Kelly Oliver sheds light on the insufficient representation of female reproductive choice in the media. Still heralded as "choice" Hollywood film and television continues to corner women into choosing life over abortion. Oliver recognizes that in no way does the media or popular culture ever glorify choosing an abortion. Movies that condone abortion rarely, if ever, allow the audience to visibly see the woman's pregnant body. I found this to be a fascinating connection and one that I had never noticed myself. By showing the woman's pregnant body before she has an abortion, certain sympathies could arise in the audience that generate sentiments of protection for the child. Similarly, those women who go through abortions in a film end up more frequently becoming psychologically terrorized or die from either medical complications or other freak accidents. Association of abortion and death go beyond the fetus and extend directly to the mother, despite a third common association that frequents less of the big screen and more of the States' legal arena: the physical separation of mother and fetus. Some states have recently tried to pass legislation on allowing the fetus a separate defense from the mother, oftentimes resulting with the mother becoming locked away. Oliver's best success in this article is to point out the contradictions regarding female reproductive abilities in both the media and legal realms. It seems as though women and the idea of "choice" are viewed specific to the situation. If a woman wants an abortion, it would not be the "right" choice because that child is part of her and at the same time, that child remains a separate being that has it's own individual rights.
Oliver makes note of the way a woman's choice remains not her own. Despite discussion and changing support for pro-choice legislation, choice is still a questionable reality. A woman's womb is a dangerous place because the moment a girl hits puberty and her reproductive cycles begin, this part of her body becomes the property of other entities. Oliver asks her readers to consider how we can restore a part of someone's body back into personal possession.
Hi Christine!
ReplyDeleteI like your points about how choice is still not really a choice for women and that their wombs are still a sort of battle ground for political warfare and can be dangerous places. I think is an interesting thing that a part of a woman can be considered not her own, when it is literally somerhing inside of her. This makes me think about Slander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and how her interactions with some men make her body seem as though it is not her own.