Red, White and Time Turner?

via BadAstronomy

Hmmm…50 years back. Would this place us in a time where women are suppose to be perfect housewives and have dinner on the table by the time their husband comes home from work?

This year’s election has been deeply entwined with women’s health rights. Both on the presidential and congressional level, there has been a significant focus placed on women’s health rights. The topic often discussed amongst the political candidates has been: Rape and Abortion.

Via Women’s Rights News Facebook Page

Problem: Most of these congressional candidates are white males with similar socioeconomic statuses. In addition, these men did not experience pregnancy, giving birth nor the affects of pregnancy on one’s body. So why are these MEN deciding what WOMEN should do with their bodies? Abortion is a right not a privilege! Therefore, it is not only important to vote for the right president, we have the responsibility as citizens to vote for the right congress-representatives.

[Personally I disagree with Cher, on her comparison of Paul Ryan looking like Dracula, he looks more toad-like. However, this is not the place to make disparaging remarks on his person.]

Solution: Do not vote for them. By voting, we are able to stop these anti-women’s rights congressmen from being re-elected. Every vote does count. I have only brushed lightly upon the major issues that are being discussed this year for the election. So keep yourself informed and make the right decision.

Fun Fact: “This year there are 163 women nominees for Congressional seats.”

In Megan Reback’s post, Is This the Year We’ll Get a Congress That Looks Like America?, she mentions that if 87 of the 163 women nominees get elected into congress, then 20% of Congress will consist of women. IF 87 women to get elected just to get 20%! That is barely 50%. However, these 163 women come from a all different backgrounds. Reback’s purpose for writing the article is to give us, readers, a vague sense of how outnumbered we are outnumbered gender-wise at Congress. In addition, she hopes that these women nominees would be a major contribution to Congress with their diverse backgrounds if they get elected.

This election is a decisive one, an election that will determine if we take a step into the future or a step into the past. Therefore, go VOTE on this Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Now I leave with some food for thought:

Who Owns Your Body?

Throughout history, men have fought for what they believe is right in this world. However, have they ever fought for the right to make decisions about their own bodies?

In For Her Own Good, Ehrenreich & English write about their belief that due to the banishment of midwives, women’s health and subsequently their control over their bodies have suffered greatly. Women have often been neglected in medicine and in medical research. Cardiovascular disease is one example, as it is commonly believed that heart problems are solely a male issue. However, heart disease is the leading cause of death in women living in the United States. Part of the reason is that women may experience different heart attack symptoms than men. To raise awareness of heart disease in women, the American Heart Association started a campaign called, ‘Go Red for Women’. This movement is used to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease in women through multiple outlets. The different ways used to inform the general public includes: wearing red dresses, celebrity made videos, pamphlets given out at events, and more. Through the multiple ways of informing the public about heart disease, women try to spread the word about why it is important to know about the signs of a heart attack. Last year, Elizabeth Banks made a short film for ‘Go Red for Women’ about how a mother brushes off the signs of a heart attack in favor of getting her family ready in the morning. If heart disease symptoms in women were well known, would cardiovascular disease still be the leading cause of death for women in United States?

Abortion, to this day, remains a highly debated controversy in United States, especially in politics. The incomprehensible fact remains that politicians’ often are MEN debating whether or not WOMEN should have the right to get an abortion. Now the 21^st century debate is between pro-life or pro-choice. However, these male politicians are the ones debating back and forth whether or not women are able to get an abortion. Yet the irony is that women are the ones giving birth and experiencing excruciating pain in the process. You would think this would automatically give women the ability and right to choose for themselves if they wish to obtain an abortion or not. According to Morgen in Into Our Own Hands, the “Cooperative Jane Collective” was an organization formed by women to provide safe abortion services for women. It was “Jane’s” way of resisting the governments control over a woman’s body, as abortions were illegal at the time. The Jane Collective managed to lower the cost of abortions for women significantly by learning how to perform abortions themselves.  In contemporary society there are many people doing the same thing the Janes’ of 1970s are doing. The Jane’s of today are utilizing new media outlets to get their voices and beliefs heard. By using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other mass media outlets available, women hope to gain back the right to decide what is best for their bodies. Women are now empowering themselves by educating each other about the issues that revolve around a woman’s rights to their own body.

From the right to an education to the right to vote, women have been fighting ceaselessly throughout history for their rights. However, being unable to decide what we are able to do with our own bodies can be considered the equivalence to slavery in the 1800s. Is it considered enslavement by the government if a woman is not given the right to make decisions for her own body?