It's All Society's Fault.
Frederica Matthewes-Green’s essay “The Bitter Price of Choice” explores the controversial right and wrong of abortion. She offers the new idea that the problem of abortion doesn’t lie with the sexual practices of today’s population, but rather with society’s view of unplanned pregnancies.
This idea is interesting to me because, though I believe in pro-choice, I believe her argument is incredibly valid. I personally believe that abortion is wrong, however I believe in the opportunity to do as one pleases. Matthewes-Green’s argument is true, I believe, because of this: if society did not think this about abortion, that setting aside one small life in order to continue your own life, uninterrupted, is okay, is the right thing to do, then why would anyone do it?
In essence, this argument harps on the desensitization of American society. “Back in the day,” before we saw violence and death regularly on television, before television even, before wars left us stunned and awed, the idea of an unborn baby’s death was shocking. Now it is commonplace and leaves us with no more fear than the fear of radiation from televisions or computers scrambling our brains.
Society can be blamed for almost any problem that plagues the modern populace. Society is why women and young girls are bulimic and anorexic, is why more people than ever before are going under the knife for plastic surgery, is why America’s youth are creating back yard wrestling federations and doing “Jackass”-type stunts and subsequently damaging themselves, is why there is such a high homeless and/or addict population, is why… The list goes on.
Matthewes-Green’s essay is enough to make me consider the problem of abortion further, however it doesn’t change my view of pro-choice. It only serves to encourage my rather pessimistic view that man-kind is its own downfall, that society is crushing itself under the weight of its own expectations.
15 comments:
I also do not care for abortions, but at the same time I believe you should have the right/ choice to have an abortion if you deem it necessary. We should not be able to tell women they can not have abortions because every day hundreds of women are raped and they should not be forced to keep an unwanted child that they did not consent on having. And I am with you some what when you say it is society fault that we act the way we act. That’s true but at the same time It’s also the person who follows or do every they see happening in society because we were all born with the instinct of knowing right from wrong.
I disagree with the fact that it is society's fault that the world seems to be falling apart. We are all members of society, so that means that we should be blaming ourselves. If we want to change the way things are we must change our mentality about things. In order to see some sort of change or difference in the world we must make a difference within ourselves. I think Green makes a valid point in saying that it has become more socially acceptable to not have a child than it is to have one out of wedlock. That is because we have allowed it to be this way, so maybe if we change the way we think about tings and become a little more open minded than maybe there wont be so much violence on television, or in the world around us.
I also beleive in pro-choice and I also think that society has a lot to do with teens becoming pregnant because all you see on television is a sex scene in the movies or on regular television. I feel like that has a lot to do also with the high rate of children becoming bilimic and anerexic because they want to look like the celebrities that they see in the movies and on television.
Im for pro-choice also every women should have the right to a choice. I do not really care for abortions but at the same time I feel that it is not my right to judge. You never know what someone story maybe. We all have to take responsibility for our own action but I do agree that society plays a role in some of the things that go on today. Sometime we feel that we have to amount to what society say we do. We have to realize that we cant follow or do everything we see. We are our own person and should follow our own steps instead of trying to go along with society.
Let me suggest that we confine our discussion here to Matthewes-Green's arguments. Agree or disagree with what Wendy's written about the essay.
Otherwise, this comment thread risks becoming just an "everybody say how they feel about abortion" circle, and that's something we could have done whether we'd read Matthewes-Green's essay or not.
It's interesting that you point out that "mandkind is its own downfall, that society is crushing itself." I think Matthewes-Green would agree that our societal expectations of women (of all people, really) are a huge part of the problem.
But she's at least leaving us some room for optimism, a "partial list" of what changes we need to make to our society so that we don't feel like we have to kill children.
Without that optimism (or maybe that's too strong a word--how about hope?), I don't think much will ever get done.
I agree with Wendy when she states that abortion has become "common place" in the world today. All you see in television shows now and days is the same story, girl gets pregnant and has "no other choice" but to abort. The world seems to make abortion the only solution to an unplanned pregnancy and never talks about the other solutions such as adoption. That’s what I believe Matthewes-Green point was...that though the woman ultimately makes the decision there are also outside forces pushing (for lack of a better word) her to make that specific choice.
I completely understand that people should have their own rights, but to me an abortion is nothing more that killing an innocent child. People are put in jail everyday for murder so why does society see it as acceptable to have an abortion. There are other positive solutions to unplanned pregnancies such as adoption. Many couples would do anything to have a child of their own but can't. Sadly, Matthewes-Green's point is very accurate. People do have abortions these days because they don't want to be judged. They want to feel included, not looked down on or feel inferior.
I believe that society plays a big role in woman, children and men. How society looks at them maybe bigger than we think. It's wrong for people to judge you, but its still going to happen. People are always quick to judge and thats why society is to be blamed. They judge you off how you look. And if a woman feels self-consious of how she looks she will change her looks just to be accepted. So if she thinks that being pregnant looks bad on her reputaion she will have that abortion just to fit in.
I have to admit I don't understand the "personally opposed, but it should be legal" position.
I've talked with people before who say they think abortion is wrong but that women should have a right to do it. When I ask them why they think it's wrong, the answer comes back, "Well, it's killing a baby."
And people should have right to kill babies...? I just don't follow that logic.
Now, if someone honestly believes that a fetus is not a human being, I can understand why abortion wouldn't really be a problem. I would disagree with that person strongly, but at least I can respect the logic of his or her position.
The position that says killing a baby is all right, though, just doesn't add up.
Abortion has become a hot topic in society today. It is not unfamiliar for someone to get an abortion. Wendy stated that abortionS are common, and I totally agree with what she is saying. Several years back females would think twice about abortion, but today it seems to be automatic. Who am I to judge another person's decision because everyone has a desire to be successful.
Danielle, I must disagree with your statement, "If society did not [view abortion as] okay..., then why would anyone do it?” There are many different reasons for why someone might choose to have an abortion rather than keeping the baby or giving the baby up for adoption.
Look at rape victims as an example. They have a reason, unrelated to society's view of abortion, for choosing to have an abortion. They also have a reason for not choosing adoption-- they may object to the idea of giving birth to a child whose father is not the person she loves, but the person who raped her.
I completely agree with amanda a. She made some very valid points. Everybody needs to stop pointing fingers at everyone around them and start analyzing there life and how they can make a change. We create our on life and we can control what goes on in it. So its true we do need to change our mentality about things.
I agree with Amanda in that people need to start taking responsibility for their actions instead allowing the world to go down hill. Many individuals in today’s society are playing the blame game. We need to look at what really matters and go by what we believe is right instead of letting outside sources sway our views.
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