Speaking bluntly, I believe our nation is deeply conflicted about a woman’s body, especially her reproductive organs. While this conflict can be traced to a Platonic duality of mind and body whereby a man and his mind is valued as superior to a woman and her body, the ensuing cultural impact has situated man as subject/actor and woman as object/acted upon. In the United States, this duality is particularly curious because our nation embraces the value of autonomy as reflected in broad social and political changes of the voting rights for women, the civil rights movement, second-wave feminism and constitutional right to abortion for women. But, a cursory review of media research illustrates this duality in media’s ambivalence toward women who are too thin or too thick, casting them, respectively, as either deviant or normal or in media’s proliferation of make-over television programs for (mostly) women who fail to conform to socially constructed notions of beauty. Brenda Cowlishaw* warns that we can easily fail to notice its controlling, limiting, structuring presence because of the ubiquity of the subject-object binary in modern western thought. Amused and amazed by entertainment, we often ignore the hegemonic forces that view white, heterosexual males as authority figures and render others as less. Her warning is relevant for the argument I want to make in this post. Despite years of progress toward full citizenship, women’s bodies are increasingly under the panopticon of male regulation and control regarding their reproductive organs, which, consequently, diminishes a woman’s subjectivity and full citizenship. Managing women’s reproductive organs is enacted through gender management called paternalism. As Gurevich**** explains, gender management, in the form of paternalistic body regulation and control, is a way to benevolently limit women’s freedom through social regulation for her own protection. And there’s historical precedence for regulating and controlling women’s bodies, much as we controlled the bodies of slaves, from popular culture’s expectations to the Supreme Court’s rulings to various presidencies and state legislators discourse. I’ll begin with an overview of the expressions of ambivalence toward women’s bodies and continue with a brief overview of the function of legal proceedings then move to Supreme Court’s paternalistic discourse in the Roe v Wade decision and then finish with current discourse about how paternalism impacts women’s bodies in the abortion war.
Ambivalence over Women’s Reproductive Organs
People often freely assert their opinions and policies about a woman’s bodies, particularly her breasts, her uterus, her ovaries and fallopian tubes, and her labia and vagina. Recall the local kerfuffles that have occurred in various municipalities over public breastfeeding or the intrusive school policies against young schoolgirls displaying excessive cleavage or the lingerie manufacturers’ padded bras designed to eliminate the stigmatized nipple. These kerfuffles are more easily recognized as absurd politics when framed against popular culture’s enthusiastic support of film and television representations of female cleavage and full frontal nudity or the tolerance of the multi-billion dollar pornography industry.
A woman’s labia and vagina are another part of anatomy for which there seems to be much conflict. While it’s hard to forget the public outrage and titillation when actress Sharon Stone revealed a crotch shot in Basic Instincts, it’s easy to recall the derogatory terms (like pussy, sugar jar, cunt, bearded clam, beaver, camel toe) people use describe this female territory. The current cosmetic surgery offering, labial reconstruction, illustrates the assumed flaw with a woman’s anatomy. According to most plastic surgery web sites, the procedure is meant to rejuvenate the structure and appearance of a woman’s genitalia. But the message is clear: Your labia and vagina are disgusting. Despite this disgust, it seems important to point out that most of us have made the trip through a woman’s vagina on the first day of our life. Pardon my pointing out the ick factor of your birth.
As for ovaries and fallopian tubes, little media coverage, popular expressions or snarky remarks are made about them. Think about it. When was the last time you heard a joke about a fallopian tube? When did you share a snarky remark about some woman’s ovaries? But, let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking that these body parts are unimportant. Two examples should suffice to illustrate their importance to my argument. First, if a young woman, say 24 years old, requests a tubal ligation because she has no interest in becoming pregnant, she will encounter resistance and, often, disappointment because physicians are disinclined to oblige believing that they know better than the woman knows herself. “She might change her mind about becoming a mother,” the thinking goes. Second, ovaries and fallopian tubes are key players in producing viable eggs and in transporting a fertilized egg to the uterus for implantation. This second action is all too often overlooked in the war of the womb, the site of normal implantation. So, let’s give accolades to the ovaries and fallopian tube then pause to ponder the common denominator in this national angst over these body parts.
