Part 1: Sexual morality

Part 2: Why contraceptives are important and criminalizing them causes more problems in
society then arguably contraceptives themselves.

Written by: Sally Elhousieny and co-authored by Nada Azmy

Part 1: First, I will talk about the sexual morality articles the summary of Unwin’s book, then the
articles about the paradoxes of the sexual revolution.

The article is clearly a broader critique of the liberal feminism theory rather than the radical
feminist theory. and I align more, and I think Islam aligns more with the radical feminist theory,
and one of the crucial differences between the two is defining empowerment as a choice vs.
empowerment as an actual change in power dynamics

The idea of liberal feminism is derived from the idea of liberalism in general, which focuses on
choice, personal and individual liberty, and freedom as opposed to justice and. Liberal feminism
empowerment comes from her choice to do whatever she wants. Regardless of that choice being
“good” or “bad” for her. So you’ll have a woman go out naked and say, “I’m in power because I
have the freedom and choice to do this, and no one can stop me because I have freedom and
choice as a woman to do whatever I want.” This is the rhetoric that most of us are familiar with
and associate with feminism. In terms of choice, she can argue, “it's my choice to be a sex
worker and my choice to sell my body to men if I want to. It’s not objectification because I did it
with my own free will.”

Radical feminism’s response is, yes, we agree that you should have choice and freedom and that
you shouldn’t be forced to do anything whether to cover or uncover, yes you should have control
over your own body. However, your individual choices are not necessarily empowering to you or
to women in general. And it's possible for you to make a choice that hurts yourself or women,
because for them empowerment is about who actually holds power over you and we know in
systems of the patriarchy, men hold institutional and social power.

Radical feminism is derived from Marxist theory, which we know is more oriented around group
justice/ injustice over the individual. This is important because it shows the core difference being
where these theories focus their energy. Liberal is individualistic, what I want and what I think is
right. While radical feminism is about all of us, what’s good for the collective, in this case, all
women. Let's take makeup up, for example, and look at it through both lenses, radical and liberal
feminism. There are people that say I’ll wear it because it’s powerful for me. And the response to
that is, first of all, “Is wearing makeup a free choice or are you pressured by society to wear it to
gain reward from society?” And yes, it gives you power over other women but not over men.
How can you say wearing it is empowerment when it's a requirement set by the patriarchy, one,
to set beauty standards, two, for an extremely profitable industry, and three, to reinforce the idea
that females are for male consumption and in this case, something pretty to look at. It’s not
saying you should, or you shouldn’t wear makeup. It’s not addressing what you should or
shouldn’t do, and it's addressing the reality that wearing it isn’t breaking down any form of
injustice towards women. So, do it if you feel like you need to do it; we’re not blaming you for
it, but for you to call it empowering is another thing. Part of the reason makeup also hurts you is
also you have to pay for it, and it takes up so much of your time and energy to actually do it and
often times it's physically restrictive to your activities and range of motion like eating or wearing
glasses or wiping your face or going swimming or running. doing all those is physically
restricted, through the fashion and makeup industry fashion. wearing heels every day literally
ruins your feet. makeup every day causes acne and other deficiencies. It’s also not saying that
makeup can never be something done for fun. Like wearing it at parties but it's understanding
how it’s different when you use it to cover “flaws” and dark circles and realizing that men don't
have that pressure.

Another example is sex work. The Liberal argument is that it’s your body, your choice. it's
empowering if it's my choice to do it. How can you be against it if some people choose to do it?
The Radical argument is, is it really your choice? Statistics show that about 80% of women in
that line of work want to get out of it. Not to mention, almost all of them were physically,
emotionally, and mentally abused before and the reason they’re able to do this work is because
they were victims of abuse in their past, so they’re already traumatized their thought process is,
“you’ve been doing this your entire life” “being used isn’t something new.” They already feel so
much worthlessness and shame that they allow this thing to happen to them. The rates of PTSD
in women in this field are higher than that of soldiers. Most women want an out, and they're
doing this because they have to for money and to survive. Most of them are coerced into it, those
who aren’t forced have no other choice. The point is, it's not a glamorous lifestyle at all, except
for the top percent of private escorts. Sex work also proportionality affects different races.While
private escorts come from a stable financial and emotional background along with being mostly
Caucasian/White, they are an extreme minority in an industry that traffics and prostitutes mostly
women of color. Furthermore, even for the top percent who still have minimal risk, it doesn’t
change the fact that they’re letting themselves be commodified, used, and objectified. them
allowing that to happen doesn’t change its reality. Unfortunately, places where sex work is
legalized, have higher rates of trafficking because of demand increase. The same arguments
applied to sex work can also be applied to porn. Sex is not a right that anyone can demand. All of
this isn’t to shame women who are in this field or blame them in any way. The point is not to
criminalize them. We should criminalize the men demand this and facilitate it. saying we’re anti-
sex industry doesn’t mean you’re against women, it's saying we don’t want them to be exploited.
Saying that the anti-sex industry is anti-women is like saying, I’m anti-children cause I’m anti-
child labor.

