Images of Women, Ancient and Today: History of Reproductive Health - Research Paper Example

Topic: Images of women, ancient and today: History of reproductive health Images of women, ancient and today: History of reproductive health Introduction Being female has numerous health insinuations and the health requirements of a women can be widely categorized into four classes (Goldman, Troisi & Rexrode, 2013). To begin with, women have particular health requirements associated with their reproductive and sexual functions. Secondly, women possess an intricate reproductive system which is highly susceptible to diseases or dysfunction, even before it starts functioning as well as after it has already began functioning. Thirdly, women are subjected to similar diseases of other systems of the body that men face, but the disease patterns are usually different from the ones men experience as a result of genetic constitution, lifestyles that are gender evolved as well as hormonal environments. Diseases that affect other body systems or the manner in which they are treated may interact with reproductive functions and systems. Finally, women are always the subjects of social diseases that affect their mental, physical and social health through actions such as sexual abuse, female genital mutilation and domestic violence among others (Carlson, Eisenstat & Ziporyn, 2004). The connection between population, gender and reproductive health is complicated; however, the inequalities which deny women the opportunities and rights clearly affect the dynamics of populations including the rate of fertility, sex structures, marriage patterns as well as age. Thesis statement: Gender disparities have an effect on reproductive and sexual health since the women who are socially and economically disadvantaged have a lower likelihood of accessing health information and services, act on self-chosen reproductive decisions and negotiate for safer sex. Purpose of study: This paper addresses the history of reproductive health through images of women from ancient time up to the present with the aim of understanding various aspects that affect their reproductive health. Literature review Abortion and birth control are aspects that have existed for a long time, and have always remained touchy since the notion that pregnancies can be prevented or completely stopped has resulted in moral and ethical arguments, and like the present, numerous opinions existed in the middle ages concerning what was permissible or not (Ciment, 2015). Nonetheless, the middle ages had people who condemned the use of birth control while others supported it and gave directions on the manner in which they could be used. Religious values were the most influential aspects regarding the use of birth control, prior to and after a woman conceived with Christianity perceiving the only purpose of sex as a means of conceiving children. Hence, the notion that an individual could use birth control as a means of stopping conception was typically condemned in a harsh manner and women who used birth control were seen as murders. Contraception was typically considered as a permissible activity in medieval Islam and there have been Hadith accounts that have demonstrated that coitus interruptus was a common practice during Prophet Muhammad’s era and was not condemned. According to Al-Ghazali, a Muslim theologian of the eleventh century, while it is better to leave it in God’s hands, practices of birth control were permissible since there were fears of incurring great financial problems based in the size of a person’s family. In the event that pregnancies occurred, the women of the Middle Ages would decide to procure abortions, which was also considered as infanticide; however, they had to deal with the perceptions of whether or not their actions were permissible socially (McDonnell, 2003). Wolfgang Muller (2012), states that the thinkers of the medieval ages have different ideas on the situations where a fetus could be considered as a living human being in his book The Criminalization of Abortion in the West: Its Origin in Medieval Law. Some of them were of the opinion that a child yet to be born had formed extremities like limbs and this implies personhood, while others thought that a baby gets a soul approximately forty days after it has been conceived. The same lines of thought could be found in Islam even though in this case, the fetus was not seen as a child until about one hundred and twenty days. The notion that life starts on conception was not synonymous with medieval thoughts as this idea developed in the sixteenth century at the time of the protestant reformation. Nonetheless, this does not mean that abortion in the early stages of pregnancy was allowed, instead, the penalties that they attracted were relatively less severe, like being exiled instead of being killed. Even though infanticide has generally been seen as a crime, the notion that abortion is illegal was not held widely in the ancient times and the number of women who were prosecuted for procuring abortions in the middle ages is relatively low and officials did not seek to arrest them in an active manner (Spinelli, 2003). It can be concluded that more people were punished for prenatal abortions through death in some of the German towns between the sixteenth and seventeenth century compared to the rest of the European continent in the mediaeval era. This may be attributed to the challenges associated with finding evidence of abortions like the remains of bodies, and this hinders the chances of convicting anyone. Nonetheless, it appears that state and civil officials were not willing to deal with an aspect that they considered as part of a religious sphere as the church was in a better position to punish people for these sins. In the ancient times, the religious officials were against practice of abortion, but there took very little action in attempting to stop the actions, this may imply that actual practices that could avoid or get rid of a pregnancy were not efficient (Reagan, 1997). Unlike in the modern times when there are various methods of birth control, in the ancient times, women depended on particular plants in the prevention or termination of pregnancies such as junipers, pomegranates and rue. The contemporary medical studies have examined some of the methods that were used and whether they actually worked, but it remains that some of them, such as using castor seeds and wearing charms had little success. In some cases, men and women thought that they could reduce the chances of pregnancy through the use of specific positions and movements, and even though some people give the same advice today, this remains an ineffective way of preventing pregnancies. In the modern times, Hollywood depicts pregnancy as well as child birth as an entertaining means of creating comedy and nothing more (Northrup, 2006). Audiences are made to laugh at miseries in pregnancy as well as depressions that destroy marriages in Knocked Up and Friends With