The common denominator, I argue, is gender management through paternalism. In examining how legal strategies use gender narratives about defendants who are mothers, Liena Gurevich**** calls gender management a form of paternalistic body regulation and control to benevolently limit women’s freedom through social regulation for her own protection. We can look to the function and discourse of legal proceedings to unpack the power of paternalistic regulation and control.
Legal Institutions as Bastions of Male Power and Control
Consider that legal institutions and their proceedings are forms of governance and normalization to maintain the social and political order and advancement of the interests of professional groups. Simply put, they are bastions of male power and control So, to name two examples, legal decisions have drawn, in the past, on the standards of moral purity with the enforcement of the Comstock Laws against birth control for married couples until Griswold v. Connecticut invalidated the law. The decision that legalized abortion, Roe v. Wade, is another example of male power. Often viewed as a legal decision to give women a choice about reproductive options, Roe v. Wade, written by Justice Blackmun, framed the decision as inherently and primarily a medical decision with basic responsibilities resting on the physician. As Katie Gibson** has noted, the decision has two central constructs that justified his decision: “a controlling ‘doctor knows best’ philosophy and the characterization of the ‘woman-as-patient’ in the apotheosis of medicine. Decades later, we see again the courts deference to male authority and the subjugation of women’s agency. In fact, in a more recent article, Katie Gibson*** claims that Justice Ginsburg’s dissenting opinion in the 2007 Gonzales v. Carhart conveys that majority decision was profoundly wrong and also exposed the law as an instrument of patriarchy led by the Roberts’ rightward leaning court.
Today, the discourse circulating in all levels of legislative activities denies agency to women (particularly if pregnant), confers rights to a rapist over the rights of a woman, compares the fetus to the slave who needs to be rescued while symbolically annihilating the woman, conflates consent to sex to consent to pregnancy and scorns the sexuality of women as shameful and deserving of retribution. In 2013, despite years of progress toward full citizenship, women’s bodies are increasingly under the panopticon of male regulation and control regarding their reproductive organs, which, consequently, diminishes a woman’s subjectivity. Comparing the man or woman who was in the involuntary servitude of the slave owner to women forced into involuntary servitude to the fetus, Kuswa, Achter & Lauzon**** conclude that the state has no justification to exert biopower. The paternalistic rhetoric, that slavery was good for the slaves, that slave owners were benevolent in exposing their superior culture, finds resonance in the management of women’s reproductive organs through the regulation and control to benevolently limit women’s freedom through social regulation for her own protection.
For Her Own Protection
Benevolently limiting women’s reproductive freedom through social regulation for her own protection is evident in targeted regulation of abortion providers that require ambulatory surgical standards such as wide hallways, hospital admitting privileges, drinking fountains and state-mandated (mis)information called counseling. The smokescreen, that these regulations are mandated to protect women, is bogus. These regulations do nothing to facilitate access to abortion, do nothing to ensure a doctor’s quality healthcare, do nothing to improve the lives of women, and do nothing to protect the universality of human rights for women. More to the point, laws against abortion are a form of sex discrimination, a heinous attempt to essentialize woman-as-womb and a de facto denial of women’s full citizenship.
Citations
* Cowlishaw, B. (2001). Subjects are from Mars, objects are from Venus: Construction of the self in self-help. Journal of Popular Culture, 35(1), 169-184.
**Gibson, K. (2008). The rhetoric of Roe v. Wade: When the (male) doctor knows best. Southern Communication Journal, 73 (4), 312-331.
***Gibson, K. (2012). In defense of women’s rights: A rhetorical analysis of judicial dissent. Women’s Studies in Communication, 35, 123-137.
****Gurevich, L. (2008). Patriarchy? Paternalism? Motherhood discourses in trials of crimes against children. Sociological Perspectives, 51(3), 515-539.
*****Kuswa, K., Achter, P., & Lauzon, E. (2008). The slave, the fetus, the body: articulating biopower and the pregnant woman. Contemporary Argumentation & Debate, 29, 166-185.
Related articles
- Why the Relentless Assault on Abortion in the United States? (readersupportednews.org)
- A$hole of the day: ‘Pro-lifer’ Erick Erickson advocates the wire coat hanger method of abortion (freakoutnation.com)
- Judge issues temporary injunction against North Dakota law that would ban abortions after six weeks (dailykos.com)
- ND’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion ban ‘invalid and unconstitutional,’ says federal judge (tv.msnbc.com)
September 25, 2014 at 1:13 am
Hi there would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re using?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say
this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a honest price?
