Politics, of the body and in government service

Refer to at least three of the learning resources for the week in your response to one or more of the questions below. Include specific examples from your life, history, the news, or the media.

· What does it mean to you to say that “the personal is the political?”

· What are some of the ways women can gain political power? Why is it important for women to have a voice in government and policy? Why is it important that women exercise their right to vote?

· What reasons does Susan B. Anthony give in “Constitutional Argument” for why women need to be acknowledged as citizens with equal rights (including the right to vote) under the constitution? 

· Should women be considered as a voting group? What are the arguments for and against thinking about women as a single constituency?

· What do you think would be the most effective way to move more women into political office, particularly on the national level?

· Did this reading help you gain a different understanding of the term “body politics?” How are women’s bodies politicized?

· How are gender roles and expectations connected to violence against women? What role do governments and political organizations have in finding solutions?

· Why is reproductive choice such a controversial political issue? Do you think the fact that most issues of reproductive choice center on women and women’s bodies have contributed to the belief that government has a role to play in managing reproductive choice? Are there any aspects of male health or sexuality that are equally politicized? Should it be a political issue at all?

· Margaret Sanger’s campaign to legalize birth control was met with sometimes violent protest by those who objected that she was essentially promoting lewd behavior. Why do you think people were so strongly against her campaign? What were people worried would happen if women gained access to birth control?

· Like Margaret Sanger, feminism (and Women’s Studies) has traditionally supported a pro-choice position on abortion. Do you agree with this position? What would a pro-life feminist position look like?

Original Post: Provide your initial post which responds to the Discussion prompt by 11:59 pm on friday. Initial question responses posted after friday but before the end of the class week on Tuesday earn a maximum of 70/80 possible points for the original post. Your initial post should be at least 250-300 words in length, excluding the discussion prompt and the references. Posts should engage meaningfully with at least three assigned learning resources. 

References: Use APA parenthetical citations in your text and include a reference list at the end of your post. When you refer to and/or discuss any resources, you need to include a citation for that source, such as: (Braincraft, 2015).  

Women in Politics: A very short history https://www.cliohistory.org/click/politics-social/politics

Constitutional Argument: Speech After Being Convicted Of Voting
In The 1872 Presidential Election  http://gos.sbc.edu/a/anthony.html

Graves, K. (2020, September 10. Women’s political participation after 1920: myth and reality. National Women’s History Museum (NWHM). https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/womens-political-participation-after-1920-myth-and-reality

Milestones for women in American politics. (2021). Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/milestones-for-women

Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP). (n.d.). Current numbers. https://cawp.rutgers.edu/current-numbers

Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures

Tarr-Whelan, L. (2010). The impact of the Beijing Platform for Action 1995 to 2010. Human Rights, 37(3), 2–23. http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsemr&AN=edsemr.10.1108.IJSSP.01.2018.0002&site=eds-live&scope=site

Kang, M., Lessard, D., Heston, L., & Nordmarken, S. (2017). Medicine, health, and reproductive justice. Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/medicine-health-and-reproductive-justice/

Croft, L. H. (2019). Margaret Sanger. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia. http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=88832719&site=eds-live&scope=site

“Intersectionality” in real life: an interview with Loretta Ross. (2008). Against the Current, 23(1), 25–26. http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=31402034&site=eds-live&scope=site

Ending violence against women. (2021). UN Women. https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women

Statistics. (2021). National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS