Radical Doula

I’m excited to announce this upcoming Washington DC event for three reasons. One, I helped to organize it. Two, it brings together two of my favorite topics, birth and abortion. Three, it happens to fall on my birthday! If you are in the DC area, you should come to the event, and wish me a happy birthday.

Intentional Motherhood: Connecting Abortion, Pregnancy, and Birth
Considering the full range of women’s reproductive rights:

The right to affordable birth control.
The right to parent.
The right to choose abortion.
The right to midwifery care.
The right to determine a birth plan.
The right to prenatal care.

Our Bodies Ourselves has provided indispensable information on women’s health and sexuality for more than 40 years. Their newest book, Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth addresses the questions and needs of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the “fourth trimester” of early motherhood.

The DC Abortion Fund is excited to host a a book signing and discussion to explore the many connections between these issues.

Featuring
Judy Norsigian, Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
Alexis Zepeda, Board Member, DC Abortion Fund
Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel, National Women’s Law Center

Wednesday May 28, 6:30 pm
Hawk ‘n’ Dove, 329 Pennsylvania Ave SE
Capital South Metro

Suggested Donation: $20

All Proceeds Benefit the DC Abortion Fund

If you have questions or are interested in co-sponsoring this event, please contact Betsy Illingworth at betsyillingworth@yahoo.com or Dina Morad at dinamorad@gmail.com

I have yet to read the new OBOS book, but so far I have heard good things about it. After reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting during my thesis work in college, I know we are in desperate need of good pregnancy books that don’t scare women. It’s also a good book because its pretty affordable–only $15! We will be raffling off some books at the event, and Judy Norsigian will be there to sign copies.

Hope you can make it!

I hope all you mother’s out there enjoyed this weekend. I recently joined an anti-shackling coalition spearheaded by the Rebecca Project for Human Rights (shackling of incarcerated women during childbirth, that is). They have been putting out some great materials, including this op-ed, for mother’s day. From the piece:

In most state prisons and jails, restraints are routinely used on pregnant women, including when they are in labor and when they deliver their babies. Only three states — California, Illinois and Vermont — have legislation regulating the use of restraints on pregnant women. In the other 47 states and the District of Columbia, no such laws exist. The use of restraints on pregnant women, particularly on women in labor and giving birth, constitutes a cruel, inhumane and degrading practice that rarely can be justified in terms of security concerns during the delivery process. In the three states that outlawed shackling pregnant inmates, there have been no cases of mothers in labor or delivery escaping or causing harm to themselves, security guards or medical staff.

I’m very excited to be part of this coalition and hope to keep all the RD readers updated on their work.

Ok, so if you ignore the cheesy uplifting pop music (so you wanna change the world…), in addition to the not-so-great graphics (the entering text made my head hurt after a while) the video has a great point. Multiple births (twins, triplets, etc) shouldn’t have to be c-sections. Women can and do birth multiples naturally (even at home! unassisted! in water!) and this video just reiterates that.

What also struck me about the film is the great providers who must have been behind many of those births. Some people might accuse me of being a doctor-basher generally, but from what i know of hospitals and insurance policies, any doctor who is willing to fight for a woman’s right to deliver twins naturally rocks. Same for the midwives too.

And damn, aren’t some of those bellies huge!

via Bellies and Babies

So I don’t usually get this personal at Radical Doula, but this dream felt too relevant not to share. On Friday night, in the middle of facilitating a two-day training (my day job) I had a really vivid dream that I was pregnant. So vivid in fact that it stayed with me throughout most of the day on Saturday.

Now a pregnancy dream might not seem that odd, as I am a doula, and spend quite a bit of time thinking and writing about pregnancy and birth. But put me in the position of pregnant woman? That’s just weird. In the dream I was in New York, and knew I was pregnant, but apparently not how far along. I went to a birth center there (of course, even in my dreams I’ve still got my politics) and they informed me I was about to pop. Like any day. Mind you I was not very big in this dream, just a little tummy.

So then my panicked anxious self kicks in, thinking about how my life will change if I have a baby (I’ll have to move out of my group house!) and how I really want an abortion but its too late. The other thing that flashed through my dream-mind was: I have to find a doula!

A friend today informed me that pregnancy dreams mean something big in your life is about to change. That’s a possibility, but if there is one thing I know for sure, I won’t be getting pregnant in real life anytime soon.

It’s May Day. This holiday of sorts has a long history:

At its national convention in Chicago, held in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor), proclaimed that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886.” The following year, the FOTLU, backed by many Knights of Labor locals, reiterated their proclamation stating that it would be supported by strikes and demonstrations.

In the past few years, because of the seriously anti-immigrant climate, May 1st has been a day for HUGE immigration rallies and marches. This year these marches are happening again, despite some violence on at a rally last year in Los Angeles.

Many people have been reiterating this for a long time, but in light of recent discussions, I want to make it clear: immigration is a feminist issue. It’s a human rights issue. The abuses that have been going on as of late: immigration raids, jails being used as detention centers, families being separated, they matter a lot to me, as the child of immigrants and as a feminist.

So in honor of May Day and the immigration rights movement here is some suggested reading:

The Unapologetic Mexican
Why Immigration is a Matter of Reproductive Justice
An Anti-Trafficking Activist’s Agenda
ACLU Immigrant rights work
WOC PhD has a good post up with events and a video about immigration myths.

This is by no means comprehensive. Please add your links in the comments.

Cross-posted at Feministing

There has been a lot of controversy lately in the feminist blog world. I haven’t commented on any of it (with the exception of one collective post) and this is mainly because I’ve been doing a lot of listening.

I realized in March that I had missed the first birthday of Radical Doula. I only entered into the blog world in February 2007, and really spent most of my first year blogging mostly writing and reading only a few other blogs. It’s been a pretty incredible year, to say the least. I feel grateful to everyone who has respected my thoughts and opinions, and given me larger platforms for my words.

A few recent developments pulled me out of my blogging bubble, so to speak. I began writing for Feministing, which brings with it a whole new level of visibility and participation in the wider blog world. I also attended the Women, Action and Media (WAM) Conference last month, where I met a lot of the faces of the blog world, and it motivated me to expand my regular reading list.

I’m not going to rehash any of what has happened here. Many other already have, and you can look at the links in the first sentence of this post for an entry into some of what has transpired.

So these last few weeks I’ve been listening, and reading, and processing, and learning. I don’t know a lot about the history of these conflicts and it all feels very personal as well. I’m Latina, I write for a big Feminist blog, I know a lot of the individuals who are involved in the controversy. I have my own thoughts and opinions about race and appropriation, but lately I’ve just wanted to hear what’s being said by all parties.

My point in writing this is to let all of you who know and care that I am paying attention. I realize that some not so great things have happened and as difficult as it is at times (why can’t we all just get along?!?) these conversations are necessary, important and probably overdue. I’m not going to chime in with my opinions, because as one friendly blogger pointed out, no one is asking. But rest assured, I’m listening.

Thanks to the handy dandy Google Reader (looking for a quick way to read/skim a lot of blogs? check it out) I stumbled upon a blog called Lesbian Dad. I’ve only just started looking it over, but this caught my eye in the about section:

les•bi•an dad n, neologism 1. a. A lesbian or genderqueer parent who feels that traditionally female titles (i.e., “mother”) don’t quite fit, and who is willing to appropriate and redefine existing male ones (i.e., “father”): She was a tomboy when she was a kid, so it’s not surprising she’s a lesbian dad as a parent. b. Often a non-biological parent in a lesbian family, whose role relative to the child in many ways resembles that of fathers.

Rock on. Sounds pretty rad to me, and I can definitely relate to some of LB’s thoughts on gender and parenting (even though I am not yet a parent). There is even a glossary of terms related to queer parenting. Check it out.

As a queer person, I can’t pass this one up. Ani DiFranco (can’t you just hear the angsty lesbian music cue in the background) has an interview out about her home birth. Aww.

