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Our Bodies, Ourselves: Reproductive Rights

When contemporary feminist movement began the issues that were

projected as most relevant were those that were directly linked to the

experiences of highly educated white women (most of whom were

materially privileged.) Since feminist movement followed in the

wake ofcivil rights and sexualliberation it seemed appropriate at the

time that issues around the female body were foregrounded. Con­

trary to the image the mass media presented to the world, a feminist

movement starting with women burning bras at a Miss America

pageant and then later images of women seeking abortions, one of

the first issues which served as a catalyst for the formation of the

movement was sexuality - the issue being the rights of women to

choose when and with whom they would be sexual. The sexual ex­

ploitation of women's bodies had been a common occurrence in

radical movements for social justice whether socialist, civil rights, etc.

When the so-called sexual revolution was at its peak the issue of

free love (which usually meant having as much sex as one wanted

with whomever one desired) brought females face to face with the

issue of unwanted pregnancy. Before there could be any gender equity

around the issue of free love women needed access to safe, effective con­

traceptives and abortions. While individual white women with class

privilege often had access to both these safeguards, most women

25 DOI: 10.4324/9781315743189-5

2 0 1 4 . R o u t l e d g e .

A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d . M a y n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y f o r m w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r , e x c e p t f a i r u s e s p e r m i t t e d u n d e r U . S . o r a p p l i c a b l e c o p y r i g h t l a w .

EBSCO Publishing: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) printed on 5/19/2025 8:27:19 PM UTC via CERRITOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE 864857; bell hooks; Feminism Is for Everybody : Passionate Politics Account:ehost.

26 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY

did not. Often individual women with class privilege were too

ashamed of unwanted pregnancy to make use of their more direct ac­

cess to responsible health care. The women of the late '60s and early

'70s who clamOïed for abortions had seen the tragedies of illegal

abortions, the misery of forced marriages as a consequence of un­

wanted pregnancies. Many of us were the unplanned children of tal­

ented, creative women whose lives had been changed by unplanned

and unwanted pregnancies; we witnessed their bitterness, their rage,

their disappointment with their lot in life. And we were clear that

there could be no genuine sexual liberation for women and men

without better, safer contraceptives - without the right to a safe,

legal abortion.

In retrospect, it is evident that highlighting abortion rather than

reproductive rights as a whole reflected the class biases of the

women who were at the forefront of the movement. While the issue

ofabortion was and remains relevant to all women, there were other

reproductive issues that were just as vital which needed attention

and might have served to galvanize masses. These issues ranged from

basic sex education, prenatal care, preventive health care that would

help females understand how their bodies worked, to forced steril­

ization, unnecessary cesareans and/or hysterectomies, and the

medical complications they Ieft in their wake. Of all these issues in­

dividual white women with class privilege identified most intimately

with the pain of unwanted pregnancy. And they highlighted the

abortion issue. They were not by any means the only group in need of

access to safe, legal abortions. As already stated, they were far more

likely to have the means to acquire an abortion than poor and work­

ing-class women. In those days poor women, black women included,

oftensought illegal abortions. The right to have an abortion was not a

white-women-only issue; it was simply not the only or even the most

important reproductive concern for masses of American women.

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27 OUR BODIES, OURSEL YES

The development of effective though not totally safe birth con­

tral pills (created by male scientists, most of whom were not anti­

sexist) truly paved the way for female sexualliberation more sa than

abortion rights. Wamen like mysèlf who were in our late teens when

the pill was first widely available were spared the fear and shame of

unwanted pregnancies. Responsible birth contral liberated many

wamen like myself who were pra-choice but not necessarily pra­

abortion for ourselves fram having to personally confrant the issue.

While I never had an unwanted pregnancy in the heyday of sexual

liberation, many of my peers sawabortion as a better choice than

conscious, vigilant use ofbirth contral pills. And they did frequently

use abortion as a means of birth contral. Using the pill meant a

woman was directly confranting her choice to be sexually active.

Wamen who were more conscientious about birth contral were of­

ten regarded as sexually loose by men. I t was easier for some females

just to iet things happen sexuaiiy then take care of the "prabiem"

later with abortions. We now know that bath repeated abortions or

pralonged use of birth contra! pills with high levels of estragen are

not risk-free. Yet women were willing to take risks to have sexual

freedom - to have the right to choose.

