Why Feminism Must Be Pro-Natal—and Pro-Human
An excerpt from "No One Left: Why the World Needs More Children"
This week, we bring you an excerpt from demographer Paul Morland’s just-released No One Left: Why the World Needs More Children.
Are feminism and pro-natalism necessarily opposed? Morland argues to the contrary: feminism can actually be served by a healthy pro-natalism—and all people can do their part to build a culture friendly to children and their families.
Why Feminism Must Be Pro-Natal—and Pro-Human
Paul Morland
Modern societies are trying to balance two potentially contradictory things: on the one hand, the education of women and their full participation in the workforce and at every level in society; and on the other, the unchanging biological reality of birthing and all that it means. We are not going to compromise on women’s rights. Either we must reconcile these with biology, or we are doomed to demographic Armageddon.
To succeed, we need feminists and environmentalists on board, as well as more socially conservative types. The various national-conservative parties and right-wing populist factions around the world are fundamentally pro-natalist. But the left too needs to get in touch with its pro-natalist roots, which go all the way back to Marx’s opposition to Malthus. Even those who fundamentally hate the West for its sins of historical colonialism and current racism need to understand that long gone are the days when pro-natalism was a concern for whites only. Koreans and Japanese, Jamaicans and African Americans: all will disappear in due course if current fertility rates persist, with an incalculable loss to the richness of human cultural variety. It will be a huge step forward when a belief that we need more children spans the political spectrum.
This Week in Sex-Realist Feminism: Kids in Public, Romance Online, and Believing in Love
This week: Jim Dalrymple III on kids in public, Katherine Dee on romance from behind a computer screen, Freya India on believing in love, divorce's effects, trans medical lobby division, corporate pride, Taylor Swift, FD recommends a book—and more!
From the Archives:
Tara Henley on “toxic femininity” and cancel culture—and how this uniquely feminine form of aggression actually harms women.
Transcending Toxic Femininity: Women, Cancel Culture, and An Appeal to Our Higher Selves
Tara Henley
“Women do a disservice to both ourselves and our public discourse when we conduct ourselves in such punitive ways.
Canceling other women cancels our own credibility.”