Cheers, I appreciate it!
LikeLike
September 25, 2014 at 3:28 am
What’s up, this weekend is good for me, as this point
in time i am reading this enormous informative
piece of writing here at my residence.
LikeLike
September 26, 2014 at 7:51 pm
Greetings! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give
a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through
your blog posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover
the same subjects? Many thanks!
LikeLike
September 27, 2014 at 12:18 am
-oral disarmament: you can always be able to sense a situation that may lead to a conflict.
Eventually it grew into an endeavor to entertain the product fans.
As martial arts can be so beneficial, you certainly don’t
want your kids to have a bad experience by selecting the wrong school.
LikeLike
September 27, 2014 at 12:43 am
It is interesting to note that all the martial arts quotes by
several people who have practised it for various years reflect the use of weapons as commanding one.
For others, the formalities may be difficult to grasp and they may wish for something less formal.
Make sure you are clear on the terms of the contract if you do decide to sign one, and do not be afraid to walk
out if you are uncomfortable with the terms.
LikeLike
September 27, 2014 at 1:13 am
These are codified systems and traditions of combat practices.
Trust me, at the point of your training when you awaken to your third chakra you
will be getting plenty of attention. If, however, you’ve been left to your own devices, a little research is in order to accomplish this
task.
LikeLike
September 27, 2014 at 1:23 am
He wants us to prepare our hearts to respond humbly.
You will find that the traditional martial arts trainers depend
on the spiritual philosophies and archaic training techniques of the ancient time.
For a child to achieve all of these qualities at such a young age is incredible.
LikeLike
September 28, 2014 at 12:15 pm
It is not of course expected of a trainer to be acting like a clown but there is always
a way of tickling the interest of a young mind. First and foremost, you can find zebra mats which provide ultimate flexibility and you can place them in a small space.
Ju jitsu favors a different set of techniques, including grappling, throwing, and disengagement, which makes it more similar to
judo than karate in many aspects.
LikeLike
September 29, 2014 at 3:58 am
Most of the schools may have style listed in it or it may have a more general name.
Due to the training being so demanding and rigorous, and
the breathing exercises being so demanding, those
who practice this martial art have astounding physical skills and amazing endurance.
Parents are concerned about their children and want them to
grow up right.
LikeLike
September 29, 2014 at 6:11 am
Follow the onscreen guide, select the program to be ordered and follow
the subsequent steps that appear on your TV screen. Martial arts bring in a value
for practice and formation with the order of the class.
ll probably spy squats, sit ups, bench presses, chest presses, shoulder
presses, leg curls, leg extensions, upper arm curls, and power clean and
jerk presses.
LikeLike
October 3, 2014 at 5:15 am
You can still get an excellent meal at a restaurant that doesn’t participate directly in the program, because the restaurants
often have gluten-free pasta stashed away for their regular clients, and they’re already well familiar with celiac disease and gluten-free food.
In principle you should always only buy the least processed rice.
When you are diagnosed with a gluten allergy, then you know only too well what havoc this can cause from eating gluten or even worse having hidden gluten in your diet.
LikeLike
October 6, 2014 at 7:02 am
I was suggested this web site by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem.
You are wonderful! Thanks!
LikeLike
October 6, 2014 at 12:52 pm
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but
your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your
site to come back later on. Cheers
LikeLike
October 11, 2014 at 6:56 am
Hi there to every one, it’s actually a good for me to go to see this site, it includes
valuable Information.
LikeLike
October 15, 2014 at 2:20 am
I think this is among the most significant info for me.
And i’m glad reading your article. But wanna remark on few general things, The site style is great,
the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
LikeLike
November 18, 2014 at 1:13 pm
The wedding cake adorn with candy crush saga cheats level 29 is
always eye catching and will add to the whimsical feel of
the wedding reception. It’s hard to be away from the USA especially if you can’t delve into American cheat candy crush when the mood
takes you fancy. But here you will be able to know some great Farmville tips on how you
can earn more coins and Farmville cash.
LikeLike
May 16, 2015 at 3:22 pm
chiropractor
Is She a Womb or a Woman? | Abortion – Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information
LikeLike
May 21, 2015 at 11:59 pm
Hot Girls Hot Ass and Anal Video Tubes
Is She a Womb or a Woman? | Abortion – Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information
LikeLike