Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters by Jessica Valenti Page A
Authors: Jessica Valenti
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counter for fear that teenage girls would have access to the drug. The kicker? Teenage girls can get abortions in New York without parental notification or consent. So they’re allowed to end a pregnancy, but not prevent one. Yeah, I know.
At the end of the day, though, the entire basis for consent laws doesn’t make sense. We’re not old enough to decide if we don’t want a baby, but we are old enough to have one?
Of course, if we’re not straight and white—it’s a different story.
Mommie Dearest
You would think, given how gung ho anti-sexers seem to be about making sure you have babies, that it would be easy for everyone. But slow down, sister. Not everyone is “appropriate” for child rearing under the narrow guidelines of the chastity club.
LESBIANS NEED NOT APPLY
In one of the cruelest moves ever, the anti-sex, anti-gay crowd (they tend to go hand in hand) is trying to keep anyone who isn’t straight or married from being parents. Both Indiana and Virginia have been trying to pass laws that would keep unmarried women from using “reproductive technology,” like artificial insemination or fertility treatments. While the legislation would affect all unmarried women, it was written specifically with lesbians in mind. They’re the ones who the lawmakers figured are more likely not to be married (because it’s illegal) and to be seeking help getting pregnant.
In fact, the proposed law in Virginia made it pretty clear—if you’re not having heterosexual (married) sex, you can’t have a kid:
❂ No individual licensed by a health regulatory board shall assist with or perform any intervening medical technology, whether in vivo or in vitro , for or on an unmarried woman, that completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of conception , including, but not limited to, artificial insemination by donor, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, and low tubal ovum transfer. 11 [Emphasis added.]
So basically: No dick, no deal.
Forced Birth Control?
Given how hard the anti-sexers are trying to keep birth control away from so many young women, the idea of forcing birth control on someone seems a little wacky. But of course, these are the teen-sex-cult people we’re talking about.
When women started fighting for reproductive rights back in the ’60s and ’70s, the most attention was paid to the battle for birth control and abortion rights. But what went unnoticed by many—and still is largely ignored to this day—was the fight to stop women from being sterilized. As in no more kids, ever.
Coercive sterilization and forced long-term birth control (like Depo or IUDs) were pushed on women fairly often back then. But because this was happening mostly to poor women and women of color, it didn’t garner national attention.
Women who were on welfare were misled into thinking they wouldn’t receive their benefits if they didn’t go
along with the sterilization. One story stood out among the hundreds that went unreported. In the ’60s, three African American sisters—sixteen, fourteen, and twelve years old—were subjected to forced sterilizations without their consent. By the government. While the Relf family was being directed to a housing project, a congressional program recommended that the girls take advantage of family planning services. One of the daughters was given an IUD; the other two were sterilized. Their mother—who was illiterate—was told to sign a form that said the girls were just being given “some shots.” 12 Beyond horrifying.
Unfortunately, initiatives like that aren’t a thing of the past. Coercive sterilization and long-term birth control are still being pushed—under the guise of helping women. Back when I was interning at Ms. magazine, I heard about an organization called CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity) that was absolutely terrifying. It’s since changed its name
At the end of the day, though, the entire basis for consent laws doesn’t make sense. We’re not old enough to decide if we don’t want a baby, but we are old enough to have one?
Of course, if we’re not straight and white—it’s a different story.
Mommie Dearest
You would think, given how gung ho anti-sexers seem to be about making sure you have babies, that it would be easy for everyone. But slow down, sister. Not everyone is “appropriate” for child rearing under the narrow guidelines of the chastity club.
LESBIANS NEED NOT APPLY
In one of the cruelest moves ever, the anti-sex, anti-gay crowd (they tend to go hand in hand) is trying to keep anyone who isn’t straight or married from being parents. Both Indiana and Virginia have been trying to pass laws that would keep unmarried women from using “reproductive technology,” like artificial insemination or fertility treatments. While the legislation would affect all unmarried women, it was written specifically with lesbians in mind. They’re the ones who the lawmakers figured are more likely not to be married (because it’s illegal) and to be seeking help getting pregnant.
In fact, the proposed law in Virginia made it pretty clear—if you’re not having heterosexual (married) sex, you can’t have a kid:
❂ No individual licensed by a health regulatory board shall assist with or perform any intervening medical technology, whether in vivo or in vitro , for or on an unmarried woman, that completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of conception , including, but not limited to, artificial insemination by donor, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos, in vitro fertilization, embryo transfer, gamete intrafallopian tube transfer, and low tubal ovum transfer. 11 [Emphasis added.]
So basically: No dick, no deal.
Forced Birth Control?
Given how hard the anti-sexers are trying to keep birth control away from so many young women, the idea of forcing birth control on someone seems a little wacky. But of course, these are the teen-sex-cult people we’re talking about.
When women started fighting for reproductive rights back in the ’60s and ’70s, the most attention was paid to the battle for birth control and abortion rights. But what went unnoticed by many—and still is largely ignored to this day—was the fight to stop women from being sterilized. As in no more kids, ever.
Coercive sterilization and forced long-term birth control (like Depo or IUDs) were pushed on women fairly often back then. But because this was happening mostly to poor women and women of color, it didn’t garner national attention.
Women who were on welfare were misled into thinking they wouldn’t receive their benefits if they didn’t go
along with the sterilization. One story stood out among the hundreds that went unreported. In the ’60s, three African American sisters—sixteen, fourteen, and twelve years old—were subjected to forced sterilizations without their consent. By the government. While the Relf family was being directed to a housing project, a congressional program recommended that the girls take advantage of family planning services. One of the daughters was given an IUD; the other two were sterilized. Their mother—who was illiterate—was told to sign a form that said the girls were just being given “some shots.” 12 Beyond horrifying.
Unfortunately, initiatives like that aren’t a thing of the past. Coercive sterilization and long-term birth control are still being pushed—under the guise of helping women. Back when I was interning at Ms. magazine, I heard about an organization called CRACK (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity) that was absolutely terrifying. It’s since changed its name
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