The Most Terrifying Thing About the Roe Overturn
Women have been cast down for the majority of history. We have been valued for a very specific skill set- bearing and rearing children.
The idea that it isn't our main priority anymore seems completely impossible and thus, control and order must be restored.
The truth is, that despite there being plenty of women who still view their calling in life as being a mother, there is an overwhelming amount of us that are rethinking what it means to be a woman in today's society. Over the decades, we have been granted more opportunities than ever before and therefore, have been able to think of alternative lives other than motherhood.
Why do you think it was so damn hard to get these rights and opportunities in the first place?
This is exactly what many people- predominantly cis men, but women are not excluded entirely- have been so terrified of. That we would gain more rights and more opportunities, and it would destroy the suppression of motherhood as the ONLY option. It would shatter the facade that there is no other way.
My life has always been about exploration, learning, and expanding my capabilities. I have rarely thought of motherhood as the sole avenue for my life. I always thought well, maybe someday. Some far distant future that couldn't be fathomed. Even to someone like me, it seemed almost impossible to think that I WOULDN'T have children, despite wanting so many other things. How could I not fulfill this purpose that society says completes a woman, that without it I would be irrevocably incomplete?
Overturning Roe is a strong and powerful beginning step to restoring order to the chaos that is a woman's choice to do what she wants with her life. It is not just about having babies or not having babies. It is to restore the workplace back to predominantly men. It is meant to lead us right back into the cage of restricted choice and capability.
And society is following suit. This goes far beyond religious beliefs.
Women are seen as audacious for wanting something, ANYTHING more than children. It is seen as selfish and cruel, possibly even evil for a woman to give up a readily made child so she can do anything else.
I won't get into the glaring double standard of the incredulous amount of absentee fathers throughout history because it speaks to the entire point.
Men have always had a choice about fatherhood.
It isn't just about controlling our bodies, it's about controlling our entire capabilities. Women who have given up many other avenues in life in exchange for motherhood feel slighted when another woman casts it aside for something else.
The thought that we would have sex for pleasure, become pregnant, and then not “bear the responsibility” of that outcome (solely on our own as men, again, are rarely held accountable) is viewed as wholeheartedly selfish. It has always come down to women's sole purpose in life being motherhood.
Unfortunately, the door has been open for further regulations that will ensure that women fulfill this role, despite any other hopes and dreams. “Order” will be restored at the expense of half the population's autonomy.
As a woman who has never gotten an abortion, has no children, and no actual plan on having any, someone who hopes to make a real difference in this world and has a lot left to accomplish, I am scared. It is not because I hate children and want them irradicated from the earth.
I am fearful because I have spent my life thinking I have the same possibilities that a man does and I can achieve anything. I can live the life that I have worked so hard for. That the choice to be a mother is soley my own, as with any other lifestyle choice.
That has been stripped away and we all must be prepared for this next step in the history of our country. Despite it seeming like a step back, do not be fooled. It is an aggressive step towards something different because WE as women are different. We must fight for what is wholly ours and not anyone elses.
Our lives.
Together, we will figure it out because we simply must.
