Dic[k]tating how our vaginas should behave: On Akin and White Male Power Structure
Image of Marion Sims
(Image source: (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/James_Marion_Sims.jpg/220px-James_Marion_Sims.jpg))
As soon as I had heard what he had said, I felt my stomach tighten and nausea came several seconds later.
Disgusting.
““The female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.“
Todd Akin’s words really hit me deep when he decided to become an “expert” on “legitimate rape” the other week. I know there have been tremendous responses against the ridiculous claims that Akin has made, but I wanted to offer what his words did to me; where it sent my mind.
Even though Akin apologized, I personally do not buy it. His initial “claim” about rape made me think about what men of his ilk have done, since European colonialism, to Black female bodies; to their reproductive gifts that were commoditized and sold on the auction block…and raped.
But back then, during an antebellum era of institutionalized chattel slavery, it wasn’t “legitimate rape” when the white slave-master raped Black female slaves (as well as ones that were “free”). As their “property” they could do whatever they wanted to them. The white male power structure literally created its own logical system that justified whose suffering counted, and whose suffering did not (Fett 2002). Constructed as 3/5’s of a human, we barely hit the radars of their compassion meter. As a matter of fact, through scientific racism and twisted interpretation of the Christian Bible, these men were able to convince themselves that not only were African people “enslavable”, our people had a “naturally” high tolerance for both physical and emotional pain. This included the pain of raping us; of selling our loved ones and tearing apart our families (Robert 1997; Washington 2006)
I began thinking about a piece that Petra Kuppers wrote about black women in the mid 19th-century. These women had been victims of experimentation by a man named Marion Sims. In Western medical schools Sims is taught as being the “father of gynecology” (Washington 2006). In Petra Kuppers’ piece about the Anarcha project, she talks about how this man experimented on many Black women slaves. He experimented on them to benefit white middle-class women who would use his gynecological services. What he did was really disgusting and very cruel. Sims was trying to solve the problem of fistula amongst white middle-class women clientele. A fistula is a condition in which there is a tear in the bladder that happens during a long labor sometimes, or the improper use of forceps during labor that tears the bladder. The consequence of this ailment is that women are constantly leaking urine. Sims was using black women’s bodies to solve this “problem.” And he did this without anesthesia. One of the women that he did this on experienced this experimentation over 30 times. He cut up their vaginas and cut into their wombs without….I repeat, without anesthesia.
But Sims was the “expert”; whether he had an MD degree or not. By simply being a white male of that era, he could dic[k]tate “facts” about whose vaginas were worth experimenting on and whose vaginas were worth putting on a pedestal (“white ladies” of a privileged socio-economic class).
Sims represents an ontological perspective that would continue into today, that dic[k]tate such “facts” about certain female bodies as long as it suits their own possessive investments in what bell hooks refers to as white supremacist capitalist patriarchal system (hooks 1992). These “experts” on [black] female bodies chose to rape hundreds of black female slaves because it is not ‘legitimate rape.’ Within this twisted logic, the violent act must not have been ‘legitimate rape’ since tens of thousands of black female slaves gave birth to babies who were products of never-ending unnamed racial-sexual abuse. In the logic of Akin, had it been “legitimate”, than their bodies would have had a way of “shutting it down.” And what perfect logic to fit the needs of a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy that could only acquire capital and property through the labor of enslaved Africans and their continuation of “black” offspring.
Todd Akin, your comments did not surprise me. They disappointed me, but they did not surprise me. They fit perfectly within the socio-historical context of how white elite male power structure over the past 400 + years has viciously tried to control and restrict what particular females can and cannot do with their bodies.
Works Cited
Fett, Sharla M. Working Cures : Healing, Health, and Power on Southern Slave Plantations. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002.
Hooks, Bell. Black Looks : Race and Representation. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1992.
Roberts, Dorothy E. Killing the Black Body : Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. 1st ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997.
Washington, Harriet A. Medical Apartheid : The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 2006.
