On Women's Equality

"Do you think we are currently living in a good time for women in history? Will we look back at this time period in the future and say that there was equality?"

I actually haven't educated myself a lot on women's equality, but overall, I think we are living in a good time for women in history. I personally have never felt slighted in the classroom or in the workplace because I'm a woman; though, the latter might be because I work at an all girls school. I've never felt as though something was impossible because I am a woman. However, I think today is hard for women in other ways: the celebration of birth control, the "right" to abortion, and the over-sexualization of women in the media.

I am thankful I have never had birth control pushed on me. The only discussion I think I've had with a doctor about it was after the birth of each of my children when I was asked what birth control methods I was thinking about. I found the question a little offensive, but I explained that I wouldn't be using any and would consider Natural Family Planning in the event that we would decide to postpone children. Although contraception can seemingly be used to regulate irregular cycles or help balance hormones and not just attempt to prevent pregnancy, it's actually not good for women. Additionally, I've heard, though haven't researched in depth because it doesn't apply to me at the moment, there's NaProTechnology that can help actually solve, rather than mask, many of the reasons birth control is prescribed by doctors. There are different methods of Natural Family Planning, but I'm only directly familiar with the Sympto-Thermal Method, which is the one I learned when Chris and I were engaged. Natural Family Planning can be difficult, but it's natural and through it, we can better understand our bodies instead of just medicating them.

Additionally, birth control can cause abortions. Not only does abortion kill a baby, which is why I think I have been opposed to abortion since I realized what it was, I have been learning more recently how abortion hurts women. There's a group called Silent No More than works to support women who have had abortions. Abby Johnson started And Then There Were None to help support women who decide to leave Planned Parenthood; many of those working there have had abortions themselves. I really hope we can look back someday as a society and see abortion not as a right to be celebrated but as something to be avoided.

Lastly, I still don't understand why women have to be portrayed as sexual objects in the media; whether it's in advertisements in the grocery store, ads on TV, in songs and in music videos, in TV or  movies or video games, media can be over-saturated with the idea of a woman as a sexual object. I hope as a society, we can overcome this and more so start to portray women as beautiful and with respect rather than over-emphasizing a woman's sexuality. I personally, along with my husband, try to monitor what media is consumed in the house: what TV shows or movies we watch or what video games we play.

I haven't actually read it yet, but there's an apostolic letter written by Pope John Paul II called Mulieris Dignitatem that speaks to the dignity of women. Also, the Catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes the inherent dignity of both men and women and in regards to their sexuality, especially within its explanation of the sixth commandment. When we, in our individual relationships and as a society, can better recognize the beauty and dignity of women more thoroughly, we'll be living in a better time.