An Exploration of Reproductive Justice
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Illustration by Laura Hodkin.
Illustration by Nuria Just.
“Art is not a question
of making sense of the world, it’s doing what you need to do.” Dame Paula Rego on her abortion series, then and now.
In my day, there wasn’t any reproductive healthcare to access. There was no sex education, my mother told me nothing, people felt embarrassed about their bodies. It was easier to find out how frogs reproduce than humans. There was a lot of misinformation. Ridiculous. Information and access to contraception needs to be freely available and straight forward. Reproductive rights have changed in that it is no longer illegal to have “ an abortion in Portugal or the UK. You can even do it on the NHS. It’s a blissful relief.
is always pressure to control women’s reproductive rights and in some places progress is unravelling. I understand that in the US some states are making it almost impossible to get a safe abortion. This won’t stop abortions. It was illegal in my day too, and all that meant was that if you were rich, you went to another country to have it done, and if you weren’t, you had to resort to local backstreet solutions. So not only do women have to suffer they are criminalised as well. What’s the point of that? Women don’t have abortions for fun; they have them because they are desperate.
When my “Women were made to feel Goodness knows Abortion Series shame, but the real why abortion remains was first shown at such a heavily ey th at th is e am sh the Gulbenkian, contested issue. the critics talked were made to suffer.””” Men seem to want about the colours to control women’s and the technique, bodies. Women were and none of them made to feel shame about talked about the subject having an abortion but the real matter; they were embarrassed. shame is that they were made to But people knew, they could see what suffer. Women’s reproductive rights they were about. They were untitled are also men’s; after all we don’t get because I didn’t think the pictures pregnant by ourselves, do we? needed individual titles. You can see what they are. If there was a backlash My advice to young people wanting to against the paintings, I didn’t notice. take on political issues in their artistic They were very important for me to practice is to go ahead, paint what you do as so many women had suffered like. Art is not a question of making from unsafe abortions. sense of the world, it’s doing what you need to do. You must do what you feel Unfortunately, my abortion paintings strongly about - courage is important. are still relevant today because there
What Rage Has
Taught Me
By Courtney Love
When thinking of a person who has a funny novelty film to hear the always stood their ground, who has faced Pogues sing sea shanties every night the world as a woman unapologetically drunk on sangria. The first film set I and unafraid to disrupt — Courtney Love was ever on was Sam Peckinpah’s last is one of the first people that springs to film, the “Osterman Weekend”. I my mind. Watching her perform and worked sort of in Paramount Studios listening to her lyrics taught me the power wardrobe department, and was the in being as loud and unashamed of who recipient of miraculous gowns from you are. In a world that urges femmes to the 1920s silent era of films with be quiet, agreeable, and content; Courtney some forgotten and some not stars showed me that our — sometimes messy — names sewn in, so had a magnificent emotions are not to be locked up with a wardrobe early in Hollywood. thrown away key. Below, her words on finding the balance between rage My friends and I in bands, and mindfulness, and her musings we also ran into a lot of on language and power, men trying to hurt seem more pressing us, in my case to “Disruption should make than ever. fuck with me on - Ione Gamble epic levels, we others uncomfortable, should didn’t have victim make you feel I am lucky in that I language like you cringey and prickly have a creative outlet do now. All I and most of all it should cause for my opinions; could do to say change.”” my music. If I write was write a song, a song it is because (Retard Girl) and I have something to stand in the street with one say. Back when I was a kid shoe and runny mascara and coming around, coming up, I was hitchhiking back to Hollywood incredibly fortunate to run into Blvd from Melrose. But to go to many genius loci spirits of place, and Hollywood LAPD? A punk girl? mad coincidence that shaped me. Late 80s? A stripper? Attempted what? They’d have thrown me Joe Strummer was my great friend for in the dumpster, I mean it. You a bit — stuff like that. I saw Echo and ladies are lucky. Don’t waste your the Bunnymen rehearsing “Killing resources crying wolf every time you Moon” and covering “Marquis feel annoyed. Moon”, I met Tom Cruise at Charlie Sheen’s house, shit that’s incredible. In my opinion, outspoken women I lived in ley lines. I was privy on are demonised and belittled by our
To The Opposition...
Photography by Chloe Sheppard.
A Letter By Kenny Ethan Jones
To the opposition, Freedom of speech but no freedom of body. Where is the sense? Where is the humanity? There is no right answer, but there should be a choice.
class issue. Abortions are used to help manage households in many ways. It’s a way to protect income, as having another child is a big financial commitment. Having a break between births is a way to ensure that each child receives the amount of attention, loving and general life schooling that they deserve.
