While I will always strive for equality, it is undoubtedly true that absolute equality (with no regards to deep seated issues around discrimination) is not always fair. Sometimes, it is more important to make decisions based on the needs of different groups rather than just treating every group in exactly the same way. After all, you can’t give a private school and a disadvantaged school the same funding and then pretend you’ve given the students of both schools an equal opportunity. That’s not how life works.
So why should creating a human being be any different? People love saying that men and women play an equal part in creating a baby and that simply isn’t true. While they may share equal DNA, they certainly do not expend an equal level of effort. While one merely has to partake in an activity they probably enjoy, the other has to spend nine months growing a human inside their body. Nine months that are filled with pain, intense hormonal fluctuations, intense emotional fluctuations, being physically ill and having to deal with people constantly invading their privacy and personal space.
(If you are not close with the person growing a human inside themself, don’t even think about asking to touch their body. They are not public property).
As far as it comes to childbearing, women bear 90 – 100% of the burden and yet are expected to remain at the same level of functionality as their male counterparts. And when, due to biological conditions outside of their control, their functionality is hindered, they are seen as less capable.
It is not only irrational but downright cruel to expect someone experiencing an incredible level of instability in the functioning of their own body to perform at the same level as someone not experiencing said instability.
And before anyone berates me for pointing out the fact that women experience this perfectly normal, biological condition because it may be used as a justification for holding them back from positions of responsibility or authority, I’d like to ask you why it’s my responsibility to hold my tongue. It is not my fault if other people use these facts as a justification for oppressing women.
I, personally, believe that it is completely ridiculous to have a group of people who take the majority of the burden of child bearing and use that as a reason for why they should not be allowed to play an equal part in society.
Women play a major role in the continuation of the human race. They take the brunt of the pain that comes with child bearing and having the organs required to do so. It is incredibly selfish to take this moment of vulnerability and use it to prevent them from reaching their full potential and occupying the roles they want to occupy and are likely suited for.
A History Of Women’s Oppression: Propaganda
It is commonly known that, in many places, women only received the right to vote around a hundred years ago. Their voices were not able to be heard because it was commonly believed that they were too emotional and unstable to make rational decisions.
And I know that for a lot of people, it is instinctive to ask why. The oppression of women has occured since the beginning of civilization so maybe there is some logic or reasoning for it. Like maybe women really are more biologically suited to be homemakers. Maybe it is against their nature to be a part of fields that are currently male dominated.
Those beliefs are the result of propaganda. As was seen during the enslavement of people of colour and the persecution of Jewish people, those in power with an agenda will use any justification necessary to support their bigotry. In releasing propaganda about why the oppression of these groups is supported by science or belief systems, those in power are able to direct public opinion against these groups.
There is never a justification for oppression. There is never a justification for excluding entire groups of people. But the bigoted people who want to gain public support would love you to think so.
A history of propaganda has made it so that feminism is equated with misandry, and wanting equal rights and treatment is equated with looking for problems.
When women first started fighting for their right to vote, they were discredited with the excuse that they were not capable of rational and logical thinking. This was supposedly backed up by the science of the time. Hysteria was a medical term used on women to discredit them.
If you asked any of the men in power if they thought not giving women the right to vote was justified, they’d probably refer you to these “scientific facts”. The scope of the exclusion may have changed but the kind of propaganda fueling it still exists.
People need to stop allowing this propaganda to inform their perception of women. This is what stands in the way of competent women being able to gain an equal footing in any industry they want to work in. This is why the “Not like other girls” idea exists.
Periods: If You Can’t Grin And Bear It, You’re Weak And Don’t Deserve The Same Opportunities
Women experience periods in a vast array of different ways. While some are blessed with short periods and minimal premenstrual symptoms (PMS), most experience a significant degree of discomfort and often pain.
I have always been unlucky enough to exist in the far end of the sphere that experience discomfort and pain. Before I was medicated, I had intense irregular periods. I would have one two or three times a year that lasted up to 17 days. I experienced intense pain (cramps, migraines etc). And through most of my periods, I still maintained my functionality. I could be in a ton of pain but that wouldn’t stop me from doing the things I had to do.
I thought that if I couldn’t maintain my day to day life even in the midst of pain and literally bleeding out, it made me weak. And that is incredibly unfair.
Of course, I’m not saying that you should go on vacation every time you have a period. I’m saying that at times when it’s too much to handle and you want a break, you should be able to take one without feeling shame. It doesn’t matter if another woman doesn’t have to take breaks. Our bodies are different and people experience PMS at a range of different levels.
After all, having a period is out of your control. It is just another biological component of being a woman. It is not something to be ashamed of. You’re not slacking off if you need a breather because your cramps are so bad you can barely think or you have a migraine. You’re human.
Periods are a thing that the male sex will never have to face. It doesn’t make them better or more capable. It means that they don’t have the same inbuilt disadvantages as their female counterpart.
Decisions Surrounding Termination, Pre Natal Care And Labour
Here’s a controversial opinion. The only person who has a right to make decisions around pregnancy is the person going through it. Having sex with someone is not enough of a reason to justify dictating what they do with their body.
Sure, in a partnership where a baby is planned and wanted, both members should have a say in the care of said baby but the person growing a human inside their body is ultimately the person with the authority to make decisions surrounding their pregnancy.
There is so much debate around a woman’s body that you’d think more time would be spent consulting the woman herself. So much of the political debate around termination, for example, is done by uneducated, unqualified male politicians. I don’t mind male input in the discussion so long as he is either a gynocologist, an obstetrician or another medical health professional who specialises in women’s health.
Decisions surrounding the legislation of women’s health should never be a political issue and yet so often, it is. Instead of being concerned with the health and well-being of the women affected the most by these decisions, there is more care being put into ensuring the politicians pushing these bills receive public support.
Even without the controversy and moral grayness surrounding decisions about termination rights, it is undoubtedly a fact that pregnant women are bombarded with unsolicited advice, often from people with no formal education or training in the subject. It is almost as if the moment a woman decides to have a baby, she becomes public property. People feel the need to touch her body without consent, give her advice without prompting and tell her when they think she’s making the wrong choice surrounding her pregnancy.
This is simply not okay. The only person with the authority to give a woman advice about her pregnancy and prenatal care is her doctor. Lets stop assuming that a woman stops being capable of making medical decisions for herself the moment she becomes pregnant.
Conclusions
Regardless of your political or social viewpoint, you cannot deny biology and facts. You cannot deny the fact that some women, if not most, experience symptoms (cramps, mood swings, migraines, bloating, backpain etc) that may temporarily affect their functionality. It doesn’t make them weak if they sometimes have to slow down or take a breather. In any other situation, if someone went through those symptoms, they wouldn’t be seen as weak or inferior if they had to pause what they were doing. So why are women exempt from this?
It should also be acknowledged that decisions surrounding women’s health should be decided by medical professionals specialising in women’s health and women. There is no reason why an uneducated man should be able to make decisions, without consulting health professionals, about women’s health simply because he is a politician.
I will always strive for equal rights and opportunities for everyone regardless of gender but this cannot be ignored. We have a history of women being undervalued and undermined due to their biology. It has been used as a reason for why a less competent man should be given opportunities applied for by a more competent woman.
We have a history of forgetting that women take the brunt of producing the next generation. Whatever issues our biology cause for us, respect it because without that biology, none of us would be here.
