Policing of women's bodies and the impact it gets in society

The media and politics manipulate women’s body as their own desire. In the media women’s body are restricted to the point that it is show only as a sexual object, while in politics we see something like “men act, women appear” (Berger) which it is a cruel reality of women’s body restrictions. Women’s body are treated to the point of been a negotiable object. Women have no freedom to their own body, everybody but them have the power to decide over their bodies. It is curious that the people that choose how women’s bodies should work and look like, most of the time have no clue of how it even works. So, how it is possible that they continue to make rules on how should women run their body when they have no knowledge of how women’s body really works. Those are the things where we clearly can notice that those patriarchy ideals are alive, are part of our daily life. Women are restricted from having the same chance as men, the freedom it is not part of women life yet. Pregnancy, politics and the policing of women's body.

Men have not even knowledge of how women's
body works and they want to choose over it.

We have so many restrictions on abortion and birth control on this country, where laws are basically denying basic human rights to women. “A woman should always have the right to choose what she does with her body. It is frustrating that this needs to be said, repeatedly” (Gay, 273). The problem with all these regulations and restrictions is that if a woman chooses to prevent pregnancy and try to get birth control pills she will be seen as a slut or simply as “I’m on the pill because I like dick.” (Gay, 276) and then if she gets pregnant and she choose to gets an abortion, then she is an assassin. So these laws are around only for a specific time, the time when the problem is around and when a decision needs to be made. But before and after the problem these laws do not take part. It will be more easily if birth control pills were more accessible to every woman to not get to the point of abortion. And if in any case the decision of abortion is made, I think women have the right to do it.

women do not want restriction over
her decisions.

It is funny that birth control and abortion is a dispute of women’s issues in politics. Women voices have no place in the moment that the decision has to be made. As we watched on Jessica Williams of the Daily Show interview Alabama attorneys, where we see that they have the power to defend a fetus on court if the mother has chose to make an abortion. How ridiculous is that, women have no rights to choose over her own body. So by having this barrier women are denied to get an abortion if she needs one. In this example we clearly see that women have no rights and that politicians get to defend their belief. 

I just want freedom over my
body.

Jennifer Nelson from Abortion to Reproductive rights shows us that this is not a new torment for women, there always been and before was even worst. Nelson shows us stories of how poor women of color got sterilized without their concern. Only certain group of people was allowed to have children or to have a safe abortion if in any case is needed. Guadalupe Acosta (1973) she gave birth to an encephalic child who died subsequent to delivery. “After her labor Acosta’s obstetrician sterilized her without her consent. At a postnatal check up, Acosta requested the pill, her doctor chose that moment to inform her that she no longer had any need for contraception because she could no longer conceive” (Nelson, 1).

Finally, the big issue is why women cannot have control over her body and sexuality, just like men does? We women have gone far defending our rights, but have done just so little in such a long period of time. This oppression against women have change a lot but still we do not get what we want, which is a simply thing, we just want to have control over our body and sexuality, just like men does. We have to keep continue fitting for our rights, try to make the media change the way it portrait women body, so we do not get represented as a sexual object. So in order to reach the society expectation of women in media and legislation, a women have to follow all the rules that they impost, obey and allow what they decided to do with a woman’s body. Other than that, if we do not follow rules, we are seen as a prostitute (trying to get the birth control pills), which can help us to prevent to get pregnant. And then, if we get pregnant and we choose to get an abortion, then we are seen as criminal. But the media and politics do not help women to prevent this entire situation, is like they push us to get to this situation, so they can restrict and manipulate our life just the way they want. 

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.