More Babies, Less Rights!

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In the United States, there has been an ongoing debate on whether there should be laws enacted to ensure the reproductive rights of women--the choice of having a pregnancy or preventing one.  In this debate, politicians have systematically denied women their choice of parenthood. For instance, women are challenging an Alaskan law that withholds almost all Medicaid coverage for abortion from those that are qualified. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt a Texas law that has forced 1/3 of the state’s women’s health centers, such as Planned Parenthood, to stop providing abortion care. Although these cases are public knowledge, the United States government sneakily denies women's rights. They will say "We're closing down these Planned Parenthood locations because we've recently had major cutbacks on the amount of doctors on staff" or as used in the Texas case, "Doctors took the Hippocratic Oath, in which they swore to do no harm, yet abortions result in unnecessary health risks for mothers." Recently however, the government of Iran has taken strides to make its actions against women's reproductive rights more overt than those of which we are familiar with in the United States.

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Due to the negative impact on the economy from the Iranian Revolution, in 1989, Iran made extreme efforts to lower the population because the government felt that there were more people than the country could afford to support with food, housing, education, etc. However, a country cannot flourish without people. Now, in an effort to undo the significant decline in their population, the government of Iran has targeted women's reproductive rights in order to boost the amount of births. In the article titled, Proposed Laws Reduce Iranian Women to ‘Baby Making Machines’ in Misguided Attempts to Boost Population, a recent bill, The Bill to Increase Fertility Rates and Prevent Population Decline (Bill 446), is discussed. This bill outlaws voluntary sterilization (e.g. vasectomies), the second most common method of modern contraception in Iran. In addition, the bill limits women's knowledge of available contraception, denying women the opportunity to make informed decisions about having children. In the article titled, Iran Blocks Access to Birth Control, ideas presented show that this bill attacks both men and women--men cannot choose to not be fathers, and as Amnesty International reported, "Women will be changed to baby-making machines"

In the United States, companies refuse to cover contraception for female employees because of religious beliefs and the thought that women are supposed to procreate. And in states where having an abortion is legal, protestors yell outside Planned Parenthood locations, making it harder for women to fully express their rights. It just goes to show that the phrase, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree," can be applied to nations. Our country is always quick to show how bad another country's actions and political views are, but we aren't much different.

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This bill reminds me of a 1908 case, Muller v. Oregon, in which attorney for Oregon, Louis D. Brandeis, argued that women should have limited working hours because a country could not be productive if women were unable to give birth. These women were fighting for maximum working hours to avoid exploitation from employers, but the state turned their cry for help against them, saying that long working hours resulted in unhealthy pregnancies and increased health risks. This case set a precedent for the state to have control over a woman's body. In addition, this bill reminds me of the many issues women faced during the Revolutionary Period. The Republican Mother was only encouraged to be educated because if she were educated, she could be a better mother and wife, not necessarily a better person. In Iran, women can create more citizens, but not have the liberties that real citizens should have. According to Amnesty International, "Iran already has a poor record on gender rights—between 2013 and 2014, 41,226 girls aged 10 to 14 and 201 girls under 10 were married—and despite being the majority of university graduates, women make up just 17 percent of the Iranian workforce." Women are graduating at higher rates than men, and instead of being encouraged to use their education to improve the country's condition, they are told to put aside their hard-earned degrees and bear children. Middle-eastern women have been fighting for access to quality education (Does Malala ring a bell?) and when a country like Iran makes that possible, there is always another condition that makes it unobtainable. Women in Iran are already required to cover themselves and when a law is created for them, it is one that brings about limitations. When female factories workers got the opportunity to have their voices heard, the verdict worked against them.

Reading about the current issues facing women in Iran inspired a great deal of emotion within me.  How can our world make any progress if we are always defining groups as superior and inferior? Women in Iran, as in many other places, have been mentally conditioned in what is appropriate attire, have lower legal statuses than those of men, and do not have established laws protecting voting rights. I remember reading that many Islamic nations consider the protection of a woman's life as less than that of a full human being. This is just like when Black slaves were counted as 3/5 of a human being. Ironically, these women are slaves to their government. Women's rights have been trampled on and politicized for far too long. The articles I have referenced are evidence that those of us in the United States need to be more concerned with women's rights globally. People in the United States are not engaged in the worldwide concern for women. It is as if we are only concerned with our own well-being and insensitive to that of others unless intervening proves economically advantageous. This issue does not affect only women in Iran, but all the feminists and female activists who have ever been told that they are not good enough for society. Women are far more than "baby-making machines"; we are important members of society, and should be treated as such. Thank you for reading my blog post and I want to hear your opinion on how you feel the United States or the American people should respond to these developments in Iran? Do you agree that the actions of the United States against the reproductive rights of women are similar?

Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men; - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/legal_status_iranian_women.php#sthash.0gqcH6Iy.dpuf

Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men; - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/legal_status_iranian_women.php#sthash.0gqcH6Iy.dpuf

Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men; - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/legal_status_iranian_women.php#sthash.0gqcH6Iy.dpuf

Enforcement of compulsory hejab (or veil) or the Islamic code of dress, which deprived women of the right to choose their own attire;

- Repeal of reforms in family laws;

- A ban on appointment of women as judges and expulsion or change of the employment status of female judges;

- Forbidding women employed by the armed forces from receiving military ranks and reducing their employment status to that of office employees;

- Stoppage of the family planning and population control policy;

- Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men;

- Emphasis on the absolute right of custody for the father or the paternal grandfather in the matter of matrimony of female children to the extent that the father or the grandfather can marry a child of nine years of age to any man he intends. - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/legal_status_iranian_women.php#sthash.0gqcH6Iy.dpuf

Enforcement of compulsory hejab (or veil) or the Islamic code of dress, which deprived women of the right to choose their own attire;

- Repeal of reforms in family laws;

- A ban on appointment of women as judges and expulsion or change of the employment status of female judges;

- Forbidding women employed by the armed forces from receiving military ranks and reducing their employment status to that of office employees;

- Stoppage of the family planning and population control policy;

- Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men;

- Emphasis on the absolute right of custody for the father or the paternal grandfather in the matter of matrimony of female children to the extent that the father or the grandfather can marry a child of nine years of age to any man he intends. - See more at: http://www.iranchamber.com/society/articles/legal_status_iranian_women.php#sthash.0gqcH6Iy.dpuf

There Is No Honor In Killing

We all learned about honor killings in freshmen year in World Cultures class. But it seems the world has forgotten that such a horrific thing as this exists and no one really brings up this issue anymore. Honor killings occur when girls are accused of dishonoring or tainting their family's reputation by engaging in an “immoral” act and are killed by their male relatives as a result. Rana Husseini who is a Journalist, feminist, and human rights defender, uncovered the truth behind these crimes when she was assigned as the crime reporter for the Jordan Times. “In the beginning I wrote about thefts, accidents, fires—all minor cases. Then, after about four or five months on the job, I started coming across crimes of honor”. It was then that she discovered that a sixteen year old girl, who was raped by her brother, was killed for ruining the reputation of the family. Her family accused her of tempting her brother while her brother was the one who threatened to kill her if she told anyone he raped her. Her family aborted the baby and married her off to a man who was fifty years older than her. Their marriage ended in a divorce and her family killed her.  https://www.google.com/search?q=stop+honor+killing+cartoon+images&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS601US601&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s

Rana also mentioned that family members who kill these “dishonorable” girls are considered heroes. So even if they see it not fit to kill, they still partake in it because they’re honor is also at stake.

I remember the videos we saw in freshmen year of women being beaten to death, hanged, stoned and in most cases having acid being thrown on them for a crime not even their fault. And this all goes back to the idea that women are viewed as temptresses and inferior. For this reason, they were accused of any mishappenings or ill fate that befell on their families. And these killings are purposely extreme because they want to teach a lesson to other girls to not step out of their line. Imagine living in a place where you have no voice. A place where you cannot stand up for what you believe in because you do not want to be murdered in the brutal way you have seen other girls. These killings are done publicly and violently and imagine being a fourteen or fifteen year old, seeing this happening on the streets. You will always have that memory in your head and that puts fear in you for the rest of your life. You will yield just like Rose yielded to have a sexual relationship with Rufus because she knows what it means to be beaten. This just shows that we are privileged because we are able to stand up for our rights. Though this may not be true in some way because people get shot during protests, but the beautiful thing about this country is that, the more people you kill, the more protesters come out; people rise up and defend the rights of others as well as theirs. Killing is not honorable in any way. It is wrong to take a life you never brought.

https://www.google.com/search?q=honor+killings&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS601US601&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=51UCVYT4Os-

They Never Call It Rape

They Never Call It Rape 

Okay so something I have been interested in lately is acquaintance rape or "date rape". I first became interested in it when a cousin of mine told me she was a victim of date rape. Rape is unwanted or forced sexual intercourse of any kind and date rape is done by someone you know or are familiar with or maybe have been on a date with. She was raped by her uncle's friend and she was deeply traumatized by it, so to try to help her I needed to get some type of information about date rape. Especially because I am going to be a college student next and college is where a lot of date rape happens. Did you know that one in every college aged women is either raped or experiences some type of attempt of rape? And that eighty-four percent of women who have been raped knew their attacker. I believe that date rape is a serious problem in society today because it takes away women's rights and effects them throughout their lives.

