Stigmatization of Women's Reproductive Health

Stigmatization

Stigmatization "involves the process of branding, labeling, or otherwise singling out individuals to signify their difference”. This type of process can develop over a long period of time, resulting in deep rooted stigma that can often be difficult to reverse. More specifically, "stigmatization manifests itself through discriminatory attitudes and stereotypes attached to labels that foster devaluing, discrediting, marginalizing, disempowering or excluding, and rejecting individuals”. In the case of women’s reproductive health, stigmatization can be found at nearly all societal levels. Whether it be menstrual cycles, obtaining contraceptives, abortion, breastfeeding, miscarriages or losing a baby, factors such as age, religion, and especially the role of gender interplay at the societal level to cause discriminatory feelings, outcasting, shame, and guilt.

Reproductive Health and Women's Rights

Women's reproductive health is a social problem to do with deep rooted stigmatization and a long history of female disempowerment. This means that the direct implications of women's health effects everyone in society. When women feel empowered to have control over their bodies, the world will be a much safer and happier place for all.

Women’s reproductive health is a broad area of research and study across a variety of academic disciplines, focusing on the multifaceted process of reproduction, child bearing, prevention/protection, and ultimately female body empowerment. In a broad sense, the aim of reproductive health in a female context is “understanding the unique needs of women and girls in general and from the focus on the gendered, diverse, and contextual dimensions of women’s health”.

Many of the key issues surrounding the stigmatization of women’s health and barriers to care are often centred around “the specific contexts, cultural norms, and meanings of reproductive choices, constructions of femininity, motherhood, and womanhood are embodied and manifested in health consequences”. This stigma often stems from things such as birth place, place of residence, cultural practices, traditions, religious affiliations and family or personal values just to name a few.

From the feminist perspective, “reproductive justice advocates, who have often directed their critiques at mainstream reproductive rights organizations, have worked to push mainstream feminists beyond understanding abortion as the single most important women's issue”, to better advocate and understand women’s reproductive rights as a multidimensional umbrella term to empower freedom of choice for one’s own body. According to this perspective, in order to break the stigma surrounding reproductive health, the right to have full control over one’s body and the freedom to make informed choices must be established. Even in North America, where it is often deemed the land of the free, there are still many barriers and stigma surrounding women seeking reproductive healthcare that are often overlooked or forgotten about by those who do not have direct experience dealing with these social inequalities.

Stigmatized Topics in Women's Reproductive Health

Pre-Marital Sex and Pregnancy

In North American culture, as well as, many others around the world, premarital sex is often taboo, especially among highly Christian or otherwise religious communities. The interplay between “churches and states may stigmatize sex, both because of a concern about the welfare of their flocks and the need to control the cost of charity associated with out-of-wedlock births”. “The church-cum-state works to stigmatize premarital sex”; however, while the government tends to focus on the economic burdens, the church bases evidence on religious scripture in order provide a sort of reasoning behind premarital sex as being sinful.Therefore, “a girl or parent who violates these proscriptions may bear a mark of disgrace or discredit, with the church, state or community. Label this stigma, whose archaic meaning is ‘a scar left by a hot iron'".

In the minds of many, sexual relations out-of-wedlock especially those resulting in unexpected pregnancies and births have “potential costs for a young woman: it may reduce her educational and job opportunities; it may hurt her mating prospects on the marriage market; she may feel shame or stigma”. Due to the social norms surrounding premarital sex, some individuals believe that it can ruin girls lives resulting in a cycle of women being shunned from their respective communities. The result of “unmarried motherhood has a long history of shame, projected onto the ‘illegitimate’ (bastard) child”.

Abortion

This image depicts a pro-choice movement in the United States. 'My body, my choice' has become a slogan to reduce the stigma surrounding abortion, as well as, to empower women to have the freedom to make an informed and personally desired choices without fear.

An abortion is the removal of embryonic cells or a developing baby in utero, prior to birth. Abortions may be required for many different reasons including medical, a matter of personal choice, or for religious reasons among others; however, the topic of abortion rights is centred around the choice and freedom to make decisions for one’s own body without restriction or shame. It is important to note that for many survivors, abortion is a lived experience and should not be addressed "as simply a moral, political, or intellectual discourse".

In the context of North America, abortion rights and laws have been a topic of hot debate, especially in the United States. Specifically within the American context, “contention and social disapproval surrounding abortion both perpetuate and are perpetuated by stigma". The stigma surrounding abortion in America is two-fold: crossing the bounds between “the experience of those seeking this health service as well as those engaged in its provision”. This issue is not simple reserved for those requiring the health service; therefore,“individuals who have had an abortion, performed one, or become embedded in abortion controversy are vulnerable to stigmatization because of the meanings that society attaches to abortion and how those meanings ‘disgrace’ the individual”.

Reducing Stigma

After addressing some of the issues central to the stigmatization of women’s reproductive care, it is important to note that society is slowly moving in the right direction. Today we see women’s movements engaging in the discussion of gender inequality and the freedom of choice. It is without a doubt that more women today have the rights to their own bodies and feel in control of their reproductive health. While this is not the case for all North Americans, as there is still a very long way to go, the gaps between what was once perceived to be right and wrong are increasingly blurry and women are gaining the ability to make choices without fear of guilt or shame. When it comes to abortion specifically, which is often the most debated topic in the stigmatization of reproductive health, it is imperative to the removal of stigma that we reframe “abortion work from a burden into a privilege is an effective strategy for those who provide abortion care, as is recalibrating, a strategy of more weight to positive aspects of the work”. Many women today still do not feel as though they have the right to choice what is best for their bodies. We must restructure the social constructs of shame and disempowerment if we are ever going to make a positive change for women around the world. Empowered women empower women and in order to break the cycle of stigma surround women’s reproductive health we must honour a society with gender equality and the rights to personal decision making.

References

Lauren Newell-Madu