Misogynism is spreading wildly, why are young people less and less tolerant of children?

"Annoying the bear child! I hope that the restaurant downstairs of my house will also be closed to children. ”

Under an article on South Korea's "child-free zone", a netizen's message reflected the voices of countless young people.

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world and is also the fastest aging country. In order to increase the fertility rate, the government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the years to encourage mothers to have children.

At the same time, however, South Koreans' misogynism has run wild, with more than 400 restaurants and cafes across the country displaying "no children" signs.

Image source: CNN

According to a 2021 survey in South Korea, more than 70% of adults support the establishment of "child-free zones", including many parents with children, and only 10% are opposed.

People don't want to be disturbed by loud bear children, so they "one-size-fits-all" exclude all children from public places such as restaurants and libraries.

Although "child-free zones" have not yet widely appeared on the mainland, the emotional rejection of children has also quietly spread.

01

From unaccustomed to bear children to "misanthropy"

The world's bitter bear children have been around for a long time! Today, denouncing bear children has become a collective action of young people, bringing everyone together and uniting.

Making a fuss on trains and planes, spilling vegetable soup on others, pressing all floors of the elevator, cutting in line at random in amusement parks, and counting these "evil deeds" of bear children, everyone is angry and itching their teeth.

Image source: Global Network

However, we should also be wary of a phenomenon, that is, the behavior of not being accustomed to bear children has evolved into a general misogynism.

For example, a five- or six-year-old child running around on the high-speed train, standing on the seat noisy, kicking other people's seats, but being indulged and doted by the parents around him, I believe that few people can stand this kind of bear children and bear parents.

However, the reality is like this: babies less than one year old can't stop crying on the train, and parents can't coax their children by all means, so they are accused by people around them and invited out of the carriage by the flight attendants.

Anyone who has ever raised a child, or a relative or friend who has raised a baby, knows that babies often cry inexplicably, and even parents cannot control the volume of their children all the time.

This is not the fault of parents and children, but it has been increasingly rejected and denounced, and at the level of society as a whole, it is called "child-loathing society".

Image source: CNN

On social media, if you search casually, you can see a bunch of expressions of "hate children", and most of the time this dislike doesn't even need a reason.

In a society that is not friendly to children, what children do is wrong, and even the existence of children itself will cause dissatisfaction.

02

The greater the pressure to survive, the lower the tolerance

Why are young people becoming less tolerant of children?

Some scholars believe that young people in their twenties and thirties often have a strong sense of personal space. In their view, everyone has a place for themselves, and the mother's position is to stay at home and spend time with her children, not to participate in public life.

If a mother brings her child to a public place and interferes with herself, she is encroaching on her own space and harming her own interests.

At a time when the pressure of survival is gradually increasing, the most difficult thing for people to accept is the loss of their own interests. Everyone is only willing to take care of their own "one acre and three points of land", and is not willing to share goodwill and patience with the people around them.

Therefore, young people are increasingly unable to bear to see children in public places; On the other hand, more and more young women do not want to be trapped in their families and choose not to have children.

Image source: TV series "Kim Ji-young born in 82"

The desire to have children in society as a whole continues to decline, young people have not given birth to children, do not understand the difficulty of raising children, and therefore lack understanding of the living conditions of children and mothers, thus forming a vicious circle.

When we are asked to respect the rights and interests of our children, we may think: "I don't have children myself, so why should I respect other people's children?" ”

When we are asked to understand the difficulties of others, we generally have the following mentality: "I am also difficult, who can understand me?" ”

In this context, young people bring their own feelings into the feelings of their children, compare their own treatment with the treatment of their children, and come to the conclusion: what I can't get, my children don't want to get.

Image source: CNN

As a child of a vulnerable group, he can be willful, he can cry, he can be unruly, but he can also be easily forgiven.

On the other hand, those young people who have entered the society, in the face of pressure from work, money, feelings, etc., they also look forward to occasionally being willful, but they have lost the right to be treated as children and forgiven.

Therefore, what young people hate is not children, but society that no longer sees themselves as children.

03

Low fertility is hitting every family

The unfriendliness of a "child-misogynistic society" to children is obvious. Parents who deviate from the mainstream context of having fewer children, late births, or even no births may encounter more and more inexplicable dissatisfaction, and it is difficult to move when taking their baby out.

For more and more Dinker families, it is indirectly responsible for the economic and social impact of "declining birthrate".

Image source: CNN

The first is education, and graduates get together to take the teacher qualification certificate and enter the system to become teachers, but find that there are not so many children who need to be taught. At present, there are already many public kindergartens in large cities that are "difficult to find a child", and a large number of kindergarten teachers are facing the problem of unemployment.

When these children enter universities, some colleges and universities may reduce their scores in order to maintain the number of students, resulting in a decrease in the quality of talent training and further depreciation of academic qualifications.

In addition, the aging of the population is intensifying, the burden of medical security, social insurance, elderly care and other burdens has increased, regardless of whether there are children, will face huge pension problems.

With the miniaturization of family structures, empty nests, and the weakening of family concepts, people are increasingly reluctant to assume responsibilities other than individuals, how can they respect and care for a large number of elderly people?

Image source: unsplash.com

One mother recalled in an interview that she stayed at home for the first 100 days of childbirth to take care of her baby. When she finally recovered and was ready to take her children out for a walk, she found child-free areas everywhere.

She cried helplessly, "feeling that society doesn't want people like me." ”

Seeing such a scene, I believe everyone will be moved. Do we continue to keep children out of public spaces, or do we work towards a child-friendly society? The choice is in everyone's hands.

I hope that one day, the environment around us will be enough to accept children's play, and the public's attitude will also be able to dispel parents' doubts and tell them: as a parent, you don't need to be apologetic.