Why Don't You Just ...

Women hear that a lot. Why don't you just ...

... eat less ... smile more ... do something with your hair ... wear some makeup ... wear less makeup ... take some pride in yourself ... show some skin ... cover that up ... take better care of your kids ...

And yadda, yadda, yadda. Foodwise, women are supposed to eat right and feed their kids right even when that costs a lot more money and women get paid less than men. The list of people and behaviors women are supposed to avoid so that a guy won't lose his mind and harass or sexually assault them is long and depressing.

Though if you're a woman who's ecologically conscious, there's another thing you should just do, for everyone's sake, really, and that is have fewer children. Because that's always up to us.

I believe it was one of the bloggers at the estimable Feministe who once said that an erect penis would be a far more accurate pictorial shorthand for population discussions than a pregnant belly. But then, the public mind is about six years old when it comes to sexuality and naughty bits. Jeebus.

However, as Umbra notes at Grist, if the resource consumption involved in expanding human populations worries you, (and it worries me, what with the agricultural industrial complex trying to starve everyone) then this is the appropriate solution:

... Environmentalists need to advocate for girls and women at all levels. In our home communities, we need to be sure that girls are receiving equal opportunities, all youth are receiving substantial reproductive education, and teenagers are engaged in interesting projects rather than marking time with sex and drugs. Nationally and internationally, we need to actively advocate for family planning funding, the eradication of bogus abstinence-only programming, and policies that enrich the lives of women of all ages.

Social justice is inextricably linked with the natural environment. Choosing to limit the amount of children we have needs to be a realistic option for women worldwide.

So if you, or someone whom you like well enough to stop them making a fool of themselves, feel the urge to take on this issue, don't add yet another 'Why don't you ...' to the long list of nagging lectures society subjects women to all the time. Make the case for improving women's lives and real freedom of choice, instead.

We're smart enough to take it from there.