This series aims to give readers a basic understanding of the perplexing puzzles that the strange arithmetic of population poses to democratic systems today! In this fifth installment, we’ll explore birth rates, the impact of women’s empowerment on birth rates, feminism, the stances of anti-feminist groups, and related topics...
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) indicates, on average, how many children women in a reproductive age group give birth to in a given region. In the first part of this series, we explored the issue of declining birth rates through the example of South Korea! To recap briefly: if a population’s TFR is around 2.1, it can sustain itself without importing people from outside. This is called the replacement-level TFR. If the TFR is above 2.1, the population grows; if it falls below, the population starts shrinking.
Let’s dive deeper into the biological and social math behind this number. The growth of a mammalian population largely depends on its female population. Imagine two separate lion prides that don’t intermix. One has 10 males and 90 females; the other has the reverse ratio. The first pride can grow much faster than the second ever could! Why? Because females are the “bottleneck unit” for birth rates in mammals. That’s why TFR is calculated based on the number of children per woman in a reproductive age group, not per couple or family.
This biological math heavily influences the laws and norms of evolved human societies. Why are men typically sent to fight wars? Why is polygyny (one man with multiple wives) more common than polyandry (one woman with multiple husbands)? Why are most religions and cultures patriarchal? The roots of these social questions trace back to the biology of birth rates! Thus, religious, political, and social restrictions on women, disparities in rights between men and women, women’s empowerment, feminism, and anti-feminist movements are all closely tied to the issue of birth rates.
The Industrial Revolution, world wars, and similar major shifts created opportunities for women’s empowerment in recent centuries, with Western countries leading the charge. Increased participation of women in the economy, advanced contraception technologies, and women’s education movements gave rise to “feminist” political currents worldwide. These led to significant democratic reforms like women’s suffrage—the right to vote on par with men! For example, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women voting rights, took effect in 1920. Suddenly, political parties that once relied solely on male votes had to start wooing their dear sisters too!!
As women’s voting rights, property ownership, and workforce participation became more entrenched, feminist movements grew more prominent. Their demands for equal rights and treatment became increasingly assertive. Radical feminism, in particular, went beyond moderate calls for equality, taking on the form of identity politics. This naturally led to clashes with religious establishments! The abortion rights debate in the U.S. is a prime example. The feminist “pro-choice” stance clashes with the “pro-life” position of conservative Christian groups, a conflict that remains unresolved. Its ripples have shaped American politics, judiciary (e.g., Roe v. Wade), and lifestyles for decades.
A striking example of radical feminism is South Korea’s 4B movement! As a rebellion against the country’s patriarchal society, militant feminist groups there adopted a four-pronged strategy in the latter half of the last decade:
Bisekseu: No sex with men
Bichulsan: No giving birth
Biyeonae: No dating men
Bihon: No marriage with men
In short, it’s like Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, but a radical feminist version! While all four tenets have serious societal impacts, the second—bichulsan (no giving birth)—is particularly critical for South Korea’s already perilously low birth rate. Though the 4B movement’s confrontational stance is considered extreme, it reveals the broader direction of 21st-century feminist thought.
Thus, assertive feminist movements, advanced contraception, laws affirming abortion rights, educated women prioritizing careers, and the rising age of motherhood directly contribute to the declining birth rate trend seen in nearly every advanced democratic country.
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Women's educational attainment vs. fertility rate, 2020 |
The mean age at childbearing further clarifies this shifting social reality. The higher this age, the lower the birth rate, as human technology hasn’t fully overcome the biological “expiry date” on women’s fertility. According to 2021 data, the average age of motherhood in South Korea is 32.5, Singapore 31.9, Japan 31.4, Germany 31.1, and England 30.6—clearly, in advanced democracies, this age has crossed into the thirties.
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Average age of mothers at childbirth, 2023 |
This rising age of motherhood and the resulting drop in birth rates have become a thorny issue for advanced democracies! Once women’s lifestyles shift—as discussed above—and birth rates start declining, the effect becomes more pronounced each year. This “snowball effect” is increasingly difficult for policymakers to curb.
These challenges, especially the necessity of migration to sustain populations, have sparked new opposition to feminist movements and women’s modern lifestyles. This manifests as pushback against women-friendly laws, rhetoric challenging women’s political rights, and online hate targeting women with modern lifestyles. A prominent example is Andrew Tate, the global poster boy for such views, who gained fame online with provocative claims like women should stick to “hearth and home,” are men’s property, and aren’t fit to drive cars. Online meme terms like “alpha male” and “sigma male” also stem from this anti-feminist current.
This growing hostility toward women’s modern lifestyles is evident in politics too. For instance, Trump’s current Vice President, J.D. Vance, fueled the 2024 campaign by calling Kamala Harris a “puppet” of the “childless cat lady” crowd—women who, instead of fulfilling their “God-given duty” to bear children, prioritize careers and pet cats. Mocking such women as “childless cat ladies” has become a favorite pastime of recent anti-feminist rhetoric!
Successful female celebrities like Taylor Swift are frequently targeted in this narrative, leading to ongoing online and offline battles between feminists and these new misogynistic groups. These conflicts echo in parliaments, courts, and offices. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, dealing a blow to pro-choice feminists, sparking widespread protests. In the Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump contest, feminist groups backed Harris, while anti-feminist factions supported Trump, escalating the feud further.
So, in this part, we’ve traced the impact of women’s empowerment on birth rates, the rising age of motherhood, feminist movements, and related social conflicts. In the next part, we’ll explore population changes and the complex math of birth rates in the Indian context, delving into North-South disputes, interstate migration, regional identities, and linguistic conflicts. Until then, 안녕히 계세요 (stay well)!
Original Marathi Blog Article: लोकशाही आणि लोकसंख्येचा यक्षप्रश्न - भाग ५