Hi again! Yeah, today we are talking about how nobody, and I mean NOBODY has the right to tell you what to do with your body... Government Meddling. The patriarch's attempt at controlling women just never stops does it?
So, for eons, women have helped their sisters, daughters, friends, nieces, community members with their personal body health. We supported one another when we wanted to make babies, and we supported each other when we didn't. We supported one another when our pregnancies were going well, and we supported each other when they weren't. We supported one another during the rite of passage we forget is the labor and birth process and during the precious, vulnerable time afterward.
Did we need someone to tell us how to do that right? No.
Did we need someone to regulate whether or not we were qualified to help each other? No.
Did we need anyone to approve of who we chose to support us? No.
Let me give you a very recent, very pungent history lesson on regulating women's support in health care situations:
During the civil war, the state of hospitals and tent cities where the wounded were being cared for was often disgusting, disorganized and full of neglect, disease and death.
UNTIL.... women stepped in and cleaned, fed and encouraged the soldiers. They weren't even paid. They often paid for supplied THEMSELVES by selling their possessions to buy food, cleaning and medical supplies that the government was not providing. The male doctors resented their presence. Yeah, it's true. RESENTED the women who came in and actually saved the lives they weren't saving. The audacity of these women to just come in, and "take over" sanitation, hygiene, dietary and nursing aid! How dare they? Shouldn't they have PERMISSION from the doctors to help? Shouldn't the men be IN CHARGE of the women?
Mary Ann Bickerdyke of Illinois was one of those women who carried on the work that needed doing - without permission or help! Once, a snarling military doctor asked her where her authority came from. She replied "On the authority of the Lord God Almighty. Have you anything that outranks that?"
Ms Bickerdyke was in many ways, a doula to those soldiers.
Sounds familiar, right?
Today, we still have patriarchal systems expecting to have control over women, how they are allowed to help other women. And God forbid that they should ever step foot into a hospital to perform kindness, protection, provision, education, or any form of support where the doctors are the boss...!
Keep your eyes and ears very sharp to recognize the ways that we currently face the insidious coercive control of doulas. Because in a profit driven medical care system, nobody gets away with autonomy or with setting prisoners free. That might sound a bit harsh, but let's talk about what freedom is...
Freedom is ruled by truth. If you're given anything but the whole, untainted truth, then you are a prisoner to the lie.
How can you make a truly free choice if you don't know the whole truth?
How can you operate in the freedom of your own body when you are pressured to make a decision?
I encourage my clients and my students, that if something seems off, if something doesn't sound like the whole truth, to keep asking specifics. There is NEVER any reason for you to give a "YES" to any procedure unless you understand it fully. Your care provider owes you a full, and clear, understandable explanation of why something is necessary and how it will affect the outcome. VERY rarely is anything that much of an emergency that you should give up free agency of your own body, to comply without any answers. How will you know if it's a real emergency? Ask your doula. If she's trained right, she will know.
BRAINS
B - Benefits
R - Risks
A - Alternatives
I - Intuition
N - Nothing, Not Now
S - Space to Decide
Stay tuned. This week we will continue hitting hard on this topic.
Have a great Tuesday!
This week, in honor of presidents day 🤨 we want to highlight a “Down with the Patriarchy” theme… We are creating a coupon code for 10% off any program over $400, good for use all week.
Use coupon code DWTP10
(yes, that stands for Down With The Patriarchy - sorry, not sorry)
Comments