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In most cases, the raped victim is criticized about what she wears or her reputation that she herself has caused her attacker to be forced to rape her. That's just a bunch of crap ! You should know for yourself when no means no especially when the other person is under the influence. Most people blame the victim and try to justify why they may have gotten raped by wearing "slutty" or revealing clothes for tempting the attacker according to Perspectives on Acquaintance Rape  Just like the sign in the picture to the left that says " My skirt should is not an invitation to rape me" just because a women wears a short skirt or a certain shirt it is not and invitation to go rape them. That's like a murder saying " That guy looked at me so I killed him, he was asking for it." No matter what the circumstances are when someone says no that means no and you should have enough self control to stop and just let that hurt go. It really makes me mad when I see a TV show or a movie and a guy says she was just being a "tease" or she didn't really mean no. What do you mean she didn't me no? So now all of a sudden no means yes? That's just so annoying especially when other women agree and say well she was why would she wear those type of clothes or if you go to a guys house on the first date what else do you expect. this is where society's expectations come into play. They make it seem like it can be so easily avoided if you act a certain way and dress a certain way, and maybe sometimes that can be the case but do clothes really determine who the next date rape victim can be? In my opinion it probably can for a stranger to rape someone but for someone who you are acquainted with and now I feel like it is more planned out than just a girl in a hot dress. what do you guys think?

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When my cousin first told me about her situation I asked her why she took so long to tell anybody and she told me she was embarrassed and ashamed of it. In most cases this is the problem they have a fear that they will be judged by people. This is where society's role of expectations come in to play because they have certain expectations for women and how a "lady" looks and dresses like. These victims need professional physiological help to deal with and overcome these traumatizing events. After something like this happens where a person you thought you could trust breaks that bond that you may have had, it can be hard to trust anyone again. Although not many people may think about rape it is really important because it takes the rights we as women have worked so hard to gain and completely crushes them. Most date rapes are not always reported to the police or the attacker is never found. There is no closure or justice to these women leaving them with built up resentment and anger. I just think that not only just date rape any kind of rape because we are women and this is a huge crime where we are mostly victims to. The media or the attackers always find ways to justify it as if we choose to be taken advantage of. They call it being a "tease" or a "slut" or even an idiot for flirty with certain guys but they never call it rape. what do you guys' think about the whole date rape topic? Do you think it is avoidable?  


 Statistics from:
http://www.usciences.edu/shac/counseling/daterape.shtml

Super-Mom To The Rescue

The definition of a mom is “The woman who loves you unconditionally from birth, the one who puts her kids before herself and the one who you can always count on above everyone else.” Moms in general do a lot of things all on their own, with or without a spouse.

My blog for this week is going to be about the woman I love most, my momma. I decided to blog about her because her birthday is on Saturday, so it only seemed right. Now for 14 years my mom has been raising my brother and I all on her own. After her and my father divorced my mom moved us to NJ and my dad stayed in NY. For the past 14 years my mom has been doing everything shes needed to do to take care of my brother and me. 

My beautiful mother

To try to get some info on what a single mom is I simply searched “What is a single mom?” on Google and what I came across was many articles about how some women THINK they are single moms when in reality they aren't. This one article titled  "True Definition of a Single Mom"  gave me some input on what a single mother really is. The author of this article is a single mother herself. She explains how some women who live with their parents or live with someone else call themselves single mothers when sometimes they don't even do anything for their child. I know for one that whenever I needed something my mom was the only one who could make it happen. She always managed to pay the bills on her own (because its not like my dad ever paid his child support) and she sometimes worked overtime just to be secure on money. 

 

http://singlemama.hubpages.com/hub/True-Definition-of-a-Single-Mom

Now I understand that it's hard being a single mother, but sometimes women don't get enough credit. I mean come on, you aren't considered a "single mother" if you live with someone else? To me that's crazy because I know for the first couple of years that my mom was trying to make this all work we lived with my grandparents, and its not like she wasn't single... and a mom. She just needed some help.

I know all my seniors know what its like to be a mom, and maybe most of you juniors do as well, and that's because of junior year health. Now I don't know how it went for all of you but I know for me that was the longest weekend of my life! But that's not even close to how hard it is doing it all on your own, and to top it all off single moms actually take care of real babies... mind blowing huh? Imagine being up all night for your baby's first couple of months, having to make him or her bottles at 2 or 3 in the morning, then having to wake up for work at 5 or 6. Imagine changing all those dirty, stinky diapers all by yourself, or washing all those baby clothes, or having to change again because your baby just threw up on you. That to me would be a lot to handle. 

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In all seriousness, what do you think about single mothers? Do they get enough credit, or are they totally not recognized enough? What do you think they really go through?