The abortion issue captured the attention of mass media be­

cause it really challenged the fundamentalist thinking ofChristianity.

It directly challenged the notion th at a woman's reason for existence

was to bear children. It called the nation's attention to the female

body as na other issue could have done. It was a direct challenge to

the church. Later all the other repraductive issues that feminist

thinkers called attention to were aften ignored by mass media. The

long-range medica! prablems from cesareans and hysterectomies

we re not juicy subjects for mass media; they actually called attention

to a capitalist patriarchal male-dominated medical system that con­

tralled women's bodies and did with them anything they wanted to

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28 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY

do. To focus on gender injustice in these arenas would have been

too radical for a mass media which remains deeply conservative and

for the most part anti-feminist.

No feminist activists in the late '60s and early '70s imagined that

we would have to wage a battle for women's reproductive rights in

the '90s. Once feminist move ment created the cultural revolution

which made the use of relatively risk-free contraceptives acceptable

and the right to have a safe, legal abortion possible women simply

assumed those rights would no longer be questioned. The demise of

an organized, radical feminist mass-based political move ment cou­

pled with anti-feminist backlash from an organized right-wing polit­

ical front which relies on fundamentalist interpretations of religion

placed abortion back on the political agenda. The right of females to

choose is now called into question.

Sadly the anti-abortion platform has most viciously targeted

state-funded, inexpensive, and, when need be, free abortions. As a

consequence women of all races who have class privilege continue

to have access to safe abortions - continue to have the right to

choose - while materially disadvantaged women suffer. Masses of

poor and working-class women lose access to abortion when there

is no government funding available for reproductive rights health

care. Women with class privilege do not feeI threatened when abor­

tions can be had only if one has lots of money because they can still

have them. But masses of women do not have class power. More

women than ever before are entering the ranks of the poor and indi­

gent. Without the right to safe, inexpensive, and free abortions they

lose all control over their bodies. Ifwe return to a world where abor­

tions are only accessible to those females with lots of money we risk

the return of public policy that will aim to make abortion illegal. It's

already happening in many conservative states. Women ofall classes

must continue to make abortions safe, legal, and affordable.

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OUR BODIES, OURSEL YES 29

The right of wamen tO choose whether or not to have an abor­

tion is only one aspect of reproductive freedom. Depending on a

woman's age and circumstance of life the aspect of reproductive

rights that matters most will change. A sexually active wo man in her

20s or 30s who finds birth control pills unsafe may one day face an

unwanted pregnancy and the right to have a legal, safe, inexpensive

abortion may be the reproductive issue that is most relevant. But

when she is menopausal and doctors are urging her to have a hyster­

ectomy that may be the most relevant reproductive rights issue.

As we seek to rekindle the flames of mass-based feminist move­

ment reproductive rights will remain a central feminist agenda. If

wamen do not have the right to choose what happens to our bodies

we risk relinquishing rights in all other areas ofour lives. In renewed

feminist movement the overall issue of reproductive rights wil! take

precedence over any single issue. This does not meant that the push

for legal, safe, inexpensive abortions will not remain central, it wil!

simply not be the only issue that is centralized. If sex education, pre­

ventive health care, and easy access to contraceptives are offered to

every female, fewer of us will have unwanted pregnancies. As a con­

sequence the need for abortions would diminish.

Losing ground on the issue of legal, safe, inexpensive abortion

means that wamen lose ground on all reproductive issues. The

anti-choice movement is fundamentally anti-feminist. While it is

possible for wamen to individually choose never to have an abor­

tion, allegiance to feminist polities means that they still are pro-choice,

that they support the right of females who need abortions to choose

whether or not to have them. Young females who have always had

access to effective contraception - who have never witnessed the

tragedies caused by illegal abortions - have na firsthand experience

of the powerlessness and vulnerability to exploitation that will al­

ways be the outcome if females do not have reproductive rights.

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30 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY

Ongoing discussion about the wide range of issues that come under

the heading of reproductive rights is needed if females of all ages

and our male allies in struggle are to understand why these rights are

important. This understanding is the basis of our commitment to

keeping reproductive rights a reality for all females. Feminist focus

on reproductive rights is needed to protect and sustain our freedom.

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