Arushi Singh Chauhan
Women bodies are subject of veneration by artists writers and poets. Women bodies are also considered as possession that is controlled by society more than the individual herself. The hallmark to development is testified by the position of women in society. Whenever crisis occur in a society and its normalcy is disturbed, the position of women further deteriorates leading to abuse violence threats rapes and murders. In clan-based societies women were abducted as war booty to the day of Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 where estimates say, about 75,000 – 10,000 women were kidnapped and raped. The article is a monologue of hostility emotional and physical on the bodies of women over centuries through use of science and medicine. Women bodies in ancient times were regulated by Religion and present day it is regulated by science. the power of religion over women in Indian culture has been tremendous. The major power houses both politics and religion; support and assist each other in installation and re-installation of masculine dominance. Many times, through religion patriarchy is internalized in a woman. Religion controls one’s social considerations and lifestyle. The dogmatic customs and rudimentary believes in religious scriptures end up making women believe in their natural subjugation which ends in sexual abuses and assaults.
Women health includes aspects like physical, mental, sexual and emotional health. Physical medications generally align with that of men. Mental health care for women is ignored or kept under covers while sexual abilities of women are aimed to be monitored by the society so much so that science has led a huge market of pharmaceuticals of regulative medications. Contraceptives prevents pregnancy by interfering with normal process of ovulation, fertilization and implementation. There is no denying the fact that women acquired more freedom by the use to birth control pills, they are able to finish their educational prospect also work on their business goals and indulge in procreation when it is best suited for them. Contraceptives range from condoms to birth control pills, female sterilization, Morning after pill/ Emergency Pill, permanent contraception, vaginal rings, Contraceptive injections, Contraceptive Patch, Implants, Sponge, Diaphgram and Cervical cap, arranged on their popularity and usage, respectively.
While there are endless ways of contraception involving women bodies, male contraceptives are limited to condoms which have massive failures. Male contraceptives are viewed as an attractive alternative which is still undergoing clinical trials. This double standard in science has led to health issues in women. Also, this lag in availability of contraceptives for men leads to blaming women on failures and unplanned pregnancies even though it is the men who have more fertile days compared to women to cause pregnancy. On the other side there are many drugs that leads to pregnancy, research states that there are greater number of drugs designed to promote egg production than those which trigger sperm production. This bias is justified by stating that it is easier for science to promote egg production then sperm production. Or is it that women bodies are undervalued over men and science can manipulate the natural and innate feminine self over men.
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The sexuality of women is considered as a dilemma for parents. They do not want to talk about it, do not want to educate the child about it nor want to answer the curious minds with genuine answers. This leads to an adolescent girl experience her first period in utter confusion, shame and disgust in her own body. whereas young male experience celebration of their sexual privileges and full sexual autonomy. It is true that hormone effect the way we think feel and respond to our environment. Female sex hormone is blamed for making women overly emotional and unjustifiable at times, men and their sexual hormones testosterones are spared from the lashes and judgements of society. Sarah E Hill in her book “This is your brain and birth control” mentions how estrogen and testosterone levels change with time, funny enough while estrogen in women’s body can be mapped based on number of days to her cycle. Men’s hormone changes every day based on time of day, age, seeing an attractive woman, weapons, marriage, children, watching sports, political loss and bunch of other stuff. Yet, society blames women’s hormones to be fickle and ever changing.
Furthermore, society has also provided traditional timeline which a woman ought to respect and abide by. Procreation a natural gift to women must be experienced after marriage controlling and regulating women’s sexuality. Young women who indulges in sex prior marriage are considered as a moral threat to patriarchal orders. To counter such moral threats science and medicine came up with various types of birth controls and oral contraceptives, through such medication’s diseases like HIV, herpes, hepatitis B, pregnancy is controlled and regulated. Hence, viewing procreation of women outside of marriage both as moral and social disease. This unstoppable involvement of science in the bodies of women has led to medicalization of female bodies, as a medicine is used to counter a disease in body or some deficiency. From marketing of pills to change the period dates, to contraceptives and abortions has added to the patriarchal control of the society on women’s body and natural health as well.
Sanjam Ahluwalia in her book “Reproductive restraints: Birth control in India 1877 – 1947” talks about the elitist aspect of the medication, which was not readily available to lower class and lower middle-class women easily. The selective availability was classist in nature. Research show that presently in India approximately 13% of married women between age 15 to 49 have unmet need contraceptives, the data widens in in the state of Bihar, Nagaland, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Also, the earliest advocates and propagators of birth control were elite men, who regarded overpopulation as number one hinderance to progress. Hence targeting cause of India’s major problems to a particular sex (female). Disregarding every other possibility like bad political and economic policies, environment degradation, rudimentary social structures and so on. It is to be observed that the first broadcasters of issue of overpopulation were British, who hid their unjust, economically draining policies against natives under the veil of over population.
Advertisements glorify the use of medications as necessity for family planning. It makes women believe that it provides freedom of choice to bear not to bear a child in future. Planning ahead of time is always considered a progressive and a modern step consequently all the underlining risks of health problems like gaining weight, strokes, irregular menstrual periods, headaches, breast cancer which in general belief are to be “accepted and tolerated. Women who are on the pills show decreased sexual desire and functioning, increased stress, depression and anxiety. Changes and modulation in hormones through use of birth control leads differentiated brain functioning and choices women make in their day to day lives as well. This creates butterfly effect of situations which could have been avoided if brain was not under hormonal changes caused by the pill.
Women bodies cannot tolerate the burden of medications alone and men should be actively involved in the process of family planning and usage of contraceptives Men should be involved actively in reproductive health care and in the decision of procreation. Men must be made accountable and educated in feminine health as they become fathers to the off springs. Since contraceptive options are not provided to men, they tend to overlook the responsibility of it. Science should provide opportunity of equal accountability; men should be engaged more in reproductive aspect of society. Because if baby is the fruit men are the carrier of seeds as both men and women are participating equally in procreation.
(The author is master’s in history from Jawaharlal Nehru University)
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