Thursday, June 04, 2015

Cultural / social stigma

As I have gotten older, I have become more sensitive to stigma attached to women in regards to both violence and to fertility/having "good" genetics.

I have come to feel that saying "You'll never know your destiny until you become a mother and get pregnant and give birth" is every bit as bad as telling a broken-down rape victim, "You were asking for it."

The reason why is that both of these things are connected to the body and sexuality and the judgment and indifference of others can cause enormous amounts of grief and pain in peoples' lives.

Also, in both cases, there is an attack on women as being fully human and deserving of respect and having integral worth to society.

There is a lack of support and a lack of resources for women who have experienced violence/abuse.

There is a lack of support and resources for women who struggle with infertility, especially low income women.

There is also a lack of support for mothers who are single and low income.


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