for how and when people are supposed to live their lives. I know that this “reproductive time” varies slightly throughout the world, but ultimately it’s about heterosexual individuals growing up, getting married, and having kids. The ages may differ, the “acceptable” amount of kids may differ, the obtaining of gainful employment may differ (especially depending on gender), there may be other slight differences, but the overriding idea of coupling up and having children exists. Why?
It seems that in present times, using reproductive time as a measure of anything is really outdated. Why is coupling up with someone a priority? Why is getting married a priority? Having kids? Additionally, anyone that deviates from the “norm” (heteronormative standard) suffers from this timeline. Even heterosexual individuals that just do not want to procreate suffer due to this idea that getting married and having kids is the ultimate, end all be all.
Something else that really stands out to me about this “reproductive time” is that this is kind of MOST limiting to females. Women are the ones that have to literally carry the physical (and emotional) labor of pregnancy. This creates a pretty heavy imbalance against women in terms of choices they can make and things they can do because they are so limited and boxed in by this reproductive time.
This concept of time is just really baffling and off putting to me and I can’t quite nail down a concrete reason why, but there are plenty of fragmented reasons that rub me the wrong way.
Unruly Bodies 
I definitely agree that the pressures of “reproductive time”, especially on women, is super frustrating and total bullshit. The main cause of this pressure that came to mind was the influence of cultural goals. I feel like within the westernized society, we’ve been taught from a small age that marriage and a family is one of the ultimate goals. Especially for women, society puts marriage as a top priority, and often older, unmarried women are seen as deviant.
I guess in a way, the typical cultural goals (like the “American Dream”) are being financially successful by having well paying job, and being personally successful by having a spouse and kids.
I think it “rubbing you the wrong way” is exactly why Halberstam and Kafer critique it. They certainly don’t think it is or should be the primary way women have to organize their lives!
I definitely agree with your statement that the burden of the standards defined by reproductive time fall mainly on women. As a woman who is in her twenties, I constantly hear from family, “So, have you found a nice guy yet?” and my statements that I do not want to have children are often met with shock and horror, and the inevitable, “You’ll change your mind eventually.” It is considered “natural” for young women to want to settle down and have children, even though this is not the case for many people. Although the idea of time as a social construct is still hard for me to wrap my head around, I can understand how societal interpretations of time are used to define the timeline of how people should live their lives.
I agree with the frustration and confusion that you felt when reading the section that spoke about reproductive time. It is something that I also had a hard time wrapping my head around. How could the concept of reproduction be such a determining factor of having a future and doing something the right way simply because they have a child. Just because some couples can have kids does not mean that they should and also doesnt mean that they arent living their lives that right way and will have “no future.”