Women are the most scrutinized group of people in the world.
This includes women and all intersections; gay women, women of color,
women of low income, etc. People tell us in our lives, often times strangers,
what we can and cannot do with our bodies. They police what we wear in school
and what we should be wearing while having a fun night out. Not only what we
wear but often what we decide to do concerning our reproductive system. This is
when the law of the land has a final say. There are laws and policies making it
increasingly difficult for women to get birth control as well as decide if she
wants an abortion.
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| Self explanatory I believe. |
The goal of these policies and laws is only because the men
in charge like to feel like they’re in power, so they target group of people they
perceive is weak and take away part of their freedom. In regards to
reproductive freedom, the men in charge hide behind their religious beliefs and
false pretenses that they “care about women’s health” just so they can do
whatever they want and figure no one will do anything to change it. As Roxanne
Gay mentioned in her paper “Alienable Rights of Women”, she says, “Reproductive
Freedom is a talking point. Reproductive Freedom is a campaign issue…” (Gay 273) This also makes the point that most men
in office and running for office don’t know anything about reproductive health
and use it to gain popularity or start controversy. Reproductive freedom is no
longer about women.
When women are asked to go through extraordinary means just
so they can get an abortion, it makes other women give up and just feel like
they have no other option. Most states have ridiculous regulations when it
comes to a woman getting an abortion. It must make women feel like objects and
it just shows how evil some politicians can be. They are literally stringing
along women and waving what they want in front of them and making it almost
impossible and difficult to get it. Even
women of low income feel like they are trapped with a child they might not be
prepared for or be stuck giving birth to the child of their rapist in
unfortunate cases. Middle class to rich
white women will always be able to get a safe abortion and this puts poor women
in dangerous situations. Women who have low income will always feel as though
they have no option In the introduction from Women of Color and the
Reproductive Rights Movement by Jennifer Nelson, she states, “Before Rove v.
Wade in 1973, women of color and poor women risked mutilation and death from
illegal and self abortion in far higher numbers than their white and
middle-class counterparts by patronizing the most dangerous and inexpensive
illegal abortionists.” (Nelson 10) With this little historical background, we
have an idea how women who aren’t financially well off and white have an
advantage in a system that is unfair and corrupt. Overall, this all just gives
women the message, “Hey you can’t decide what you want to do with your body!
However, if you do then you must be sort of rich and white because if the system is going to work for anyone, it’s going to be for white people.”
Of course, it is usually conservative men who have no clue
about repro
ductive health the ones making laws restricting the access to it.
Passing regulations like an 48-72 hour waiting period, mandatory sonograms,
mandatory listening of fetal heartbeat, mandatory counseling. As mentioned
before, this is just to feel powerful and keep the patriarchy in full swing. Like some Jessica Williams said, "They'll fight for your life, until the day you're born" 
Of course Reproductive Freedom is just one way of looking at
the way women’s bodies are policed. It starts early when girls are in Middle
school and High school. Girls are often told what they can and cannot wear or
else they can suffer extreme consequences, such as suspension. There have been many stories where young
girls are sent to the principles office because their skirt was two inches
above their knee or their shirt revealed their shoulder. However, young girls
of color are even being policed by the way they wear their hair. There have
been several instances in which young black girls are being sent to the
principle’s office because their hair was “too poofy”. This makes young girls
of color feel as if their own authentic self is something to hide.
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| Women are forced to hide in bathrooms because many people only want to see a woman's breasts if it's over sexualized. |
There are so many instances in which women are being policed
because of their bodies or they decide to do to with their bodies. The media
plays a big role in why women are often reduced to being objects in society and
in the media itself. A woman’s body is often sexualized so much in media that
in real life, people (men) forget that we are human beings too deserving of the
same rights as men. In the online
article written by Tanya Steele, she says “American culture is dedicated to
male sexuality. This limited view of sexuality engenders jealousy among women.
It sets up a false standard of beauty, and women vie for the attention of men,
negating our right to seek and understand our own desires.” (Steele 1) This is
one of the reasons why women’s nipples are such a problem in the world. Unless
it is for male pleasure, then it clearly shouldn’t be presented in any other
way. This is why women breastfeeding in public is often criticized because
women’s breasts should only be for male pleasure and not giving life to a tiny
human life. If the media would stop advertising women as objects, then maybe we
wouldn’t be treated as such in real life.
Works Cited:
Steele, Tanya. "'Hobby Lobby,' and a Woman's Right to Sexual Exploration - Rewire." Rewire. N/a, 10 July 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
Gay, Roxane. "Alienable Rights of Women." Bad
Feminist. N.p.: Harper Collins, 2014. N. pag. Print
Nelson, Jennifer. "Introduction: From Abortion to
Reproductive Rights." Introduction. Women of Color and the Reproductive
Rights Movement. N.p.: New York UP, 2003. N. pag. Print.
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