It's nearly 3 AM, and I can't sleep because I'm preoccupied with the grief of losing my first child in an abortion nearly 7 years ago. Emily's blog pointed me to a site that pointed me to a paper by Frederica Mathewes-Green.
In describing an attitude many mothers have about abortion and pregnant daughters, Mathewes-Green refers to involuntary corsetting, infibulation and foot binding to illustrate other abusive attitudes.
When I was researching these practices I was surprised to come across websites of women who are proud to engage in these practices voluntarily . The corsetting link features a woman who has deformed her waste to 14". Notice whose idea it was. On a female circumcision site a man rewarded his partner with praise for "having her hood removed". Women maim themselves to gain a man's approval, and men use abortion to victimze women (and free themselves from a lasting relationship with them).
A imprisoned foot, a jailed waist, an amputated body part... abortion seems as liberating.
