So, it turns out that today my lecture in Population Issues was about world population growth and some of the concerns about overpopulation. Over the years I've collected quotes about population and shared a few with my class. I asked them to think about what kind of metaphors we use to talk about population. Most are "animal based." We talk about breeding like rabbits, for instance. One quote talks about the population resembling a writhing mass of maggots...very colorful.
But, if we use that language to talk about population growth, what are we saying. By comparing overpopulation (really, unchecked fertility) to animals we are comparing the people who have "too many" kids to animals. They can't control their animal instincts; they breed or mate, rather than bear children; sex is not a romantic encounter, but an uncontrolled mating act. Of course, if we take away the human dimension, it makes it easier to see the problem as an animal control problem--sterilization, planned culls of the herd, etc.
How does the language we use change the way we view the problem and the solution?
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