Relationship Between Women's sexual autonomy and Women's Equality

Aside from social norms that tend to stereotype women, society is also putting limits on the woman's choice when it comes to child birth.  People who tend to slut women about birth control are the ones who would rather see a person suffer from a mistaken conception.  Pregnancy is not to be taken lightly, as it has severe impacts and changes on a woman's health.  

We can see that while it may seem that reproductive issues should be considered solely by the woman, it is not the case in our modern society.  The generic discussion on whether abortion is right or wrong has been debated for years.  It must take a deep understanding of the psychology of the topic to see that banning abortion is but another vehicle of oppression on women.  According to an online article, Fifty Years After the Pill: Still a Long Way to Go, the birth control pill was the first reliable contraceptive that allowed women to have control over their own reproductive system.  The pill allowed women to express the erotic without having fear of pregnancy.  The article states, “This perspective requires a tremendous leap in social development, which can be achieved only through sweeping away capitalist rule on a global basis and replacing it with a rational, democratically planned economy.”  This statement advocates that a social revolution is necessary for a women’s liberation.  A social revolution is not an act of violence, but instead a spread of awareness in which we can allow women to express their erotic safely and hopefully without the backlash women receive today.

  The film, The Pill, discusses reproductive rights from the point of view of middle class women.  In the film, the women who had access to birth control were more motivated to achieve educational degrees and have top level jobs.  This exemplifies the points made above regarding how the birth control pill and its ability to allow women to express their erotic safely.  As humans, we all have sexual tendencies and if we can have control over the reproductive system why does society slut shame women who choose to be on the pill?  The shaming of women has led to violence and rape against women.  In Valenti’s reading The Blame(and Shame) Game, we get insight on how rape is overlooked by our judicial system and in turn rape and violence are overlooked as a whole in society.  If we can spread the awareness of the staggering number of rape cases that go by without anyone noticing, we can enforce harsher rules on these horrific crimes.  The female autonomy is meant to attract the opposite gender(men), but this is no excuse to force oneself upon a woman unwillingly.

  It seems that women’s equality will not be achieved until society starts educating the fact that the female autonomy is a conscious, living, and thinking human body.  It is not a mere object of sexual endeavor but instead contains a human spirit that should be able to express its creativity and freedom in choice. 

The Pill (BBC Presentations). BBC, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016.

 "Fifty Years After the Pill: Still a Long Way to Go." Fifty Years After the Pill: Still a Long Way to Go. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2016. 

 Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2007. Print. 

 

Is there such thing as a woman?

Is a woman born or made?  It must take deep thought to dwell on what it takes in order to call oneself a woman. Caitlyn Jenner's name has been brought up in recent times when regarding transgender women.  In a Vanity Fair interview, Caitlyn Jenner discussed how she feels spiritually after undergoing the process of switching from being a man to a woman.  Caitlyn states, “I’m just going to go live life, I’m going to go enjoy life. I have nothing left to hide. I am kind of a free person, a free soul. It’s a wonderful feeling to go through life. I’ve never been able to do that; it’s always been confusion, it’s always been, you know, I’ve got one side [with] boy clothes, the other side’s women’s clothes.”  Caitlyn is a prime example of someone who was not able to express their true self in the body that they were born in.  

This ties back into the opening question because it shows us that in certain situations, a woman can be created just as a caterpillar is formed into a butterfly.  Being a woman is not always a strict ‘gender’ but instead a spiritual awakening in which the person wants to express its femininity in such a way that requires a total change in life.   In The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, we get a controversial view on the opening question. de Beauvoir believes that women have caused their own oppression because they have to reassure themselves through their actions that they are a 'woman' while men do not reassure themselves that they are indeed 'men'.  de Beauvoir also believes that a woman is made through her upbringing and teachings, such as the case of Caitlyn Jenner.  A transgender is a free spirit that can be brought up through any type of sexuality.  Another reading, titled The Transfeminist Manifesto, explores the power of the feminist communities and their ability to help transgender women feel at peace with themselves.  

The author Emi Koyma states, “Trans-feminism believes that a society that honors cross-gender identities is the one that treats people of all genders fairly, because our existence is seen as problematic only when there is a rigid gender hierarchy”.  This statement describes how our education regarding male dominance is the only thing that steps in the way of accepting trans gender women.  Being a woman is not comparable to a line drawn in sand.  It is a way of life and is dependent on your upbringing and values.  This is not a blog advocating any gender to be better than the other, but rather trying to show that gender is not only subject to a person’s body.  Through the articles and interviews, we can see that there are no predetermined roles regarding men or women.  Being a woman or even being a man for that matter is only an issue when society keeps it a relevant topic to debate upon.

 Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. New York: Knopf, 1953. Print.

 Bissinger, Buzz, and Annie Leibovitz. "Caitlyn Jenner Talks About Life After Procedure." HWD. Vanity Fair, 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

 Dicker, Rory Cooke, and Alison Piepmeier. Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century. Boston: Northeastern UP, 2003. Print. 

What is feminism?

The beginning of the feminist movement seems to have its roots embedded in the 1920's when women were gaining their right to vote.  The feminist movement had its fair share of problems, one of which were how women of color still did not have the right to vote because of laws passed in the South. 

 In Valenti's Full Frontal Feminism, we learn that colored men received the right to vote before women of color.  The separation that society instilled in the feminist movement caused women of color to march separately from white women.  According to an online article called Black Women & The Suffrage Movement: 1848-1923,  “There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get their rights, and colored women not theirs, the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before.”  This quote from a lady named Sojourner Truth shows us the true implications of oppressing colored women during the women’s suffrage movement. 

 Despite these troubling times, women of color were collective and had the courage to keep fighting for their rights to vote, which eventually caused the 19^th Amendment to encompass every woman, regardless of color and race.  The history of oppressing women stems from the old idea’s which gave the power inside the house solely to the husband. 

 In Friedan’s article The Problem That Has no Name, we explore the social norms that have been created in history and their impact on women.  From being raised and taught how to take care of a child, satisfy the husband, clean the house, and cook in the kitchen, the majority of women have been shut away from their choice to live the life they always dreamt of.  The consequence on women’s conscious is evident because of the fact that society has placed dominance and leadership in the hands of man instead of woman.

 The image of a warrior symbolizes the feminist movement because despite their troubled moments, the movement has grown to encompass humanity as a whole and is slowly but surely working on creating equality in today’s world. 

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: W.W. Norton, 1963. Print. 

 Kilson, Midge. "Black Women & The Suffrage Movement." Black Women & The Suffrage Movement: 1848-1923, MLK - Wesleyan University. PBS, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2002.

 Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Emeryville, CA: Seal, 2007. Print.