Category: Politics

There is NO Place for a Woman’s Body in Canadian Politics Either

    K Ghislaine

My stance as I stated in a recent post in regards to dealing with female “issues” in politics is to simply stop debating about it.  If we stop talking about it, it will disappear from the table that it currently finds itself on.  I was at the time referencing the US as it seems that every time there is an election a females right to choose becomes a national debate topic.  A negatively polarizing topic that sparks controversy and debate from all sides, and yet at the end of the day abortion will still occur.  The only change that will result is whether or not the female will be able to do it safely, or illegally with an increased chance of her own death in the process.  Unfortunately the past week in my amazing home country  of Canada, the debate has been sparked regarding when life begins. 
I do not want to debate where individuals are represented on our vast spectrum of opinions, that truly makes this country an amazing place to live.  The tolerances gained and learned from living in a country that embraces individuality versus the system of a melting pot is a freedom I love very very much.  But sadly I find myself not even able to google the subject that is currently being discussed in the house of commons without being bombarded with each group simply shouting louder than the next.  Bottom line is that we each individually have our opinions on when life begins, but what is more important is that these opinions are protected, and not to nationally change our opinions.  How many debates in regards to a woman’s right to choose have you listened to, and actually changed your mind one way or the other?  It rarely happens, because these debates are not designed to educate or bring new information to the table, instead it is a bureaucratic shouting match.
I will share one story I read in university in regards to when life begins, merely to show that there are staunch differences in opinions that knowledge of does not necessarily influence our way of life, simply broadens empathy.  There are groups of Eskimos that practice our definition of infanticide (as the fetus is outside of the womb) but in their society it is a late stage abortion.  If when the infant is born there are not enough resources to continue life past infancy the choice is available for the parents to determine whether or not they will allow the baby to survive.  As they live in a very harsh environment and the infant will usually take the breast for up to 4 years, this can be too much of a burden to accept every life that is formed.  Whether or not you agree with their way of thinking is reasonable or are absolutely outraged that any parent would willingly choose to terminate a fetus or infants life is absolutely your choice to make.  But consider the realities if the Eskimos were forced by law to keep every one of their infants and put all of their limited resources into keeping them alive.  The potential to  strip the very limited resources from the strong and healthy, would have a negative effect on the family unit, and it is safe to assume this group of people would have a decreased capability for survival. 
Consider also that the Canadian statics recently released estimate that each child now costs approximately $300,000 to raise.  That is a staggering amount of money, and I do not think that it would do our society a great deal of service to force every fetus conceived the same rights and freedoms as a income generating member of our society.  Individual’s right to choose what is best for them given their current circumstances is an integral part of our society.  I am pained to know that there is even any debate being given to such a sensitive and personal subject.  This is not a matter for national debate, rather it is one for the individuals and our rights and freedoms should be protected not forced.

There is No Place For a Woman’s Body in Politics

    K Ghislaine

Aka Breaking Away from the Duality of Female Sexuality

I am reading a book right now on Warrior Queens (affiliate link if you would like to purchase and support this blog!) in which the author celebrates the most powerful female warriors in our history who also were in positions of great power or royalty.  There is a point that keeps getting repeated throughout the book, and that is the dichotomy that each female warrior is playing with, specifically that of her sexuality.  On the one hand the majority of historians describe these women with an insatiable sexual appetite, however, in order for them to maintain power which was commonly achieved through church connections the woman must have the virtue of chastity. To quote Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ Evita, “A fantasy of the bedroom and a saint” (a common quote for me I know and I credit him because I always sing this line). 

This duality of female sexuality has been written about in hundreds of books, and achieved by thousands of women throughout our history.  The dynamics are constantly changing as the societies we are a part of constantly try and change the rules to suit their own means.  The sexuality of the female is a political bargaining chip.  Woman’s bodies become a player in a massive political game for control, which is obviously a big problem.  The issues of birth control and abortion are political platforms, whereas I am not aware of any platform that has been created around a vasectomy. 

I recently wrote a post called Something About  Ducks, where I shared my knowledge of how female ducks were able to evolve to prevent fertilization due to male duck rape.  Imagine my surprise to hear that in the US a politician named Akin actually believed that human females could not get pregnant if they were raped.  I can honestly say that up until a few years ago I knew very little about my body and the hormonal wonders it goes through each month.  I now use an ovulation calendar to really stay in tune with my ever changing hormones (of course a little skewed due to the pill).  I say this with humility, in that I barely know my body, how can politicians have any say in what we can or cannot do with something that they too obviously know so little about.  Why are woman allowing any sort of conversation or platform to be developed around our bodies?

I guess I bring this up, not necessarily to try and sway people’s opinions one way or the other regarding what should and should not be allowed when it comes to woman’s bodies.  But more so to question why woman have not united together to find a way to just end all discussion on the matter.  Vasectomies do not make the news, so why should birth control pills?  What is constantly fueling debates of this objectifying nature?  Ultimately individuals are going to find a way to do what they want or need to do, and woman need to stop rising to the challenge by not even discussing or debate these ‘issues’. 

We need to take a lesson from our history books, where there are many women who had the skills to be damn near sexual deviants and still be virgins in the church’s eyes, and they never discussed a thing either way, rather they just lived.  Many have skillfully pulled off this dichotomy in the past, and it is time to look there for the education to overcome the obstacles we face now.  Instead of forcing our vaginas onto the faces of politics, I think we would be a lot better off by just shutting down any more nonsense about even debating this.  Life will find a way, and if we want to make a choice about whether or not to live our lives a certain way, no amount of government intervention is going to hold us down, at least not for any length of time.  By taking our bodies off the platform of discussion we will take control back of our bodies, and break away from the duality of our sexuality and get back to just being equal humans!

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