THE
BIRTHSTRIKERBlythePepino, 33, is the
founder of BirthStrike, an
environmental campaign
group that refuses to have
children until governments
enact the systemic changes
we need for a safe future.
She is the singer in the
band Mesadorm and lives
between Stroud and LondonI first became properly aware
the ecological crisis through
Extinction Rebellion. I’ve been
heavily involved in organising music
with them and, during last
year’s protest on London’s Waterloo
Bridge, I was arrested for civil
disobedience after locking myself
to the underside of a lorry.
My partner Joshua and I had been
talking about having kids as we’d
been together two years, I’d turned
33 and a lot of my friends were
becoming parents. I was really
excitedabout the idea; I’d fallen in
loveand I wanted a family. But then
I asked myself, ‘Was I going to focus
on what I was expected to do – a
career, a house and a family – or was I
going to face up to what’s going on
and recognise that people need to
take action?’ Suddenly, the two
Duringan Extinction Rebellion protest
onWaterloo Bridge in July, Blythe was
arrested after locking herself to a lorryseemed incompatible and, when I
lookedinto it, the answer was obvious- I couldn’t become a mother.
To me, it’s about safety. Because
ofthe impact of the ecological crisis –
from food shortages to flooding - I don’t want to have children when
I’m not sure they will be able to have
a happy, safe and long life.
I’m worried about being a mother
in this situation and how painful it
will be if civilisation collapses. If I
was pregnant or had a young child,
I’d also find it difficult to run the
risk of being arrested and put in
prison through my activism and
civil disobedience.
It wasn’t an easy decision and
I spent months feeling grief at the
idea of not having children. I think I
was also grieving for all kinds of
identity attachments – my career and
status,having a more individualistic
focus. That’s why a lot of people
don’t want to plunge down this rabbit
hole because it’s so huge. Facing up
to the climate crisis requires us to
make massive changes.
My mum was upset at first
because she didn’t realise how
severethe crisis is. It’s not until you
reallyunderstand how much we’re
hangingon a cliff edge that it starts to
make sense. Now she’s very supportive.
Joshua was more concerned about
thepolitical angle, as he’s involved in
humanitarian aid. He was worried
thatencouraging people not to have
babies could be used in oppressing
people of colour, as well as the
message being hijacked by racist
politicians, who would see it as a way
to control populations. His views
werereally useful, as they showed
how it’s so morally problematic.
However,I felt my decision was an
important symbol and I decided to
start BirthStrike.
Not having children is the perfect
way to get across to others that this is
a life or death situation foreveryone,
and I was aware it would have an
electriceffect in the media.
I began to tell people I knew what
I was thinking and, while nearly
everyoneseemed to be of the same
opinion, most felt it was taboo and
toodepressing to talk about. I set up
a Facebook group to test the water
and, in two weeks, 140 women,
mostly from the UK, said they, too,
wouldnot have children because of
the state of the planet.
Now, we’re just a voluntary
organisation; we’re not trying to
solve the crisis, we’re spreading
information through our strike. I’ve
been interviewed in newspapers and
onTV, here and in the US.
Starting a family is a beautiful
thing – procreation is wrapped up in
our idea of a hopeful future. But
having babies is essential for the
economy– it keeps women down and
menin power. It’s also something
that triggers racism; I receive lots of
tweets from people worrying that
more black and brown babies are
beingborn.
In fact, it’s how I ended up on Fox
News this year. While the show’s
producers may not have seen it this
way, there are many like me who see
the right-wing media’s hostility as
themfeeling distinctly threatened by
the idea of middle-class women
refusing to have children while
brown mothers around the world
procreate. It reveals so much about
our society.
When I’m in my music world,
I start thinking, ‘Maybe the world is
not that bad.’ So I have to keep
reading the latest climate science to
remind myself – yes, it is. Of course
I have doubts about my decision to
remain childless. That’s just totally
human, isn’t it? But for me, I know
I’m doing the right thing.Report81