the winter makes you laugh a little slower, makes ya talk a little lower about the things you could not show her

the sun is shining again! hurray!

we read an article in my gender & women's studies course by angela davis called "Outcast mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Rights." she talks about how racism and reproduction have gone hand in hand since the days of slavery. female slaves were forced into reproduction, either with their masters or in order to contribute to the property of those masters (to be sold, used for labor, etc).

she also speaks of the cult of motherhood and how this is problematic when looking at the situation. the cult of motherhood refers to the ideology that women are meant to be domestic, child-bearing beings. it stems from the idea that in order to be creative (ie define herself transitioned from child to woman) she must reproduce and define herself this way. however, african american women were not forced to bear children to define themselves in this way, they were forced to bear children solely for their value as a commodity. they were considered surrogate mothers for their children as a product, as well as for their master's children (of whom they had to take responsibility for more than their biological children).

there was also discussion in my lecture about the use of female sterilization to combat the problem of Native American babies being born with FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) instead of dealing with the larger issue of high instances of alcohol and drug abuse among the Native population. sterilization is a form of eugenics which "weeds" out supposed imperfections (another prime example is the WWII genocide of the Jewish population). i was unaware of the sterilization of women. in fact, it had never occurred to me that this could be done. the solution isn't to sterilize women, but to care for the larger issues regarding gender and race.