Dean
Women should be able to make choices about their bodies without fear of being shamed or judged by their doctors or by anyone else. A woman’s body is her own, and although many men (and some women) feel that they know what’s best for other women, that’s just not the case.
In a powerful thread that’s gone viral on Twitter, a woman who uses the name Salome Strangelove wrote about the extreme importance of women having autonomy over their own bodies.
The thread begins with Strangelove explaining something her mother never told her until she (Strangelove) was almost 40 years old.
Strangelove’s mother was only 20 when she had her, and she hadn’t planned on getting pregnant. She was actually on birth control, but another medication was, unbeknownst to her mother, making her birth control ineffective.
The pregnancy was, unfortunately, completely awful.
After giving birth to Strangelove, her mother decided that was it, she wanted to be one and done, no more kids. So she did what most people would do, which was talk to her doctor about sterilization, a perfectly reasonable request.
Her doctor, an old white Catholic male, reacted to her request by telling her she was being selfish for not wanting to provide her husband with more children, particularly the chance for a son. I wasn’t aware it was a wife’s duty to keep popping out children no matter the cost, but that was the doctor’s opinion.
Her doctor made her feel so bad for even asking about sterilization that she was reluctant to ever bring it up with anyone else, thinking she must be a terrible person for even considering the option.
Strangelove’s mother got pregnant three more times, two of which ended in miscarriage. The third pregnancy resulted in a brother for Strangelove, delivered this tie but a younger, more caring doctor.
This doctor realized that his patient had valid concerns and was also severely depressed.
The thread illustrated just how much one man’s misguided opinion screwed up a woman’s whole life, as well as her relationships with her support group and with herself.
It’s not always easy for a woman to stand up for herself, especially if she’s a shy type of person not used to making waves.
Once her mother explained her situation fully to her husband and her mother, they understood and supported her one hundred percent.
Strangelove closes the thread by writing, “F**k every arrogant forced birth pontificator that walks the earth and thinks they get to rule over someone else’s body autonomy.”
Amen.
