Why Talking About Birth Rates Can Get You Cancelled
In a Nutshell
Discussing low birth rates invites accusations of right-wing misogyny due to the observed correlation between traditional gender attitudes, conservative ideologies, and higher fertility (conservatives average 1.67 children vs. liberals' 1.29), creating tension with gender egalitarianism that progressives prioritize over reproduction. Pronatalism is reframed as "panatalism"—supporting people who want kids to have them—without forcing anyone, countering fears of Handmaid's Tale scenarios while urging left-leaning individuals to reproduce to preserve their values. The core challenge is ideological self-defeat: if feminists and liberals opt out of parenthood, they forfeit shaping the future, but changing narratives could enable "pronatal feminism" without sacrificing rights.
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Having this conversation is unpopular on the internet and immediately gets labeled as right-wing conservative misogyny or fascism. People understand there is tension between sustainable fertility rates and gender egalitarianism that most cherish. Speaker wants wife to vote, own property, and have police protection from abuse—basic egalitarianism. Many worry about low fertility but fear publicly supporting it because pronatalists want to force women to stay barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Sympathetic to that fear, and some pronatalism plays into it.
Reality shows genuine tension: most sexist countries have the highest birth rates; within societies, people with more traditional gender attitudes have higher birth rates. Question is whether this tension is intrinsic or if there's a way through it. Goal is for progressive friends to have kids so their values survive.
Many feel trapped between low fertility future (which they don't love) and protecting women's rights. If low fertility is the only way to protect rights, they prioritize rights over fertility. Pronatalists haven't always communicated well that current feminism (broadly construed) is strongly negatively correlated with fertility on almost any metric, but it doesn't have to be. A future pronatal feminism could be invented, but most feminists won't try. Leah Sergeant has a great book trying to address this. Sympathetic to people feeling between a rock and a hard place.
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