"Suppression of what is distinctly woman = oppression of women"
-- "LJP", (a really smart Bubble reader)
So there I was, sitting in the Great Clips waiting room as my 13-year-old son was getting a haircut. I started flipping through a
Glamour magazine and was drawn in by a slick double-page ad for an implant contraceptive called
Nexplanon.
A beautiful, smiling young woman beamed out from the page, with all her potential life plans laid out attractively: "get a job", "find my own place", "fall in love", "save up", "take a trip", "finish school" (strange how "get married" was not among the desired options, hmmm...).
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Considering the risks and side effects, why is this woman smiling?
Oh, wait, she's "not an actual patient". |
Now, the cultural assumption is that all
healthy young singles have lots of
healthy sex of course, and Nexplanon reminds us that a
healthy young woman would be wise to have a plastic stick full of synthetic hormones surgically implanted under her skin for three years so that her perfectly
healthy female body is thrown into biological disarray through the release of chemicals into her system, purposely derailing her natural,
healthy female functioning, so that she can live a full and happy and
healthy female life.
Make sense?
And after her
healthy female body is made to malfunction as planned, the young woman (who, remember, is not being treated for any sickness or pathology) may experience the following "frequent" and "common" side effects, according to the manufacturer:
Changes in menstrual bleeding patterns
Mood swings
Weight gain
Headache
Acne
Depressed mood
Vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina)
Breast pain
Viral infections such as sore throats or flu-like symptoms
Stomach pain
Painful periods
Mood swings, nervousness, or depressed mood
Back pain
Nausea
Dizziness
Pain
Pain at the site of insertion
Aaaaand, "This is not a complete list of possible side effects". Nice. Sounds great so far.
But to keep smiling and fulfilling her dreams, the chemically-altered woman must not only expect "side effects", but must take on actual "risks", which include:
Problems with Insertion and Removal (may require surgery)
Ectopic Pregnancy
Ovarian Cysts
Breast Cancer
Serious (deadly) Blood Clots
High blood pressure
Gallbladder problems
Rare cancerous or noncancerous liver tumors
You know, so that she can get her own place, fall in love, get a job, save, finish school, travel, and such. What a deal!
Staring at that
Glamour magazine, I wondered as I often do, "
What is so wrong with women's bodies?"
What have modern feminists done? Why have they turned on their own nature?
I flipped forward a few pages and yet another two-page contraception ad assaulted my eyeballs:
ParaGard copper intrauterine device (IUD) with the tag line (I kid you not):
"Birth control that fits your life, naturally"
...because apparently nothing says "natural" like a copper device being surgically forced all up into one's female parts! Foreign metal objects stuck into the womb are just what I envision to feel like a
natural woman. Am I right, ladies?
A full and beautiful female existence is promised with this device, too, telegraphed via cutesy, artsy animated scenes of the good life. Whoops, but the usual nasty side effects, risks, and warnings have to be presented as well, in the fine print. I find the
the sixth warning particularly appealing and empowering for today's young woman, don't you?
6. Perforation -- Partial or total perforation of the uterine wall or cervix may occur rarely during placement, although it may not be detected until later. Spontaneous migration has also been reported. If perforation does occur, remove ParaGard® promptly, since the copper can lead to intraperitoneal adhesions. Intestinal penetration, intestinal obstruction, and/or damage to adjacent organs may result if an IUD is left in the peritoneal cavity. Pre-operative imaging followed by laparoscopy or laparotomy is often required to remove an IUD from the peritoneal cavity.
What a "natural" fit!
Forgive me, dear reader, but what the hell is wrong with everyone? Feminists should be about
affirming women,
affirming all that is uniquely feminine, correct? And yet current feminist orthodoxy is all about the opposite, with its slavish worship of the contraceptive indicative of its disdain for the functioning female body. The very things that make us female are, in feminist eyes, the very things that block our human fulfillment.
If you disagree, then show me how and where I am wrong. I want to be wrong, truly.
Of course, this contempt for healthy female function goes further than just derailing the reproductive system with contraceptives. If the best attempts to impair a woman's biological processes don't work and a pregnancy occurs (i.e., if healthy bodily function continues), we must necessarily then advance to the killing of our offspring as the way to achieve our womanly goals.
Just listen to lead feminist Barack Obama; he'll tell you so. Last month, he celebrated the anniversary of
Roe v. Wade as he has before, by affirming the necessity of women to access abortion, "[b]ecause this is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and
opportunities to fulfill their dreams."
See that? It's consistent with the whole philosophy. The very
opportunity for women to fulfill their dreams hangs on their ability to negate what their female bodies do naturally. Contraception will mess up menstruation, ovulation, and conception, and as a necessary back-up, abortion will end gestation. Menstruation, ovulation, conception, gestation -- all those uniquely
female things that hinder women's lives!
Which brings me back to the first quote up top:
"Suppression of what is distinctly woman = oppression of women"
I challenge secular feminists, pro-"choice" activists, and reproductive rights advocates to refute that statement if you can. How can you claim to champion women and to love women's bodies when you promote contraception and abortion, which are pitted directly against a woman's biology, which assault her very nature? I don't see men's groups fighting against all that is distinctly male, do you? So, what gives?
Why do you rebel against the functioning female body?
Why do you seek suppression of what is uniquely female?
What is so wrong with women's bodies the way they are?
Related links:
I HATE the Essure commercials
Your periods, your way
The Natural Family Planning post
