okay, i am deeply sorry, i know a lot of you on this website are not a big fan of kids and children in general but PRETTY PLEASE can we just NOT normalize the βi donβt like/i hate children but i donβt wanna hurt themβ? because, thatβs not fucking possible, okay? thatβs two views you can NOT simultaneously hold.
because, letβs talk for real, the problem isnβt just direct violence β itβs the dehumanization of children, which feeds prejudice against childhood, childism, and adultism. this logic IS NOT neutral, and itβs one of the most sophisticated ways prejudice gets perpetuated.
βnot liking/hating childrenβ reinforces the idea that theyβre annoying, dramatic, inconvenient... less human β and therefore easier to discard, silence, or sacrifice for adult comfort.
elisabeth young-bruehl defines childism as prejudice against children as a social group, comparable to racism, sexism, and homophobia. it functions like any other -ism: an ideology that legitimizes treating a group as property, as inferior, or as available for exploitation. she also shows that childism isnβt limited to extreme cases of violence β it shows up in a whole range of practices that arenβt in childrenβs best interest: neglect, underfunding of schools, the abusive use of medication on childrenβ¦
saying βi donβt like/i hate childrenβ isnβt an innocent preference or just a phrase β itβs literally the biased expression of a worldview that dehumanizes and diminishes this group. thatβs exactly what childism is.
young-bruehl emphasizes that adults who practice childism βall rely upon a societal prejudice against children to justify themselves and legitimate their behavior.β [p.1] a lot of people may not consciously βhateβ children or raise a hand to hit them β but the prejudice allows them to tolerate structures that harm children on a massive scale (child poverty, incarceration, violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, etc.).
rebecca adami uses the concept of childism to analyze adult resistance to actually implementing childrenβs rights: prejudice against children gets translated into laws, policies, and practices that deny basic freedoms and normalize their subordination. just like a racist can say βi donβt want to see black people getting hurtβ while supporting policies that harm them β an adult who βhates childrenβ is, in practice, feeding the cultural climate that makes violence against children thinkable, justifiable, or dismissed.
adami also shows that childism helps us understand how children are exposed to βprejudices, negative attitudes and discriminatory structures in societyβ β and how this connects to the weak implementation of the un convention on the rights of the child.
the old idea that βchildren are just mini adultsβ has been challenged by childhood sociology, and children are now recognized as rights-bearing subjects who deserve to be heard and respected in their choices.
claiming itβs βfine to dislike and/or hate childrenβ means refusing them that status β putting them back in the position of nuisance, of βnoisy things,β of objects. which is exactly what critical theory identifies as the core of adultism and childism.
madeline lane-mckinley argues we live in a world that is βdeeply against children,β where theyβre treated as extensions of the family, the state, or capital β not as autonomous people. she also talks about βadult supremacyβ and proposes a politics of solidarity with children, understanding them as comrades in the fight for a better future.
lane-mckinley also points out that the figure of the child has historically been weaponized in service of white supremacy, empire, and political projects that decide which children deserve protection β and which ones can be abandoned to poverty, war, forced migration.
in other words, discourses of hatred and contempt for children participate in the symbolic economy that makes some childrenβs lives more exposed to violence.
and finally β in ethical and political terms, there is no way to separate βhatingβ (or βdislikingβ) children from passive participation in structures that authorize harm against them.
the only position thatβs coherent with childrenβs rights and with critiques of childism is to let go of that hatred and commit to recognition, listening, and active solidarity.
so yeah. thereβs no neutral ground here.
