Ramirez

December 2012

Sex and Gender
Women Rights 2012
Although there is strong evidence that we still live in a patriarchal society, there has been much progress for women in the last four decades. Strong representation of women in college and increasing numbers in other areas underscore forward movement of women in this country. Many of these victories were hard fought and many of our rights were attained throughout a period of time. One of the most contemporary pivotal achievement in my opinion was the supreme court ruling of Roe Vs. Wade. Roe vs. Wade is a historical landmark in women’s history because it established the autonomy of women with their bodies. This ruling allowed for women to legally obtain abortions.

In spite of the decades since the ruling and being in a more equal working field with men, these ideologies are being revisited. There has been an upsurge in opposition to the current policies that protect women’s rights over their reproductive system. A new discussion on topics such as abortion, rape, and contraception has been the topic of discussion for politicians, mainly republicans. As a result, I will elaborate on these topics and they mean for the future of women.

To begin with, abortion has always evoked a profound reaction on people of both sides of the fence. Some people believe that life begins at conception while others believe it begins after birth and yet others think it’s somewhere in between. The truth is that although teen pregnancies is at an all time low, it has become extremely difficult to bring up kids in these tough economic times. In an environment where college tuition has sky rocketed, along with the cost of living raising a baby has only become more expensive.
According to survey in Family planning and Reproductive Health Care, a significant percentage of abortions were performed within a year of a disruptive event, Disruptive events may account for the loss of a job, abusive relationships and emotional trauma. In addition, many of the women in abusive relationships confessed that their birth controls were being tampered with in one form or another.

The conception of life is a major point of argument between these two groups.
The pro-choice group tends to give a high priority for the living and breathing mother while the pro-life focuses on the life of the unborn fetus. There are a number of factors that play a role in the ideology of abortion. While there is a significant correlation between religion and pro-life views, there is also a strong indication that those who are pro-life tend to have a stronger believe in gender roles. To elaborate, those who have a stronger conviction on gender roles believe that the woman’s place is at home raising children. This could also explain why it’s women in minorities who do not occupy

traditional gender roles like their white counterparts, have high abortion rates. The prochoice groups is over 60 percent minority composed of Hispanics and African
Americans, low income, unmarried and cite several reasons for why they chose to get an abortion which many include emotional and economic instability.

Unfortunately these ongoing debates become more alarming when in the past Gop primary debates, overturning Roe vs. Wade became a big topic of conversation. As it turns out, the people who feel qualified to discuss women’s issues prominent in the minority demographics on abortion, are middle aged, upper class white men. In the midst of the 21st century, where there was a woman nominated for presidency, we are fighting old battles again. The real issue at stake here is the ability for women to make choices on their own bodies. To continue, the house-moms may very well see their place as being primarily in the home and they can opt to remain there and keep their babies without imposing their beliefs on the rest of society. However a law banning abortion or abortion on terms male politicians see as “valid” is reducing the other 60 percent to a