It's All About Control

This year we celebrate the 40^th anniversary of one of the most important decisions in American history, the Roe vs. Wade decision.  January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court decided that “a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14^th Amendment extended to a woman’s decision to have an abortion.”  What this decision means to me is that the right to control of my body is my own.

I’m sure some of you ladies are thinking that of course, the right to control your body is your own.  Why wouldn’t it be?  Men, of course, never think about this.  They never have to.  The control of women is not only relegated to control of the body.  It is also control of education, economics, legal and political systems.  So let’s just take a moment and go over this control issue in regards to women.

Since the beginning of recorded history, every aspect of being a woman has been controlled by men.  If you believe the words of the Bible, the first sin was committed by a woman.  Ever since then, it has been assumed that women needed controlling.  In continuing that biblical theme, people were conceived by men.  Going through the book of Genesis, there are chapters upon chapter of who begat whom.  None of those myriad of names listed were women.  I grant you that it is the chromosomes in sperm that determine the sex of a child but still it must be birthed by a woman.

Moving further through the Bible, women were the downfall of any number of men.  David, Moses’ daughters, Samson – the list goes on.  There are verses that have been interpreted that tell women how to submit to their husbands, what to wear and how to behave.  Yet there are very few interpretations specifically pertaining to men.

For centuries, women were not allowed to own property except by virtue of marriage.  Daughters were allotted less land than sons if the father died and the daughter was unmarried.  Often the daughter’s share of land was given over to the son for safekeeping.  In some countries of the world, women are still not allowed to own property or have money.  If a wife works outside the home, her wages are the property of the husband.  Wives and children are at the mercy of the husband and his family.  If the husband dies, his wife can be cast out and the children become the property of his family.

Education of women in the early history of the United States was relegated to reading and learning how to tend to a home.  It was thought unnecessary to give a woman access to a high school or college education except as a valuable lesson in obtaining a husband.  This is still the case in many countries.  Last year in Pakistan, a teenage girl was shot in the head for trying to attend school.  Still there is hope.

In the West African countries of Ghana, Benin and Togo, billboards dot the land encouraging people to educate their daughters.  We can only hope this trend will continue to strive and thrive.

Women gained the right to vote here in 1920 after years of protest.  New Zealand gave women the right to vote in 1893 and Kuwait as late as 2005.  Saudi Arabia still does not allow women to vote although this is scheduled to change in 2015.  We can only hope the ruling family does not change its mind again.

Although women lead several Fortune 500 companies, many women’s lives and wellbeing is dependent upon a man.  As late as the 1970’s, women were not allowed to have bank accounts.  One of the many enlightening episodes of the television show “All in the Family” shows a frustrated Edith Bunker attempting to establish an account on her own.  She eventually finds the courage to inform the banker that she is as deserving of respect and service as her husband.   Because of those sexist attitudes, many women found themselves homeless after the death of or divorce from a husband. 

This brings us back to control of one’s body.  Prior to the mid-1970’s marital rape was not a crime in the United States.  Not until 1993 did all 50 states make marital rape a crime.  As with many of the issued mentioned, there are many countries of the world where marital rape is still legal. 

This violation of basic human rights extends to issues of domestic violence as well.  In the US, men who routinely beat their wives were walked around the block to cool off while the wife was advised against pressing charges even as she bled.  It was determined better for a woman to have a beating husband than a cheating husband.  The financial wellbeing of her family was tied to a violent man regardless of the emotional, mental and physical costs.  Women were told satisfying her husband’s desires was her duty no matter what.  Submission in every way was the spoken law of the land.  In other countries, women cannot bring domestic violence charges against their husbands because women are first and foremost the property of her husband.  We have all become aware of the issues of honor killings in some countries.  And the use of rape as instrument of war is widely known and has finally been recognized by the United Nations as such.

As we women in the US breathe a sigh of relief that the we do not have to fear for our lives if we attend school, commit adultery or refuse our husbands, there is still much to be done to obtain and maintain control of our bodies.  Topless beaches are only declared topless if women go without tops.  Men do it all the time.  I don’t know about you but I don’t find every topless male appealing yet that male can go topless without breaking the law.  Movies are rated X only if there is full frontal male nudity for any length of time.  Women, on the other hand, can walk, talk and do any number of things in the nude and the film is only rated R.  A telling example of that is Robert Altman’s film “Short Cuts.”  Julianne Moore has a five minute conversation with Matthew Modine baring her genitals for the entire conversation as he calmly irons her skirt.  Can you imagine the uproar if that had been the reverse?

As someone who is against the death penalty, against the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and believes in true control (the removal of all guns from everyone including the police), I am stridently pro-choice.  Some of you may find that contradictory but I don’t.  I’m not in favor of late term abortions except in cases where the mother is in danger.  But I don’t believe any woman should have to endure a pregnancy because others believe she should. 

I have the right to control with whom I share my time.  I have the right to determine how I want to be educated.  I have the right to speak, own property, control my finances and cast a vote.  And I will fight to the death to keep control of my body.

If you don’t believe that, try me.