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Telling women to have fewer babies is not the solution to problems of climate change, no matter what some experts might say!
As a new parent, when I read articles that make heroes out of intelligent women who are choosing not to have children or those that state why women shouldn’t have children at all to protect the planet, it gets me thinking, to say the least.
Let’s first get a few things straight. For want of not going off on a tangent, let’s put aside the biased statement which puts only intelligent women on a pedestal.
As for the second statement, women can’t ever seem to catch a break! It’s as if wars, industries and consumerism are all due to women. I have yet to come across articles that give us five ways to curb our shopping instincts in order to save the planet. What’s worse than climate change is blaming only one single segment of the society for it!
I understand the problem here. It’s a huge moral one, the responsibility of which seems to lie on women alone, pressurizing them into a corner; either pulling them down for desiring babies or questioning them for not wanting any.
The world may need fewer babies to be born every day, but it needs smarter people more. To those out there who think that climate change is a direct result of little humans, think again.
Do you still use a plastic bag to line your waste bin?
Does your face wash still have micro beads in it?
Do you still spray yourself with air polluting perfumes 5 times a day? Do your washing detergents have artificial fragrances and chemicals?
If your answer to these questions is ‘yes’ more than ‘no’, need I say more?
If anything, having a baby makes one more conscious of their choices. There are lovely, greener and less harmful options available around us. Most of these are so simple it’s a surprise we moved away from them in the first place. There are modern cloth diapers and plain ol’ steel containers, reusable toys, wooden toys, glass bottles, cotton wash clothes, washing detergents with natural components that don’t pollute the water. I can go on and on.
We need to educate ourselves into making smarter choices, ones that have little to no repercussions on the earth. And we have to keep at it till it becomes a wonderful habit.
Making healthier choices doesn’t mean eating leaves off the road and roaming around in a loin cloth. We always forget to find that quintessential ‘balance’. We just need to look around us for inspiration.
And we really need to stop judging and being critical of others. The next time you come across a frazzled parent and a kid, smile and be of help. It’s not their fault the earth is warming up!
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I am a native of Ahmedabad and have been living on and off in Bangalore since 2008. I am a trained classical dancer and singer and should have been at least an economist after 5 read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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