It seems like a no-brainer that a woman should have the most basic right to control her own body. She is the one who experiences the physical, emotional and economic struggles during an unwanted pregnancy. It would seem logical that she would be the one to determine whether she can bear and raise a child. Yet, the decision to bear a child or have an abortion relies on the hands of men who, as we've seen in Samantha Bee's interview, don't have the slightest inkling as to the challenges women face. As though it isn't enough that laws restrict abortion with ridiculous hospital policies but doctors impose their own opinions and advice on women solely based on biological makeup. These laws and regulations contribute to the violation of the female body and elevate oppression.
If these politicians can’t prevent women from having abortions, they are certainly going to punish them. They are going to punish these women severely, cruelly, unusually for daring to make choices about motherhood, their bodies and their futures. - The Alienable Rights of Women, Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay in “The Alienable Rights of Women” speaks of how Virginia state attempted to pass a bill that required women seeking an abortion to receive a transvaginal ultrasound. Although the bill failed, Virginia passed another bill that required a regular ultrasound. It is astonishing that politicians get away with these nonsensical, cruel ploys. Gay also points out that the debate over reproductive freedom usually comes up as a “campaign issue,” as though it is not a subject worth discussing any other time except during elections, and even then, it integrates into the conversation as a distraction from other issues. The unwillingness to discuss reproductive issues almost says that we as a society, or lawmakers, do not respect or value women enough to enable them the right to make decisions about their own body. I don't understand how anyone else can understand the personal sufferings an unwanted pregnancy can cause other than the woman.
Even before reading Jennifer Nelson's Women of Color and Reproductive Rights Movements I knew that statistically, women who are already mothers have more abortions than anyone else. It bothers me that some doctors think they know better about a woman's decision to bear a child than the woman herself. We glorify motherhood (when it fits societal expectations) and when a married woman and/or a mother don't want more or any children, we consider her to be cold and unfeminine, not to mention how doctors try to convince her about pregnancy. If a woman is not married, then she is subjected to unflattering name-calling. Society criticizes her for ending a life but doesn't provide childcare when the baby is born.
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| Availability of Abortion Coverage for uninsured women, by type of coverage eligibility. |
The cost and availability of abortion alone demand a wider conversation. In Women of Color and Reproductive Rights Movement, Jennifer Nelson speaks a great deal about the history of fertility control for women of color. It is horrifying to read about the ways minority women choose to abort themselves. Although abortion is legal in the United States now, there are still TRAP laws that make it difficult, not to mention the cost that remains a struggle for many as well. The cost of an abortion may not be covered by Medicaid or health insurance depending on the states. According to this article, which breaks down the current federal and state policies on Medicaid and insurance coverage, low-income women often can't get an abortion since it takes up the time to save money for it. Nelson's argument also insists that reproductive control means not only having access to abortion and contraception but access to the economic means to bear and raise healthy wanted children.
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It's as though plus sized women are being punished
for their body type. |
The policing of women's bodies isn't only an abortion issue. It extends to how women dress, which isn't about clothes at all, but again, about bodies. If a woman's body is visible, it is somehow attached with sexual connotations. Women are "asking for it" or they're "immodest." I remember when few years ago a hacker released nude photos of celebrities, one of which included Jennifer Lawrence's. We hear about celebrity's leaked nude photos all the time and in these cases, the woman's body almost always undergoes public shaming. Women's body oscillate between being the subject of desire and shame. Back in 2014, Old Navy was charging extra for women's plus sized clothing and that says a lot about what kind of body type is accepted in the society and how women's bodies can be inherently problematic. It concerns be that society still holds up this "ideal" body type for women. Nowadays, it seems as though we find fault in all types of bodies. If a woman is skinny, she is skinny shamed, if she's curvy, then she is sexualized. The only way we can make changes is by bringing attention to these issues. There are many great body positive movements out there and some are making great effort to not just focus on women's appearances but also emphasize healthy living. It is crucial for women of all color and shape and age speak about their experience. As Audre Lorde discusses the power of verbal action in The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action, we can not afford to not speak up. "...that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength. Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak."
Work Cited:
Gay, Roxane. "The Alienable Rights of Women."
Lorde, Audre. "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action."
Nelson, Jennifer. "Women of Color and Reproductive Rights Movement."
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