Your music is the soundtrack of my life — I’ve been listening to you since I was 16, and I just turned 30. What is the soundtrack of your life? And, can you tell us why you chose to have a home birth? Would you do it again?
— Mindy Kufahl of Topeka, Kansas

I would definitely choose a homebirth again despite the fear mongering of this patriarchal society, which convinces women that they are incapable of having babies without the intervention of men and their machines. I look at societies where women are marginalized and oppressed their whole lives (even covered head to toe in tarps!) but are still in control of birthing practice, in a whole new way now. I mean, who is really more advanced? To take birthing out of women’s hands and deny us the continuum of eons of wisdom and experience is to eject us from the very seat of our power. I believe that women in hospitals are prevented from being able to have normal, healthy birthing experiences because of the intimidation of being on the clock, being pressured to take drugs to make it quicker, being inhibited in their movement and activities, and alienated by a sterile, fluorescent lit, feet-in-the-air type environment. You know the classic “performance anxiety” of not being able to pee or poo because somebody’s watching you? Multiply that by a million! A cervix is a sphincter after all! Then to add tragic insult to injury women are numbed through their great moment of revelation. I believe the act of giving birth to be the single most miraculous thing a human being can do and it is surely the moment when a lot of women finally understand the depth of their power and connection to all of nature. You think it can’t possibly be done, you think you can’t possibly take the pain, and then you do — and afterward you look at yourself in a whole new way. If you can do that, you can do anything. Check out the books on this subject by Ina May Gaskin. She’s one of my great heroes. P.S. I was in labor for 43 hours. Pushed for five hours. It was brutal and scary and prolonged, and if I was in a hospital, they would have definitely cut the baby out of me. I thank the goddesses that I was at home with patient midwives who knew how to go the distance. The memory of pain always recedes. The memory of triumph does not.

Full interview here. Via The True Face of Birth.

So I’m a little late on this hot news item, but I’ve been trying to process some of the media and reactions before commenting. To get the low-down on the Thomas Beatie situation, read his own testimony about his pregnancy here. In short, he is a transgender man who decided to carry he and his partner’s child.

What has fascinated me most is the media reaction to Thomas’ pregnancy. At first, the media headlines seemed to question his pregnancy: Man claims to be pregnant, read the headlines, instead of Pregnant Woman claims to be Man. The fact that they questioned his pregnancy and not his masculinity was striking.

It seems some people thought the whole thing might be a hoax (maybe because he just looked SO masculine!) but after Thomas went on Oprah and People Magazine, the hoax possibility was disregarded.

What this case brings me back to is the ideas and definitions around gender and sex. When people define what makes someone a “woman” the definitions shift shakily depending on the circumstances. For example, ability to reproduce and birth a child is often cited as a defining category of woman. But, as Judith Butler points out, there are many times in a woman’s life when she is not actually able to birth a child. Before puberty, after menopause, not to mention the larger number of women who experience infertility. Are people who cannot bear children still considered women? Yes.

The gender definition shifts again if you look at chromosomes–women are XX and men are XY. Well, increasingly we are discovering that there are people who aren’t either XX or XY, and that the gender categories don’t fit neatly with the chromosomes either. Same thing with secondary sex characteristics (Women are people with breasts. What about men with breasts? Women without breasts?).

These are things I think about a lot–not just the social construction of gender (the ideas that are associated with men or women, like weakness and strength) but also the social construction of biological sex categories. Particularly being part of a birth activist community, which in many ways is centered around essentialist ideas about gender (women know how to give birth), constantly makes me reflect on how we use these categories, often in ways that are limiting and too narrowly defined.

Thomas Beatie is a very stark example, and an exercise in gender definitions for the general public, who don’t often think about these categories. We take for granted the ways our gender identity (and our biological sex) define and limit who we can be. I believe this is because our gender is at the core of our identities.

Ever walked around in public with a pregnant woman? The primary question she will be asked is “What is it?” referring to the sex of the child. When we call something so fundamental to our identities into question, it is extremely destabilizing.

Is there room in the birth activist movement for more radical ideas about gender and sex? Here’s to hoping.