Mixed Signals Leave Women Without Agency: Women in Media and in Legislation

The policing of women's bodies perpetuates the cycle of sexualization and oppression that the patriarchy calls for. These policies restrict women from having the same chance as men for freedoms, which include anything from the simple freedom of self expression to the more complex idea of sexual freedom -which is only complex because the patriarchy makes it so for women. Women's bodies are restricted not only in media -restricted as in, seen only as sexual objects or homemakers- but also in politics. Politics take “men act, women appear” to another, impossibly oppressive level (Berger).

Birth control and abortion are highly contested women's issues in politics. It has no longer become about the woman's voice or her decision, but the say has been given to her senators, governor and politicians. In class, we watched Jessica Williams of The Daily Show interview Alabama attorneys who have the power to defend a fetus in court against the mother who wishes to abort it. (Yes, as insensitive as it may seem, in my opinion the fetus is an "it" at that stage). While the segment was funny, it was also alarming and disturbing because it is real. Having an attorney speak for a woman's fetus makes it impossible for that woman to get an abortion if she needs one. This barrier may seem so far fetched, but it is an example of how far politicians are willing to go to defend their belief, not only about religion, but also about what women's roles are and their duty/responsibility to bear children even if it's unsafe or inopportune.

self explanatory cartoon...
a double standard enforced by Christianity

As Roxanne Gay writes in Bad Feminist, “we are now dealing with a bizarre new morality where a woman cannot simply say, in one way or another, ‘I’m on the pill because I like dick.’ It’s extremely regressive for women to feel like they need to make it seem like they are using birth control for reasons other that what birth control was originally designed fore: to control birth” (Gay 276). This couldn’t have spoken truer words to me; I too told my mom my menstrual cramps were unbearable, and thus, needed the pill, even though this was not the case. For a woman to admit that she wants to be on the birth control pill is seen as synonymous with sleeping around, promiscuity. Sex for women has been shamed and stigmatized so badly that we are made to be uncomfortable with what we want; trying to create barriers for childbirth has become a barrier for us.

This is not a new ordeal for women- ever since there has been resistance from women against being mothers, there has been more societal punishments (per se) for these un-obliging women. As early as the 1940s, abortions were hard to come by and dangerous procedures- only a select group of people was allowed abortions (and they were not poor nor minorities). “By bestowing access to abortion on ‘deserving’ patients, doctors could ensure that pregnant women did not become masters over their own fertility. Some doctors even require that a woman be sterilized after her hospital abortion, punishing her for her transgression –engaging in sex without wanting a child—by eliminating her right to motherhood” (Nelson 8). So even when “deserving” women finds power from deciding not to have a baby, that agency is stripped from her when she is sterilized (often against her will).

Pro-Life protesters in DC

These politics are intertwined and perpetuated by the media portrayal of women. Religion in and of itself often holds beliefs that make women secondary citizens, restricting them to the role as the child bearer, the mother, or the root of all evil (Eve was so stupid to eat that apple, right?). Religious groups often use religion as a barrier to provide or support women who use contraceptives or want abortions. Religion is an undeniable force in the lives of many; if a woman is taught that sex is bad, sex is for procreation, or that pregnancies must be carried out, it takes away a woman’s agency before she even realizes she has other options.

A common slogan used by pro-
choice protesters, which sums up
their request in an incredibly simple phrase 

This also brings us back to the idea that media outlets control our perceptions of women’s bodies on the legislative level. These portrayals put women in a lose-lose conundrum; women are not supposed to get pregnant or want contraception, but women are also supposed to meet to standards of models, celebrities and socialites who often give us cues of sexualization. “Women feature in culture more often because of how they look and the preferred look is young, slender, sexual, and white. The female body is a spectacle, both something to be looked at, whether real or mediated and to be through in the search for feminine identity,” (Gunther 206).

So while women are supposed to be sexually desirable, they are also supposed to avoid sex or have sex defenselessly. In order to reach the societal expectation of women in media and in legislation, a woman is essentially supposed to be sexual and thin and beautiful but is not supposed to desire or engage in sexual behavior. Because if she does, the blame -and the child- is hers.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting, 1973. Print.

Gay, Roxane. "The Alienable Rights of Women." Bad Feminist: Essays. Print.

Nelson, Jennifer. "Introduction." Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement. New York: New York UP, 2003. 1-19. Print.

Wykes, Maggie, and Barrie Gunter. The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill. London: SAGE, 2005. Print.