Bodily autonomy is widely regarded as a very important right, afforded to all people.
Oh forgot to mention: by "people" I mean cis-men.
Even without the sass, it is strongly apparent in so many areas how women's bodies are assumed to be under the control of someone other than the inhabitant, who must live with their physical body and all its eventualities. We see this clearly in issues like the abortion debate, street harassment and wider rape culture. However the area which gets less airtime is the social mentality surrounding women who aren't obviously denied power over their bodies and their lives. There is a constantly perpetuated idea that women must protect their bodies on behalf of other people, even if it means making choices they don't necessarily enjoy as much. This message manifests in numerous aspects of society, but for the sake of a classic duo, here are two examples:
Virginity
By a culture of slut shaming and obsession over the state of female purity, a woman's virginity is both currently and historically owed to another person. Until fairly modern times in Western society, women were expected to be virgins upon marriage for the enjoyment and reassurance it offered her husband. Blood on the wedding night sheets was often demanded as proof of virginity, even though bleeding during sex is uncommon, and caused by rough intercourse rather than the hymen "tearing". However although this explicit form of sexually oppressing women is more rare nowadays, the message it instilled in society is still very much present: there is an expectation for women to be "pure" to an extent if not totally. This is visible in the way women are expected to have less overall sexual partners than men, consume less porn (or porn with milder content), not masturbate, and how the list goes on! Regardless of women's wants or needs for their sexual satisfaction, the prevailing expectation is that women censor and control their bodies on behalf of other people. A potential boyfriend won't like a large sexual history, so women must cut down. Parents want their daughter in a nice, monogamous relationship, so women must ignore their polyamorous preferences. Society dislikes mentioning female masturbation, so girls stay quiet. The need to keep up virginal appearances trumps women's total bodily autonomy.
By a culture of slut shaming and obsession over the state of female purity, a woman's virginity is both currently and historically owed to another person. Until fairly modern times in Western society, women were expected to be virgins upon marriage for the enjoyment and reassurance it offered her husband. Blood on the wedding night sheets was often demanded as proof of virginity, even though bleeding during sex is uncommon, and caused by rough intercourse rather than the hymen "tearing". However although this explicit form of sexually oppressing women is more rare nowadays, the message it instilled in society is still very much present: there is an expectation for women to be "pure" to an extent if not totally. This is visible in the way women are expected to have less overall sexual partners than men, consume less porn (or porn with milder content), not masturbate, and how the list goes on! Regardless of women's wants or needs for their sexual satisfaction, the prevailing expectation is that women censor and control their bodies on behalf of other people. A potential boyfriend won't like a large sexual history, so women must cut down. Parents want their daughter in a nice, monogamous relationship, so women must ignore their polyamorous preferences. Society dislikes mentioning female masturbation, so girls stay quiet. The need to keep up virginal appearances trumps women's total bodily autonomy.
Babies
You've heard it all before: women's sole purpose is not to have babies. And though the message does seem to finally be having some sort of impact, we still push the idea that women must protect their body for the sake of a potential baby. Women who do extreme sport are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who are overweight are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who drink a lot are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who exist are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility. (Sarcasm in that last one by the way). And its not just fertility that women are expected to bend over backwards for, anything that potentially diminishes typical aspects of motherhood is frowned on by society. Doctors advise against breast reductions due to the risk of not being able to breastfeed despite a woman's right to change her body as she seems fit. Also the useful invention of formula baby milk.
You've heard it all before: women's sole purpose is not to have babies. And though the message does seem to finally be having some sort of impact, we still push the idea that women must protect their body for the sake of a potential baby. Women who do extreme sport are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who are overweight are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who drink a lot are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility, women who exist are criticised for jeopardizing their fertility. (Sarcasm in that last one by the way). And its not just fertility that women are expected to bend over backwards for, anything that potentially diminishes typical aspects of motherhood is frowned on by society. Doctors advise against breast reductions due to the risk of not being able to breastfeed despite a woman's right to change her body as she seems fit. Also the useful invention of formula baby milk.
A few things carry through these examples. Firstly is the expectation that women will have babies at some point in their lives. This is extremely toxic as it encourages the female gender role of motherhood and denies personal choice over a woman's lifestyle. It also exacerbates the social narrative that women are only worth as much as their ability to give birth and raise children, which harms female self worth and hinders their social image. It just seems so difficult to stop society from assuming women will be mothers to the extent that they should actively deny their enjoyment from day 1 out of the womb "just in case".
Of course, health is always brought up, but it's important to remember that these concerns about women's health are often made based on a false assumption of future motherhood, and ignore things such as body image and mental health in favour of a *potential* problem that may have nothing to do with a woman's choice.
The bombardment of gender roles upon women form a reality where bodily autonomy is more a facade than an every day experience. Because even when women overcome the big public issues like the right to an abortion, or consensual sex, their overall life choices are heavily affected by a constant assumption that women owe the state of their bodies to other people outside of their control and interests.
Honestly it wouldn't be far from reality if women walked around wearing property advertisement boards.
Comment below!
Hannah :-)
Hannah :-)
Solid post.
ReplyDeleteI notice you mentioned porn consumption, and although not related to this particular post, it'd be interesting to hear your opinion - some feminist writers condemned pornography as objectifying, others say it empowers women (I've heard this said of strippers too).
Keep up the good work!