Feminism and Reproductive Rights

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

Ok, so...great...the ball is rolling. the most simplistic version would be, if youre sex identity is male and for all apparent reasons you are male, does your maleness allign with and support your (potential) feminist ideology with regard to women's rights. OR...since your sex identity is male, does that (potential) feminist ideology lessen or pale in comparisson to (perhaps) a more important male formulated ideology. this is all assuming that you were or did at some point allign yourself with some course of feminist thought and/or women's reproductive rights.

I think I'm starting to get it a bit better.

I don't really see my identity as a guy affecting or being related to my support for women's rights, or the urgency I feel in progressing women's reproductive rights. The two (identity and rights) are very different things for me. I don't really see my identity as a guy meaning that I also have a corresponding ideology. I guess I just don't see ideology (no matter who's rights it supports) as male or female. So, no, I guess my maleness doesn't align with or support my stance on women's rights, simply because I don't see it as a factor. I think I would be equally supportive no matter my identity. Neither do I feel that my support for women's rights is lessened by any allegiance to a more male-formulated ideology (then again, I don't see ideology as sexed). For me, rights issues should be everyone's concern no matter what their identity is. For example, I feel very strongly about Aboriginal rights in Canada, even though I am not Aboriginal.

That said, I'm extremely concerned with obtaining equal rights for trans people in Canada, but I also try not to create a hierarchy of rights between marginalized people. Instead, I try to see both struggles as a part of a greater picture, which is of a governing body attempting to control the bodies, identities and lives of those more marginalized than others (and who do reproductive rights affect most, in many cases? Often it is young women, poor women, young women trapped in extremely religious or conservative families, women in isolated communities, Aboriginal women, women with mental or physical disabilities, women who are victims of physical or sexual violence etc.).

I do admit, that because of the direct impact it has on my life, trans rights often are at the forefront of my mind. I guess in some sense there is a greater sense of immediacy than with some rights issues. I think we all do a little of that; being more concerned with what directly affects us or people we care about.

But in some ways I feel that similar immediacy about women's reproductive rights even though I am not a woman, because there are so many women living with the consequences every single day and their lives are absolutely torn asunder by it. Women out east who don't have access to abortion clinics, or women across the country who have no community or family support, Aboriginal women who have to deal with no direct access to clinics while dealing with all the issues that come with being an Aboriginal woman in Canada etc. Many of these women can't, for whatever reason, fight for their own rights (or perhaps not effectively), and so I feel that same immediacy, because no human being should have to face these overwhelming challenges. Legalizing abortion may be a step in the right direction, but it means nothing if you aren't providing women with necessary support and services. It angers me, no matter what my identity is.

I was inclined to say that maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was assigned female at birth, despite that I've never been/identified as female, and so know what it's like to be treated like you're nothing and that what you have to say is meaningless based only on what people perceive of your body. Yet, on the other hand, there are many people out there who were assigned female at birth who are staunch pro-lifers.

As such, I would conclude that it doesn't have to do with either my identity as male, nor the sex I was assigned at birth, but with the fact that I cannot stand the reduction of women to reproductive commodities, nor the claim that women should not determine what happens to their own bodies.

I hope I understood your question alright, and that what I've written has something to do with what you're looking for... Good luck with your research!