Kids among others, and this makes it obvious that the media is not comfortable with perceiving the lives and bodies of women in a serious manner. This is also demonstrated in the film What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which is a pregnancy themed film. The film is based on the struggles associated with conception, pregnancy and childbirth of five couples while containing an overstretched cliché concerning pregnancy, however, it disregards the numerous women all over the world for whom the ability to have children is an issue of life and death. In the film, four of the lead female characters are white and all the women actors are slim, unbelievably youthful and heterosexual. The only bow towards reality is created through the only Latina character who experiences financial problems and she experiences a temporary moment of panic after she has lost her rather improbable job as a photographer. Except for this though, no other women in the film have financial problems particularly in regards to costs of childcare and health insurance. In reality, more than twenty percent of the women in the US do hot have health insurance, but the one out of five scenario is not demonstrated by any of the characters in the film. As is the case in most of the Hollywood movies that revolve around pregnancies, women of color remain predominantly absent from the movie, instead, they are depicted as motherly caregivers or overweight nurses. Additionally, the film does not address maternal mortality since its characters recover from any scares in an explained manner regardless of the fact that maternal mortality occurs in some cases in the US and more frequently in the developing nations. Even though in the contemporary times maternal mortality is real, films usually use it to create tension in order to manipulate the emotions of their audiences, rather than acknowledging it as a major cause of death especially for black women who have a fourfold likelihood of dying during childbirth compared to white women. Poor and black women are not acknowledged as in some instances, women and their partners make the decision to adopt African children but the backgrounds of these children are never explored. From statistics, an African woman who is pregnant is thirteen time more likely to die during child birth and thus an African child who is adopted may be among the children who have been orphaned for one reason or another. In films, all that matters making sure that the wealthy couples get a child to adopt and not the backgrounds of the adopted children. The isolated world that is depicted in the contemporary films largely divorced from the actual world where most of the women live and this makes it somewhat comical (Chakravarty, 2003). In various films, when a man and a woman get involved, and the woman ends up pregnant, they are rarely depicted as having thoughts of abortion. However, in reality, abortion is an activity that around thirty percent of women in the US will go through throughout their lives, even though the filmmakers continue to consider it as a taboo aspect. Female characters in contemporary films are only allowed to be completely fulfilled by their pregnancies regardless of whether they were planned or not or whether they have the capacity to take care of the baby. The notion of women taking reasonable measures to end pregnancies remains shocking for people who watch the films but is a reality and actually happens on a daily basis. Contemporary films demystify pregnancy and some of them go as far as turning the current state of the health of women into a circus sideshow with directors preferring to show women screaming in labor in a profoundly perverse manner (Napierala, 1994). This begs the question as to whether there are any other situations that audiences would consider it hilarious to see women deeply distressed in tremendous amounts of pain. Regardless of this, filmmakers have created a situation where pregnancy and childbirth is not taken seriously since they depict them as episodes that make women crazy for a short time before an expected happy ending. This does not correctly demonstrate the manner in which women in the contemporary society continue to fight for their rights to abortion, birth control as well as decent health services, instead, it simply acts to trivialize women further. Conclusion Women face numerous disadvantages as a result of discrimination based on sex that develops from various aspects such as denial of access to health services and information, among others. Discrimination in terms of gender in the prevention of diseases, information and education and access to health services remains a critical issue that needs to be corrected. Regardless of discriminations, women have remain key contributors to the health of populations through the part they play as caregivers for their families and providers of health care formally and informally. It is acknowledged that women played critical parts in healthcare as far back as the medieval times, nonetheless, history has demonstrated that in the fourteenth century, shifts in notions concerning the role of women in the society started taking root and thus undermined their role in reproductive health. During the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the situation started changing together with typical women’s rights movements through pioneers like Mary Stuart who through their exploits in the medical profession, paved way for new ideas. Societal and cultural determinants of the health of women have to be addressed since biological aspects that are based on sex interact negatively with inequalities that are founded in race, age, gender as well as ethnicity in determining women’s susceptibility to health risks, experiences of poor health and accessibility of medical services. Inequalities based in gender in the allocation of resources like education, income, political, economic and social participation, as well as health care are linked to reduced welfare and poor health. References Carlson, K., Eisenstat, S., & Ziporyn, T. (2004). The new Harvard guide to womens health. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Chakravarty, U. (2003). Gendering caste through a feminist lens. Calcutta: Stree. Ciment, J. (2015). Social Issues in America. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Goldman, M., Troisi, R., & Rexrode, K. (2013). Women and health. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. McDonnell, K. (2003). Not an easy choice. Toronto: Second Story Press. Muller, W. (2012). The Criminalization of Abortion in the West: Its Origin in Medieval Law. New York: Cornell University Press. Napierala, S. (1994). Water birth. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey. Northrup, C. (2006). Mother-daughter wisdom. New York: Bantam Books. Reagan, L. (1997). When abortion was a crime. Berkeley: University of California Press. Spinelli, M. (2003). Infanticide. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub. Read More