I write this to you from the depths of my concerns. Why shouldn’t we, as humans, have a choice? What about trans men, intersex and non-binary individuals? This group, my I’m sad that people who can conceive group, will be highly affected. As a pre-op have no control over their own trans man currently taking testosterone, bodies. I’m sad that many people becoming pregnant is a slim, but real, will be forced to parent a child they possibility of mine. There is a massive find so hard to love. I’m sad that lack in both research and knowledge many children won’t have a place when it comes to trans people; we to call home. I’m sad that children already lack ethical healthcare and this will be forced to raise children. I’m acts as another form of blacklisting. As sad that one-night love affairs could Megan Crabbe, aka @bodyposipanda, so leave a life-long consequence. immaculately worded on her Instagram, _____________ “these bans are attacks on bodily autonomy & safety of anyone who owns I don’t believe that banning abortions a uterus (inc. women, trans men & nonserves any good to the human race; binary people)”. in fact, I believe it will create more problems. Overpopulation is a crisis We are stripping people of their this ban feeds. People will start to human rights. Children can be the seek unregulated options out of most beautiful, fulfilling and rewarding pure desperation. Forcing people creation to a willing parent. to parent a child that they are not anticipating or equipped to deal I urge you to reconsider your opposed with is a fast-track to depression. opinion from a selfless and logical point Many children will be raised without of view, for the better good of all humans experiencing a wholesome, loving and for living a fruitful life. Thank you. home. Signed, What about how this directly affects Kenny Ethan Jones low-income households? This is a
As a child I was horrendously nosey, and one of my favourite things to do was look at my family’s text messages on their phones when they’d leave their phone around. This was waaaay before the conversations were laid out for you like iMessage. I remember gawking through the ‘inbox’, then ‘sent box’ to try and put the conversations together. As you can imagine, I found out a fair amount of shit that a kid probably shouldn’t. When I was 10, I found a text between my mum and my auntie, (who I lived with) explaining that my mum had had an abortion. I’m not sure how I knew what an abortion was at 10 years old — I don’t think we’d got taught it at schools then — I’d probably read about it somewhere or seen it in a film. I remember it sitting with me in my stomach, feeling heavy and sad about it because I was only seeing it from such a selfish point of view. As an only child, all I could think about was that my mum had wrecked my chances at having a sibling that I wanted so badly. As I got older, and more exposed to the horrors of this world, and especially people, I understood my mother’s choice more and more, and now looking back on it at 23 years old, it’s so clear that an abortion was her only choice. I spoke to her for this piece because she’s the person I’ve known the longest who’s had one, and the person I’d want with me if I had one. I’ve thought about it and suppose it’s quite an odd
conversation, and somewhat hypocritical to have for this piece. I feel like a pro-lifer would say “you do realise if your mum had aborted you, you wouldn’t be able to write this, blah blah blah.” My imagined reply to that would highlight the difference in situations between my dad and the scum she got pregnant with after, and that in certain circumstances abortion is the only choice, and that the need for it to be safe and legal is so so key. My mum is quite different to me in some of her views. In this she uses the term ‘loose’, talks about feeling old at 35, and I see the internalised misogyny that I try to get her to unlearn because it isn’t right. I knew that before her abortion, she would’ve felt against them. One of those classic ‘I didn’t realise I should care about this until it happened to me’ things, no offense mum. I hadn’t really ever had a proper conversation with her about her abortion, (why would I, and expose my sneaky 10 year old ways?) until now. My mum was adopted when she was born, suffered with terrible anxiety when I was a child which meant I couldn’t live with her, and as I found out when I got older, had gotten pregnant with an abusive piece of shit, meaning she needed
How Fatphobia Impacts My Reproductive Healthcare By Ashleigh Tribble. Illustration by Abril Carissimo Ashleigh Tribble is a sex-positive seen as consequential of an “unhealthy activist and inf luencer based in lifestyle”, they have been diagnosed as Brooklyn “obesity” and even at the forefront of an “epidemic”, we’re still denied health When I talk about my experiences insurance and access to dignified and with fatphobia, I find that people respectful healthcare. A usual trip are still confused about the full to the gynaecologist for those with extent of how much of my life it vaginas can be stressful enough. But affects. We are just now listening the judgement that fat women usually to how the fashion industry loves face when it comes to our sexuality to pretend that people larger than and sex lives plays a role as well. Since a size 18 don’t exist, so with the fat women are not seen as “desirable” current conversations surrounding or conventionally attractive, we are “body positivity” and “sex assumed to not have active or even positivity”, I don’t understand the fulfilling sexual relationships; the continued cognitive dissonance trope of the “desperate fat girl” towards fat women actually continues to perpetuate the lack of having sex and needing access to sexual autonomy projected onto us. reproductive healthcare as well. What I’ve found ever since I started first having sex at 18 was that this trope Another issue that we deal with also extended to my gynaecological when it comes to fatphobia is how visits as well. Before I even started it affects our access to healthcare having sex, my mother, my babysitter through inherent bias against and many others thought that because larger bodies in the medical I was upset about not being desirable, I industry. Since our bodies are still would be desperate enough to not only
Panteha Abareshi, Afrosexology,Eve Archer, Ashley Armitage, Theresa Baxter, Sofie Birkin, Hannah Buckman, Abril Carissimo, Maisie Cousins, Luisa Le Voguer Couyet, Stella Creasy, Mila Gonzalez, Tania Guerra, Harriet Harman, Laura Hodkin, Kai Isaiah Jamal, Maisie Jo, Kenny Ethan Jones, Nuria Just, Handi Kim, The Feminist Library, Courtney Love, Chao Luong, Rene Matic, Rosa Mercuriadis, Bernice Mulenga, Polly Nor, Clio Peppiatt, Signe Pierce, Ranafarba, Ruby Rare, Dame Paula Rego, Honey Ross, Chloe Sheppard, Jacky Sheridan, Tulip Siddiq, Sayang Sounds, Marlena Synchyshyn, Ashleigh Tribble, Tori West, Dream Wife, and Melek Zertal.