“Your biological clock is ticking! Women have always had babies, what’s wrong with you? Without a son, you are nothing. Why stop after the first child, have another one!” If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s no surprise. The pressure to have children - sometimes many of them - is everywhere you look. Well-meant advice from parents, the glorification of parenthood in the media, government incentives to alleviate aging populations, and religious encouragement to bring back good old family values, you name it. But what seems at first glance a mosaic of haphazard messages is, in fact, a part of an oppressive social norm called pronatalism.
In this interview with Nandita Bajaj, Executive Director of Population Balance, we uncover:
Nandita Bajaj is the Executive Director of Population Balance, where she also co-hosts The Overpopulation Podcast. Population Balance offers education and solutions to address the intersectional impacts of human overpopulation and overconsumption on the planet, people, and animals. As faculty with the Institute for Humane Education at Antioch University, Nandita teaches and researches pronatalism, anthropocentrism, human rights, environmental ethics, and overpopulation and their impacts on reproductive, ecological, and intergenerational justice. She also serves as the Advisory Board Chair for Stable Planet Alliance. Bajaj has Bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Education, a Master’s degree in Humane Education, and over 15 years of experience working in engineering, education, and non-profit management.
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