(Final Blog Post)
There are some very important topics that I find myself very drawn to recently. They are not new but not very well expressed, I feel, when it comes to deal with bodily rights. Most of the time when you hear about abortion, euthanasia, and sex work it is almost always in a negative, firmly enveloped in moral and religious thought. Yet, what do we really believe, and what are we really saying “No” too? Regardless of how we feel morally as an individual we must realize that imposing our own biases on others wrong socially, and realistically. In the following paragraph I will show how sex work, abortion, and euthanasia are just rights people have in deciding what to do with their own bodies as individuals.
To start with lets jump into the most promiscuous topic first, and that is sex work. Now, most people, when they think about sex workers they think filthy prostitutes that are forced into that sex driven situation that need saving. While some serious situations call for that and it is very honorable, mostly it is not true. Prostitutes or sex workers are not all forced into that life, 8 times out of 10, they choose it. Women and men alike give verbal consent because they want to, not because they are forced to. I feel that sex work should not be frowned upon nor cast in a bad light because we as a society want to pretend. We want to believe that we have holistic morals that everyone should follow regardless if we achieve it or not. It is illogical to portray sex as what we see on television or in movies, and it is even more illogical to force others to adhere to standards they cannot even achieve themselves. Each person has a right to do whatever they deem fit to their body. Some of the blatant and obvious misconceptions in regards to sex work is that if the sex worker is female she is instantly considered a slut, but if it were a man it would just be chalked up to manly urges. For the record, men and women both have bodily rights to themselves, and when I say that I imply the fact that they are consenting adults. Being of legal age and choosing that life is fully and whole heartedly up to the individual. Being seen as a sex worker may not appear to be the most sought after job but it is a job none-the-less that deserves some respect and enables people to handle their body as they deem fit.
For my second topic I will address the ever controversial topic of abortion. This topic has been debated on time and time again, and is still a continuous issue for many today. Though, at the end of the day it all has to do with a women’s right to choose what happens to her body. People (meaning mostly men) feel that they should not only have a say, but be the determining decision in regards to pregnancy. No man, nor woman has the right to tell another individual what should and should not be growing inside them. Although, it is not just some certain individuals that want to take that away, it is the government as well. Both trying to to claim that it can be considered murder, and that “everyone” has a right to live; well that would be true if the fetus was considered a person, which it legally is not. In order for anyone to be legally considered “human/individual person” they must have first taken their (first) breathe of air. Thus determining that they were fully developed and born and thus had legal and sufficient rights to life. They would also have to determine what time during conception it is biologically considered a person, and based upon that biological stand point there is no way of determining that. So basically the whole claim of murder and right to life does not hold water in regards to abortion. People/Society in general need to stop passing judgment on to other’s choices involving their own bodies and focus on more pression matters such as domestic and foreign issues. This is because I feel that the issue of one’s body is not a matter of another individual nor a matter of church and state.
The last but certainly not least topic is the severely determining factor of euthanasia. For the past two topics we have discussed rights that are in effect while people are still alive, well I feel we should continue to have that same right when we are deciding our own death. Deciding one’s own death should be no different since it stems from them choosing what they want done to their own body. Most would call this suicide and to others would call it sin, but is it really such a menacing threat?Is deciding for ourselves and our body really a threat to others? The right to take your life or have others benefit you with your choice on the matter is completely fair and just. I see it as a kindness rather than giving up on life, because the people who would be allowed to do this need to be terminally ill or severely in pain for it to even be brought up. When euthanasia is concerned it has everything to do with control since it would and should only be implemented in severe cases. It is about controlling how you are remembered, and how you leave your body when you decide it is time. Some would argue that there is no way of knowing if that person gets better how can anyone be sure and kill another. Well, based on the fact that time is never and would never be on that individual’s side, it seems only right to gran them the option/right to choose how their body should end. Denying someone their last rights is like saying that they had never had any rights to begin with.
In general, what I had hoped to demonstrate is that each and every individual is, and should be responsible and have rights to his/her own body. We as society should really consider the fact that if one person cannot determine or is even prevented to do something to their own body what is that really portraying What are we showing our future generations? That it is okay for you to have some rights to your bosy but that in other ways you have none? Well if that is the case then what is to stop others from deciding how you should live? How you should communicate or speak? Or better yet who you are as a person and what interest you? In my own personal opinion sex work, abortion, and euthanasia are merely huge stepping stones to a larger issue. That issue being the rights to one’s own body as a whole. So often society and even the government try and step in and out dictating how we should be. They try and dictate what our bodies should and should not do, but that is not their place. If there is so much concern towards our bodies on certain issues than all our bodily issues should be a concern. The right to pick and choose what is important and what is not should not be in the hands of others period. Each individual person has a right to choose for themselves what they want for their body, leaving the opinions of others as nothing more than background noise.
Resources:
Karakoulaki, M. (n.d.). Abortion and Women’s Rights in the USA | Marianna Karakoulaki – Academia.edu.Academia.edu – Share research. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.academia.edu/1237734/Abortion_and_Womens_Rights_in_the_USA
Dame, B. (n.d.). My Body, My Rights…Right?. Borderless News and Views —. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/02/my-body-my-rights-right/
Ethical Rights – The Right to Die with Dignity – Euthanasia. (n.d.). Ethical Rights – Home. Retrieved May 26, 2013, from http://www.ethicalrights.com/submissions/human-rights/83-the-right-to-die-with-dignity-euthanasia.html
Staerk, B. (2013, April 13). What Sex Workers Want. medium.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from https://medium.com/gender-justice-feminism/1ddc5ccdc94c
Ruggiero, V. R. (2011). Thinking critically about ethical issues (8th ed.). Dubuque: McGraw-Hill.
Cavender, N., & Kahane, H. (2010). Logic and contemporary rhetoric: the use of reason in everyday life (11th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Pub. Co..
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