Among the many accomplishments that were achieved during the three waves of feminism, many would argue that the most significant accomplishment was gaining reproductive rights, as it gave women the right to have full control over their bodies and, ultimately, their lives. Seeing how significant this right was and still is for women, it is a shame to see that in this day and age, low-income women have the very limited access to exercise this right that our previous feminists fought so tirelessly for.
In the Bitch article, “Reliable Birth Control Should Be For Everyone—Including Low-Income Folks,” the author Valerie Tarico explore this very idea of unequal accessibility and argues that effective birth control methods should be made accessible …show more content…
Because class privilege directly relates back to the social class hierarchy, we can categorize those who are materially advantaged as the middle class and those who are materially disadvantaged as the lower working class. While many would argue that class privilege isn’t a problem for the US since we have a democratic government in place, I would rebuttal that by pointing out that because we also have a capitalist government, it is essentially impossible for our nation to function without forcing individuals to be placed in social classes. Now going back to the topic of unequal accessibility to birth control, this notion of class privilege is clearly evident here, as those who are materially advantaged appear to have easier access to effective, “state-of-the-art” contraceptives than low-income women. Due to this injustice, women of low-income status are statistically shown as having more unintended pregnancies than women from the middle class. While money is the key component of class privilege, other aspects can contribute to this problem, such as having access to sexual health education If low-income women have limited or no exposure to sex education, then of course it is no surprise why they …show more content…
While this concept may not be as prominent as the other concepts discussed, it certainly doesn’t take away from the fact that it is still very much real and, indeed, problematic. Because the US is a capitalist country, the notion of free market is widely accepted and exercised; therefore, it is no surprise that the pharmaceutical industry has begun to take over and market birth control. The industry is well aware that the demand for effective contraceptives is there, and the industry is also aware that the majority of women purchasing these contraceptives are from the middle class; therefore, they take advantage of this and willingly set high price tags to them. Another aspect to concentrate on when analyzing Hooks’ concept is the idea of patriarchy. While Tarico’s article makes very little references to the existence of patriarchy in our society, I strongly believe that patriarchy is very much evident in the medical system and a great contributor to the issue at hand. Because the medical system is
In the Bitch article, “Reliable Birth Control Should Be For Everyone—Including Low-Income Folks,” the author Valerie Tarico explore this very idea of unequal accessibility and argues that effective birth control methods should be made accessible …show more content…
Because class privilege directly relates back to the social class hierarchy, we can categorize those who are materially advantaged as the middle class and those who are materially disadvantaged as the lower working class. While many would argue that class privilege isn’t a problem for the US since we have a democratic government in place, I would rebuttal that by pointing out that because we also have a capitalist government, it is essentially impossible for our nation to function without forcing individuals to be placed in social classes. Now going back to the topic of unequal accessibility to birth control, this notion of class privilege is clearly evident here, as those who are materially advantaged appear to have easier access to effective, “state-of-the-art” contraceptives than low-income women. Due to this injustice, women of low-income status are statistically shown as having more unintended pregnancies than women from the middle class. While money is the key component of class privilege, other aspects can contribute to this problem, such as having access to sexual health education If low-income women have limited or no exposure to sex education, then of course it is no surprise why they …show more content…
While this concept may not be as prominent as the other concepts discussed, it certainly doesn’t take away from the fact that it is still very much real and, indeed, problematic. Because the US is a capitalist country, the notion of free market is widely accepted and exercised; therefore, it is no surprise that the pharmaceutical industry has begun to take over and market birth control. The industry is well aware that the demand for effective contraceptives is there, and the industry is also aware that the majority of women purchasing these contraceptives are from the middle class; therefore, they take advantage of this and willingly set high price tags to them. Another aspect to concentrate on when analyzing Hooks’ concept is the idea of patriarchy. While Tarico’s article makes very little references to the existence of patriarchy in our society, I strongly believe that patriarchy is very much evident in the medical system and a great contributor to the issue at hand. Because the medical system is