Protecting the Power of Pregnancy
The majority of the people reading this blog are female. If you're female, and within a certain age range, odds are that you can get pregnant. This truth lies at the core of much in the way of misinformation and fear-mongering.
There's a nasty meme/idea running around, that we who ID as feminist think abortion is "more important" than pregnancy.
Nothing is further from the truth; choice, and the idea controlling one's own body, means all forms of control. Feminism, as a political statement, focuses on abortion and birth control because they are under constant attack, not because they "want to get rid of babies".
I will confess, however, that until Jessica Valenti, over at Feministing, starting posting about her now-completed trip to Hotlanta for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women 2007 conference, I'd not heard of them. But after her report:
Well, I'll be paying a lot more attention in the future!
This is important to dancers. I know dancers who have decided to not have kids -- which, I freely say, is my "default position" as well. I love the children of my dancer friends such as Onca and Ziah, who have been blessed with wonderful, and occasionally wonderfully mannish, kids. I honor my dance sisters, as well as all women, who have kids and work much harder to fit them into their lives than I can possibly imagine. And I also honor those who wish to have a child, but simply cannot.
Organizations like National Advocates for Pregnant Women are critical for developing the value of females, and for female work, in our society. When we support women as more than just a way to make babies, those children rise in important, in love and attention, and it appears that NAPW is playing an important role in the struggle for women's rights.
A interesting viewpoint on the intersection of Pro-Choice and Birth Rights with regard to this conference was in the comments for the article, and is over at RH Reality Check.
There's a nasty meme/idea running around, that we who ID as feminist think abortion is "more important" than pregnancy.
Nothing is further from the truth; choice, and the idea controlling one's own body, means all forms of control. Feminism, as a political statement, focuses on abortion and birth control because they are under constant attack, not because they "want to get rid of babies".
I will confess, however, that until Jessica Valenti, over at Feministing, starting posting about her now-completed trip to Hotlanta for the National Advocates for Pregnant Women 2007 conference, I'd not heard of them. But after her report:
The phrase that best summarizes this past weekend's conference for me: hot damn.
I can honestly say that NAPW organized the best feminist conference that I've ever been to. And I like me some feminist conferences, so that's saying something.
[...]it was the incredible energy at the conference, the remarkable panelists, and the oh-so-important (and ambitious) vision for reproductive justice that the conference put forward.
Well, I'll be paying a lot more attention in the future!
This is important to dancers. I know dancers who have decided to not have kids -- which, I freely say, is my "default position" as well. I love the children of my dancer friends such as Onca and Ziah, who have been blessed with wonderful, and occasionally wonderfully mannish, kids. I honor my dance sisters, as well as all women, who have kids and work much harder to fit them into their lives than I can possibly imagine. And I also honor those who wish to have a child, but simply cannot.
Organizations like National Advocates for Pregnant Women are critical for developing the value of females, and for female work, in our society. When we support women as more than just a way to make babies, those children rise in important, in love and attention, and it appears that NAPW is playing an important role in the struggle for women's rights.
A interesting viewpoint on the intersection of Pro-Choice and Birth Rights with regard to this conference was in the comments for the article, and is over at RH Reality Check.
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...somehow it doesn't surprise me that you read feministing - thanks for being so well-informed.
On topic: I have always been confused at the perceived gap between childless by choice and those with children. I adore children, but they are not part of my path this lifetime by choice. NAPW sounds like a wonderful organization - thanks for the link.
One of the things I wish I convey to people, it that the politics of birth aren't just for pregant women and their care providers. How we treat expectant mothers, the mindset that surrounds western birth practices, affects society as a whole.
I really encourage everyone, male, femal, expecant or not, to read "A Thinking Woman's Guide to Better Birth" by Henci Goer, and "Persuing the Birth Machine" by Marsden Wagner.
Some of the approach they describe as accepted practice, even in the face of science, would raise a huge outcry if people acted that way in any other field of medicine. But in birth, it gets completely glossed over.
For example, the woman who had her body forced into labor, so her husband wouldn't miss the big football game. What does that say about medicine, that something like that is acceptable? What does it say about society, that women are taught so little about their bodies, respecting them, and the normal functions thereof?
This is a topic very dear to my heart, and I have a lot to say about it. However, I will try and keep my comments brief.
They way I danced and understood my dance as expression and exploration of myself, art, and spirituality were different before I had a child. Now that I have a daughter (and a wonderful liberating home birth), I feel like I really have something to explore and express through movement. The changes in my life and cycles are something now that will have a powerful impact on how and what I dance. My daughter does get in the way of my practice and dance pursuits sometimes, but children are not meant to be convenient -- they are meant to teach us and give us great blessings. My dance journey is more than blessed because of her presence in my life.
This topic affects us all, and I applaud you for posting about it. The way we bring new people into the world, the way we carry them, and our attitudes towards the process is integral to how we understand our selves and our place in society and the world. I am thrilled to see more organizations trying to promote and truly understand the experience of women & families rather than simply fight for "issues", which otherwise have no real human element but are based in argument and "us vs. them" dynamics. The way we treat pregancy, birth, abortion, and the idea of "choice" has a dramatic impact on us all.
At this point it seems appropriate for me to plug one of my favorite videos: What Babies Want http://www.whatbabieswant.com/ Asim, if you are interested in watching it but don't want to spend the money to buy it, I would be willing to mail it to you & you could send it back when you are done ('cause I trust you :) ).
I am impressed with NAPW, and had not heard of them before. Here is another similarly focused organization that I have great respect for: http://www.feministsforlife.org/ their motto is "women deserve better".
(I just wrote a comment but it didn't get posted -- did I do it wrong?)
Having said that -- the Pandragon folks aren't overly fond of Feminists for Life. I'll try to find their grips (Pandragon is banned at my job for some reason...) and post up some critiques and my opinion. I do like (and have since college, over a decade ago) Catholics for a Free Choice for their willingness to tackle the moral dimension of the pro-choice option.