Twitter thread about body autonomy is a reminder of the ‘fear’ and ‘shame’ women confront
Body autonomy means a person has the right to do whatever they want with their own body.
We live in a world where people are constantly telling women what they can or can't do with their bodies. Women get it form all sides — Washington, their churches, family members, and even doctors.
A woman on Twitter who goes by the name Salome Strangelove recently went viral for discussing the importance of female body autonomy.
Here's how it started.
My mom was 20 when she had me. She wasn\u2019t an assertive young woman. Unlike me, she mostly deferred to authority, especially her own doctors.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536261165
She continued talking about how her mother had a difficult pregnancy.
Her pregnancy with me was utterly miserable. She actually lost weight while pregnant. The delivery was problematic and she had to stay in the hospital for a long time after I was born. I was actually ready to go home before she was, but they kept me there until she was released.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536261417
Her mother asked her doctor about the possibility of sterilization.
He also added that her pregnancy might not have been so stressful if she'd stopped working entirely.
— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange) September 6, 2018
As was typical of the times, she was chastised by her male, Catholic doctor.
Over the next five years my mother was pregnant three more times. Two were horrific miscarriages that caused her a great deal of pain and emotional and physical trauma. The third resulted in my brother.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536261941
Her mother was made to feel guilty about simply exploring the medical options about her own body. But later on, a new doctor made her feel more comfortable about her situation.
Following my brother\u2019s birth, she mustered the courage to ask him about having a tubal ligation again. She did so in absolute fear for her life convinced her next pregnancy might actually kill her.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536262192
How this one man\u2019s arrogance and indifference to my mother\u2019s body autonomy influenced my entire primary family unit cannot be overstated. \n\nWe have no idea how many other women he exercised such influence over.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536262770
So when old white men disguise their pathetic misogyny as concern for unborn children, I think of my mother at 20, sobbing alone in shame and depression and helplessness and terror while dealing with the stress of being a new mother.
— Salome Strangelove (@salstrange) September 6, 2018
Once her mother had the courage to speak up, her own family members supported her.
But here\u2019s the most horrific footnote. Before my mother was deemed healthy enough to have her tubal litigation surgery she got pregnant again (that\u2019s number five and she\u2019s been on birth control the whole time because no one\u2019s bothered to tell her that her meds negate the pill).— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536263581
I like being alive. Love my family and friends. Love my brother. And I believe my mother had every right to never have me and should never have had that choice made for her.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536263952
In closing, fuck every arrogant forced birth pontificator that walks the earth and thinks they get to rule over someone else\u2019s body autonomy.\n\nThank you for coming to my TED talk.— Salome Strangelove (@Salome Strangelove) 1536264213
Amen.
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