Men Policing Women's Bodies

“Sometimes black women can conquer negative myths, some times they are defeated, and sometimes they choose not to fight.”(Lorde)

Media teaches women that their value as human beings is based off their ability to appeal to men. Men aren’t attracted to women based off their mental capabilities or intelligence. Instead, it is their physical bodies that determine their worth. These kinds of ideals have transcended into further meanings in society in many ways. We police women’s bodies at a young age. From school dress codes to abortion laws- we are continuously telling women how it is okay to dress and what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Young girls in middle school are being told they can’t wear tank tops because their shoulders distract the boys. “We’re propagating the idea that we need to police women’s bodies to avoid tempting the male of our species, who are presumed to have no self-control when faced with a pretty girl in a sundress.”

 Every woman, no matter who she is or where she lives -- must have access to the health care she needs to care for herself, her family and her future. Often there are laws passed making it nearly impossible for women to get abortions. Since 1973, women in the United States have had the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Women have had the right to choose not to be forced into unwanted motherhood (Gay, 270). In the United States, abortion is an ethical, safe, legal, appropriate and legal medical option, one that spares women the emotional pain of possible stillborn babies or even the loss of an infant. The relationship between a pregnant women and her doctor requires both trust and privacy. There is no room for legislators in an exam room and there is no space for politics in medical decisions. The issue with having lawmakers create bills is that women only make up a small percentage of congress. This means that men, typically white men- are making decisions about how and when women will be able to have abortions. 

Those who were upset about the bill passing created a movement on
Facebook, which they called "Periods for Pence". Although satirical, the
movement's message is nothing but serious. Pence does not understand
the female body or abortion. 

Most recently, governor of Indiana, Mike Pence put in a new policy that bans abortions required due to the race or gender of the fetus, or genetic abnormalities. The bill also requires that fetal remains be either cremated or buried in addition to other restrictions. Pence called the new law a “comprehensive pro-life measure,” but pro-choice activists say he is infringing on their rights, and any period could potentially be a miscarriage without their knowledge--which proves just how medically incoherent the bill is. Laws like these restrict women's agency over their bodies, and these efforts are led by men like Mike Pence- who are carry white male privilege and are completely uneducated on women’s bodies- especially abortion. 

“We continue to have national and state debates about abortion, birth control and reproductive freedom, and men, mostly, are directing that debate…The politicians and their ilk who are hell-bent on reintroducing reproductive freedom as a “campaign issue” have short term memories. They only care about what is politically convenient or expedient.”

Things have gotten complicated for women who want to exercise their right to choose, in several states. Legislatures across the country have worked very hard to shape and control the abortion experience in bizarre, insensitive ways that intervene on a personal should-be private experience in a very public, painful ways. (Gay, 270) There are several kinds of messages that are being sent by the enforcement of these barriers for women, including the idea that women’s bodies need to be policed, and that doctors aren’t as educated on abortion as lawmakers are. 

“After I realized the extent to which men work from a base of unacknowledged privilege, I understood that much of their oppressiveness was unconscious. Then I remembered the frequent charges from women of color that white women whom they encounter are oppressive. I began to understand why we are justly seen as oppressive, even when we don’t see ourselves that way. I began to count the ways in which I enjoy unearned skin privilege and have been conditioned into oblivion about its existence.” (McIntosh)

By the early 1980’s, a decade after Roe V. Wade, American feminists had fundamentally reshaped notions of fertility control. After achieving legal abortion, they had transformed the movement for the legalization of abortion into a movement for reproductive rights to address the broad health care needs of all women, and particularly the need of women of color and poor women to be free from reproductive abuses (Nelson 16-17). Lorde also discusses these issues in Crooked Room, focusing on the issues women of color face with the policing of their bodies. 
It seems that society is continually taking steps back in terms of progress for women’s rights, especially in light of the current presidential race. All candidates weigh in with their opinions on abortion, and most recently Donald Trump said, “Women should be punished for having abortions”. The way people in media discuss women’s reproductive rights, has a huge impact on the ways in which we view them and how they impact legislature. A politician’s personal or religious view on abortion can and does impact laws regarding the way we police women’s bodies. Unfortunately mainstream media doesn’t do much to help combat negative views of women's bodies and sexuality- however, there are many other sources of positive media which do reinforce the right ideas when it comes to how we should (or shouldn’t be) be regulating women’s bodies.

Works Cited:

Roxane Gay- Alienable Rights of Women

Jennifer Nelson- Women of Color and RRM

Peggy McIntosh- White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack

Crooked Room- Audrey Lorde

Stop Policing Women's Bodies- Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beth-cone-kramer/stop-policing-womens-bodies_b_7428578.html
Abortion Myths- Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/abortion-myths_n_6465904.html