Have
you seen the Daily Show for Wednesday, November 14? Stewart pointed out
one of the ways that conservatives are trying to analyze and discuss the election. It seems that more married women voted for Romney, and
more single women voted for Obama.
The
language used in this discussion upsets me. The implied assumption about women
upsets me as well. For example:
Single
women aren’t the only ones using birth control. Married women use birth
control. Birth control is incredibly expensive. Everyone, single or married,
likes free things. This includes
birth control. And it’s not even free because one has to be able to afford
insurance in order to have access to “free” birth control. It’s just that birth
control pills are included in insurance premiums now. Those who cannot afford
health insurance do not magically get free birth control every month. And what
about those who cannot have birth control pills because of other health
reasons? The Pill may be covered, but other forms of contraception are not.
Also,
men like not having to pay $30 co-pays for birth control, too.
Some
married women don’t want to get pregnant or have kids. Some single women want
to get pregnant and have kids.
Some women get married, have children, get divorced, and then become single women.
Single
women aren’t the only women having abortions. Married women have abortions. Some
married women have unwanted pregnancies. Planned Parenthood points out “Women
face years and years of reproductive life after they’ve completed their
families, and they’re at risk of an unintended pregnancy that can create an
economic strain.”
Married women like having access to
reproductive health care the same as single women.
Reproductive healthcare is more than just abortions. It's more than birth control. It's cancer screening, pap smears, STD and STI testing and treatment, fertility treatment, just to name a few.
According
to an article by MSNBC, “half of the roughly 1.2 million U.S. women who have
abortions each year are 25 or older.”
Just
because a woman isn’t married it doesn’t mean she’s single. Some unmarried
women live with their partners. Some will get married at some point. Some will
not. Not every person who is dating, partnered, or living together will get
married.
Women
don’t vote with their vaginas. Saying this statement is as sexist as saying men
think with their dicks. Humans think with their brains.
Single
women are not “one issue voters” any more than any other voting demographic. To
say that single women are one issue voters implies that single women lack depth
and critical thinking in their lives. Would this statement be said about any
other demographic?
The United Nations recently declared access to birth control a “human right.”
There
hundreds of other reasons why women might vote for Obama, rather than
abortions. Saying women voted for Obama because of abortions seems to imply
that all women just love to kill babies.
There are hundreds of reasons why a woman might vote for Romney. Saying that a married woman would vote for Romney because she has a family and is concerned about her children and the future traps women in the sphere of domesticity and fails to see the complexity of women's lives.
I’m
sure not every woman who voted for Obama is pro-choice. I’m sure not every
woman who voted for Romney is pro-life.
Saying
“married women think about the future of their children” implies that single
women do not think about the future of their children. It implies that men are
not thinking about the future of their children. This implies that women’s main
concern is with children, when there are some women who do not even like
children.
To
say that single women are “one issue voters” and that “married women think
about the future of their children” implies that single women need marriage and
domesticity to grow and mature as human beings.
Single
women care about their households. Married women care about their households.
Men care about their households. This is a blanket statement that implies that
a woman’s realm is within the home, that the home is a woman’s main concern in
her life. This implies that women do not have concerns about other areas of
life and society.
Single
women care about the future. Most people “care about the future.” Saying that
women who voted for Romney “care about the future” implies that women who voted
for Obama don’t care about the future. The people who voted for both candidates
care about the future. Voting in itself is an expression of “caring about the future.”
Men
care about birth control, too. They also care about women’s access to
reproductive health care.
But what do I know? I'm just a married woman.
