Even on the “babies” aspect of it, let’s not forget that hysterectomies are not new and the history of sterilising people, especially women, is not a pretty one. Sure, if it comes out as “but she’ll change her mind and want babies”, it’s bullshit, but I don’t think it’s problematic to be uneasy with the concept and the normalisation of sterilisation. Hysterectomies were and are still a tool of misogyny.
Dozens of countries forcibly sterilised ethnic minorities, poor women, disabled people in the past century, and some are still doing it today. Of course a lot of people are going to have a poor opinion of it. And even when it’s not forced, when it’s only “offered”, suggested…who is getting that offer ? who is offering ? and who is it benefitting ?
Is it really because they want to respect women’s reproductive choices, or because if they’re not pregnant, they’ll work more ? It is a known issue in some Indian districts that many female workers are pressured into getting hysterectomies by employers so they don’t miss a single day of work because of periods, pregnancy or reproductive issues caused by their bad living conditions. Some of them can be very young. Is it really consent when you don’t know how to read, and that not getting it done is risking your wages and risking infections ? Hysterectomies should not be normalized or seen as normal birth control. We see how some employers in the west pushing and paying for their female employee to freeze their eggs and delay pregnancy, and they don’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, they benefit from it, do we really want them to start “offering” permanent sterilisation too ?
Sometimes hysterectomies are “offered” with a C-section, are we sure that white, wealthy women are asked “sure you don’t want tubal ligation while I’m in there ?” as much as poor, black or roma women ?
Why have I heard random people say things like “pregnant again ? won’t someone sterilise her yet ?” when they see women with a lot of children. Like it’s such a funny joke to say. Not “5 kids, I hope it’s by choice”, but disgusted animalistic words, comparing mothers to dogs, cows and hens and calling for someone to make her stop. Why do we hear so many white western politicians criticising single mothers, African women who are “overpopulating” the planet, poor women who “pop out babies for benefits” ? As long I keep hearing things like that, as long as society is still disgusted with women’s bodies and reproductive functions, you won’t get out of my head that sterilisation is more control than liberation.
snowghoul
titsay
baratheonpilled
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