Policing a Woman's Body

It is without a doubt that women have been and are under constant struggle as they fight against all kinds of issues. However, one of the most concerning and affecting issue of those is the policing of a woman's body. A woman's body is constantly up for discussion, standardized, idolized, and are decided for, mostly by men. By the government, if a woman finds herself in a situation where she must decide on bringing a baby into the world or not, she is influenced heavily by other men and what they think the woman should do. By the mass media, women are under constant stress to be thin and (ideologically) beautiful physically, all standardized by men. By social "norms", women must be quiet, submissive and 'lady-like,' what a man would want in a woman. In all aspects, women must fight for political, economical, and social equality, and for the choice in what they choose to do with their bodies, and for men, it is just handed to them. This is not to detest men, but to expose the severity of how many issues that concern women, are policed by men.

Self explanatory cartoon of protesting body policing.

Many women may live their lives not knowing that they are under constant watch, not only by others, but by her own self. Many females set standards for themselves but do not realize that those standards were already set for them by men. These standards are forever engraved in their heads and in society. This was theorized in John Berger's 'Way of Seeing'; "Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." (Berger, 47) Women often mistake to think that the standards she holds for herself are empowering, but do not realize that her standards may have been tainted by the patriarchal world.

A picture from justamorous displaying different
types of "standard"

These standards are visible in our day-to-day lives as we can see a pattern in advertising, TV shows, movies, magazines and other mediums of the women that are praised and deemed beautiful. The "acceptable" image of a woman is curated by a man and shown to the world by a man. This standard is then etched into womens' brain and if you do not fit under 'his' standard, you are not beautiful, you are not worthy. With these standards in mind, women are in an endless self-loathing relationship with herself. However if women accept that these standards are neither realistic or healthy, women can stand up for their bodies, help young women avoid a toxic cycle that is started from the moment they enter the world. “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men… A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself… From her earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually." (Berger, 46)

In a patriarchal world, there are things that are disclosed because men decide it's a matter not to be discussed. And one of the most controversial topics of those is birth control. Whether it'd be a religious reason, or a political reason, men (and heavily male-influenced women) have expressed a strong voice in being against it. There have been various efforts in changing this, but birth control remains to be one of the biggest non-discussed matter within the female community. 

A protest in North Carolina on the decision to offer
birth control or not in the state

The first time I learned about birth control was in my senior year of high school. Not in school, but through an older girl I knew. She had pills in her purse and I asked what they were and she had tried to explain it to me, but I still didn't quite understand. She had told me that her mom did not know she was taking these pills. Everything about it was hush-hush and she told me not to tell anyone. From that moment on I believed that those pills were bad and I should not associate myself with them. When I got a little older, I researched a bit more about these pills and learned that they helped to regulate a woman's period cycle and sometimes even cure pimples. I was amazed! I asked my mom if I can "get on" the pills (as the lingo goes) too and she was stunned that I knew what they were. She told me that I don't need that since I was not having sex. Even if I was, what's so bad about protecting myself? I was confused and frustrated that she had shut me down on me wanting to make decisions about my body. “And of course I am afraid, because the transformation of silence into language and action is an act of self-revelation, and that always seems fraught with danger,” (Lorde, 42). Just like Audre Lorde, in Silence into Action, I was silenced by my mother's (male-influenced, whether she knows it or not) opinion about "the pill." The fact that we could not even discuss it baffled me and unfortunately, this incident occurs so commonly even today. But it is time to educate our girls on their bodies and start talking about the pill.

Berger, John.  "Ways of Seeing" London: Penguin, 1972.Lorde, Audre. "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action."