Orange Is The New Black v.s The Reality of Women Behind Bars

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  I'm pretty sure many of you ladies last summer were either spending time with your family and having fun with friends. Last summer around August, I did the same exact thing. However, I added something new to my summer bucket list. To officially watch all 2 seasons of a Netflix series called Orange Is The New Black. Orange Is The New Black is a crime comedy-drama that shows the lives and the stories of the women in prison and how they got there. The main character name Piper Chapman , is a woman probably in her thirties who gets sentenced to fifteen months in prison after being convicted of a  crime she has done a long time ago. Chapman gets arrested for transporting money and drugs for an old drug-dealing girlfriend name Alex Vause.  Even though OITNB is a comedy, it still deals with the harsh realities of real life women in prison.

Piper Chapman explaining how she's been treated in the Women Prison
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“In federal correctional facilities, 70 percent of the guards are male and correctional officials have subjected female inmates to rape, other sexual assaults, sexual extortion, and groping during body searches. In addition, women in prison have been denied essential medical resources and treatment, especially during times of pregnancy and in connection with chronic or degenerative diseases” says ,Sonia  Pressman Fuentes  in Top 18 Issues Challenging Women Today. I chose this statement said by Sonia Pressman Fuentes because not only does it relate to OITNB so much, but shows the reality of how serious this is effecting the women in Prison.

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 In OITNB there is a character name Dayanara "Daya" Diaz, who gets pregnant in prison with correctional officer name Bennett , who also is her love interest in the show. Many people who watch this might think  this is crazy and she is so dumb for putting herself in a situation like that. At this point in the season we wont find out until season 3 will Daya have her baby in prison or will she be free by the time she has her baby. Daya is a great example  of how most women who get pregnant and are put into to prison are questioned how they will live there life with a newborn. 

                                   

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Another character the audience is introduce to in OITNB is Sophia Burset who is a transgender inmate who does everyone's hair in the prison. In one point in the season Sophia is denied from her hormone pills, indicating that the prison is not giving proper medical care to Sophia and to most of the inmates in the prison. Sophia is a great example of how most transgender women are treated in prison. Many people who transgender and get arrested in America usually deal with the horrifying reality of being put in prison with inmates that match their gender that they were originally assigned at birth.

On  Friday, February 27th, 2015 I watched on ABC 7, Journalist Diane Sawyer premiered on a 20/20 special called " A Nation Of Women Behind Bars". Diane Sawyer, explained in her segment that there over  200,000 women in the United States in prison more than any other nation that have women prisons. That there are 55 women on death row in the United States Today. Diane explain that one woman is assigned to be put to death this upcoming Monday. There are 1 out of 25  women who are put into death row that are accused for a crime they have never committed. Watching this segment I learned that many of the women who are put into prison are for non-violent crimes such as having possession or distributing drugs. There are women who are in prisons for high crimes such as robbery and murder also . As I was watching the segment  most of these women who are put into prison are aware of what they have done.  Most of their prison sentences is the  maximum of 36 years and up  for the crime they have committed.  There was one woman that Diane Sawyer interviewed  who has been prison since the age of 18 and has to serve 36 years. She was arrested for robbing a grocery store with her boyfriend , at that time she was working at that same grocery store. The day of the robbery, her  boyfriend had shot and killed several people in the store . She told Diane Sawyer that she has even wrote to the Governor that she is willing to take the death sentence ,because she felt bad for what she had done to those families way back then. Most women who are release from prison are so scared to even do anything once they are back in society. One inmate that Diane Sawyer interviewed was being released in a couple days and expressing how much she wanted to change her life. Later in the segment they show her being released and being driven home by her sister that she has not seen in such a long time. First thing she does is question herself on what to do, she had so much fear in prison that she was so afraid on making the same mistake to go back into prison. That inmate who was released had got herself back to prison within 3 weeks for committing the same crime that caused her to be in prison in the first place.
             

Piper getting sexually harassed  by Officer Mendez
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My question is why are these women who committed non-violent crimes sentence at such a long period of time in prison? Why is it that when these women are release they aren't taken to someone who can mentally prepare them for the world out there for a new beginning? Why is that once we release a prisoner from jail there aren't free women programs that help these women  do better and change for the better? Most of these women in the 20/20 special have understood the crime they have done and have changed for the better in prison. I feel as though the justice system for women in America has been unfair ever since the early 1800s . I say this because many women before were either  punished for the most ridiculous things such as not cooking, not having children for their husband or even being punished for having children before marriage. Women who have experienced any type of physical or sexual abuse  when they are younger or in a marriage are more likely to go to jail or prison for self-defense to get away from a partner who abused them. How are women suppose to survive when at that time in 1800s their own government system didn't even acknowledge them as their own individual person. Do you still think that the treatment of women from back then is still similar to now? Do you think our government cares to even help women to get better or either eager to punish and suppress them once again and put them behind bars? Do you think Orange Is The New Black is a good representation of what goes on in jail for women?

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/fullpage/women-bars-prison-changed-lives-women-29109135