Breeze Harper
melissa danielle
It was a really cissexist comment to make as well, given that the largest proportion of women who will be raped are trans women…who don’t have vaginas. In addition to the misogyny and sexism, I think this idea of the ‘female body’ is problematic, too. Women are raped because we are women, not because we have vaginas. Women with penises are raped.
Yes, there were so many problems with that statement that Akin made. Though I was only referring to Black woman (with vaginas) , I agree with what you are pointing to as well. I know that rape and other forms of violence against trans women is ‘accepted’ by the mainstream and not seen as ‘legitimate’ and this reflects the overall transphobia/transhate culture of USA (not sure about other parts of the world). Thanks River.
Sistah Breeze,
While repugnant and crazy, republican U.S. Congressman Todd Akin’s initial comment about “legitimate rape” is IMHO, the belief that many white people, male and female, once held about the rape of Black women by white men throughout America. The foundation of this belief is that Black people, both male and female, are wanton and promiscuous creatures, who want and welcome sexual advances by white people and this is why Black slave women bore children after they “seduced” the white male slave owners, time and time again.
So aside from Black people being considered chattel, in the mind of many white men and women, at point one in our history, Black women were never raped because, to use republication U.S. Congressman Akin’s words, if it were a “legitimate rape”, no child would be conceived.
While we are both aware of how the foundation of this horrid belief was used in a historical sense, it is unfortunately, STILL being used by certain white people today to rationalize white men raping Black people. For example, in an interview published on the website (but since removed) of the National Catholic Register, a New York priest named Rev. Benedict Groeschel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, when speaking about the rape of young boys by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, stated that “priests accused of child sex abuse are often seduced by their accusers and that a first-time offender should not go to jail.” As you may know, many of the boys that Jerry Sandusky raped were Black.
Of course, that “oops, I apologize for letting the cat out of the bag” game was played here by Rev. Groeschel and by the editor-in-chief of the website edition of the National Catholic Register, Jeanette R. DeMelo, who just happens to be a white woman. Sistah Breeze, without regard to any issues related to race, I’m still scratching my head as to why Ms. DeMelo, a white woman, would publish a comment which blames victims of child abuse for “seducing” their Catholic priests rapist, without at least including a comment stating that she has filed a formal complaint against Rev. Groeschel with the Pope. Yes, I do believe in freedom of expression and of the press but Rev. Groeschel’s comments reflect a sick mind that should not be in a position of authority in any institution, religious or not, and certainly should not be promoted by the National Catholic Register.
From what I have read and heard, despite the outcry of many people throughout the world about republican U.S. Congressman Akin’s senseless comments, his support among his predominantly white male and female constituents has not decreased one iota from a statistical standpoint since he exposed his thoughts about legitimate rape. Yes I know that more often than not, elections give voters an opportunity to choose between the lesser of two evils instead of supporting a qualified and worthy candidate but I am appalled that the constituents of republican U.S. Congressman Akin are still supporting him.
With the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, change may have come to America but somehow it bypassed republican U.S. Congressman Akin’s district. I hope it didn’t bypass any other parts of America.
Dude is a straight up misogynist! As a trained therapist, my orientation is to examine his relationship he had with his mother, and what he observed between men and women during his informative years, especially between his mother and whatever male relationships she had.
Also, it is VERY likely that he raped a female and use that rationale to justify his behavior. I know he needs therapy. I feel very sorry for his wife who likely will “stand by her man” and take the crap that he is ramming down her throat; also, I feel sorry for their children, especially any girls.
Interestingly, I say that men with such misogynist behavior most likely are on the down low, or ever straight up gay. His discourse was purely malicious.
All in all, this should be a wake-up call for ALL women–know who you are sleeping next to in bed–you could very well be sleeping with the enemy. And, the question becomes–what will such women do about it?
Thank you for posting sis! Please, visit, read, and comment on my latest blog posts at: http://www.BlackNouveauWoman.wordpress.com
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