I think that there are similarities and dissimilarities between these women and women in our contemporary America. As far as dissimilarities go the main one that immediately comes to my mind is that we don't execute someone for infanticide.
However, some similarities are that abortion is definitely an issue facing contemporary America, and getting pregnant without being married is looked down upon. I also think that TCU students are watched even closer when it comes to these issues. TCU is a small school and some people can be pretty judgmental.
Obviously women today have means to control their reproductive systems, like contraceptives to help prevent pregnancy, but I definitely think that women are still stigmatized. I mean as far as pregnancy goes, when a woman gets pregnant usually there is a lot more shame placed on the woman. After all, she is the one who is actually going to show the physical signs of being pregnant. But I do want to say that I don't think that the guy has it all easy either. Also, when a guy hooks up with a bunch of girls no one really says anything, but if a girl does the same she is called a slut. So, I think that like these women the women in contemporary America also feel pressure from society and are viewed differently than men.
Although we've outlawed hanging for such "crimes" I think we have developed other ways to punish women for these activities. It's not necessarily a physical punishment as much as an emotional one. The emotional pain associated with abortion/infanticide is very powerful and the shame society can place upon the women is a pretty intense punishment.
2 comments:
I agree that we have switched from a physical punishment to an emotional one for transgressive women. I think that was really well put and something I wish I had thought of. You are dead on- a woman who has an abortion will not face capital punishment but she will face the judgement of her peers and stigmatization. And that is a horrible punishment too.
Your last point was a really good, I didn’t even think about it before. There is still a TON of stigma for having an abortion because I mean really, probably at least half the country thinks that having an abortion is the equivalent to infanticide anyway. I think that radical Christian groups don’t do this as often as they used to, but a few decades ago, there were a lot of cases of abortion clinics being blown up and of women being heckled as they went into them. I think this in itself shows how much of an issue pregnancy and abortion are in today’s society.
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