One of the main reasons why I chose the topic that I did is because I want to examine adversarial sexual beliefs. In a course that I took on domestic violence, we read studies that suggested that men who view women as adversaries rather than allies are more likely to be abusive. Men who rate highly on the Adversarial Sexual Beliefs scale think of male-female relationships as being manipulative and coercive: women are out to trap a man into a relationship, women make excessive demands of men, women take advantage of men, etc. These beliefs can lead to domestic violence if the man, because of his negative view of women, feels that he needs to "lay down the law" in order to keep the woman from gaining the kind of dominance over him that he believes all women are after.
Obviously, domestic violence is an overt expression of adversarial beliefs about male-female relationships. What I am studying is more subtle, but I still feel that the type of gender divide that I am looking at can be described as "adversarial" -- indeed, I believe that reproductive health is an area where this type of male-female relationship comes to a head, particularly because of the biological essentialism that is involved (the idea that women's bodies are FOR reproduction, and that because their bodies are the site of conception, men have very little to do with the process aside from their initial contribution).
It is interesting to me that while the male viewpoint is the dominant one in our society, it doesn't seem that many feminist and other groups promoting equality are actively pushing for a discourse of reproductive health in our society that focuses on male/female cooperation and egalitarianism. Rather, it seems to me that these groups tend to equate a woman's ability to chose from an ostensibly wide array of contraceptive methods as a form of "empowerment," even as this discourse serves the continuation of female otherness. In other words, how many men in our society consider birth control to be solely the providence of women, due both to factors of biology and of female empowerment?
Indeed, women are seen as the ones who must bear the brunt of preventing an unintended pregnancy because it is their bodies that stand to be affected the most. So they are the ones who have to take the Pill, or go to the clinic every three months for an injection, or painfully have an IUD inserted. They are expected to do these things despite side effects; because it is their bodies that are the site of pregnency, they are also the site of prevention. A male pill has been discussed for at least the past 20 years, but it never seems to materialize. Currently, sexually active men who wish to prevent pregnancy only have two options: condoms and permanent sterilization. Condoms are seen as something to be used during casual sex, and perhaps initially in a monogamous relationship - but after a certain time period, it is expected that the woman will take over contraceptive duties, most likely through a hormonal method.
It seems that this kind of biological essentialism, coupled with the sacredness of female "choice" that was born out of the fight for abortion rights, has created a social environment where men are actively excluded from contraceptive decision-making with their female partners. From an early age, we are not taught about our bodies in a way that portrays men and women as allies: for instance, girls and boys are separated into different rooms during health classes, which I believe contributes to an overall sense of separation and female otherness. Continuing on into adulthood, women have special, separate health clinics and services, while it is quite rare to see a "Men's Clinic." It is almost as if we are two different species who just happen to be able to come together to mate. This is how adversarial relationships are fostered, through otherness and secrecy.
I believe that when female contraception is framed as a form of empowerment, as it is currently, this only strengthens the idea that women are some kind of strange and mysterious creatures, others who deviate from the (male) norm. Even though the act of heterosexual sex involves both sexes, the prevention of pregnancy tends to be relegated to the female sphere. It is viewed as "women's work" as much as doing the dishes and vaccuuming the floors used to be (or still is, depending on who you ask!). Like the bread-winner/home-maker model, contraception involves a division of labor that places women in a separate sphere; with such a division, can there really be equality?
More later.