Although Islamic values align more with radical feminism than liberal feminism, unfortunately,
radical feminism views all religions as agents of female oppression. Radical feminists claim this
because religions are run by men and because they are weaponized to oppress women by men.
For example, they are using Quotes from the Bible and Quran to oppress women even if those
scriptures aren’t inherently sexist, which is already hard to argue because a lot of scripture is so
widespread in a negative lens. As an outsider looking in, it's easy to draw negative conclusions.
So ideologically, Islam aligns with radical feminism in the sense that we believe you have the
right to make any choice you want, but not every choice you make will be empowering. But
again, this is derived from secular theory so there is no morality when it comes to radical
feminism.

Now let’s talk about the idea of feminism being an identity or a personality trait vs. feminism
being used as a political movement. When you say something is an identity like saying, “this is
what a feminist looks like.” people can say that they don’t identify as that because it's a choice,
you’re framing it as a choice, you’re making it about yourself. When in reality, it shouldn’t be
framed as a personality trait but as a political movement to grant people fundamental human
rights. For example, there is no word for being a supporter of human rights because it’s the
default; everyone should be a supporter of human rights. The default should also be respecting
women. the problem is that people are violating women’s rights. we need to stop calling people
feminists and call out sexism and misogyny putting the blame on them instead of framing it as a
matter of personal identity.

In our society, there is an emphasis on what you can do as an individual, like what are your
lifestyle choices, vs. collective action, which is how can we organize collectively and address the
root causes of the issue. That’s tied into the concept of liberalism and individual freedom.
There’s a lot of rhetoric, where if you blame institutions, then you’re not taking individual
responsibility like in cases of prostitution. You hear, why is this individual doing this when they
can blame the institution in it of itself for existing. When you look at other societies, for
example, Marxism looks at collective action. You don’t resist by buying a feminist sticker or
through the way you dress or through your individuality. Not to hate on those but they do not
take the place of collective action. The reason why I think this is related is because when the
conversation of this comes up I don’t want it to be, “you’re a feminist this is how you see the
world” I want it to be, “why are these things happening to women, why are you sexist, why are
you misogynistic.”

Islam walks a very middle ground and is very fair as opposed to other religions where they
operate on one extreme end, and there are movements that result from that which push to the
other end of the spectrum. For Islam, the question for radical feminism is, “how do they
determine whether something is for empowerment or not for empowerment.” For them, you look
at data, and you use your perception.all that is good but, at the same time, it's limited. A lot of
times people say, in Islam, porn and prostitution aren’t allowed. people use moral arguments. and
a lot of arguments against them are not just moral arguments set by Muslims. It’s also set by
other people, hence the Catholic article. The problem comes when addressing a larger audience;
the argument of morality doesn’t hold up unless you agree on an objective source of that
morality. How do you decide that something is objectively right or wrong? You can't do that if
you don't have a source for it. Otherwise, you look at other things, like is it hurting other
people’s, etc. they have identified this stuff being wrong because of its effect. You cant go up to
someone watching porn, for example, and say, “this is bad.” Because then they’ll ask “why,” and
you can say “because God said so.” And for people that don’t believe in God will say, “what
does that have to do with me.”The thing is that we also believe that the reason why these things
are prohibited by god is that they’re bad for us, and for society and that they’re not arbitrary. So
the reason why the restrictions we have in Islam over nudity or watching porn may not be that
it's inherently evil or that there is no enjoyment that can come out of it. But that in certain
settings and in certain ways that it's done, the cons can outweigh the pros. For example, we don’t
think that sex is inherently dirty or bad.it's just that it should be enjoyed within the limits and
guidelines that keep us safe from infringing on other people’s rights and using it as a tool and
weapon for destruction. I don’t think as Muslims; we should use the argument of morality
necessarily all the time because we're not just concerned with Muslim women or Muslim rights.
We are concerned with all women and everyone’s rights.

The thing is the sexual liberation movement came as a result of the extremes in Christianity and
other religions, and as we know, one extreme breed the other. Imagine you’re in a religion where
you can’t get a divorce even if you’re being sexually abused or not sexually fulfilled. or in a
religion where sex is seen as taboo and is only used for kids, and in some factions, no concept of
contraception is allowed, so you end up having so many kids and no means to take care of them.
On top of that, there are religions that only sees you as a baby-making machine and not a human
being, obviously you’re going to get sick of life and say forget morality and do the opposite
extreme of absolute monogamy which is absolute “freedom” with no ethics or morality involved
and that's how we have hookup culture today.The problems in Christianity also led to the
separation of church and state and atheism and secularism. So not the lack of morality per se but
the idea of liberalism. The idea that I know what’s best for me, and as long as I don't hurt anyone
else, I can do whatever I want, “let me speak my truth” because of #freedom. Which in theory, is
great, but as we know as Muslims, we in no way shape or form KNOW what’s best for us.
Because we accept that our mind, perception, and knowledge is limited, and we have God-given
regulations for our own benefits. Sleeping around won't hurt god in any way; it's just going to
hurt us. But not everyone has that backing, that trust in God and the humility to accept what he
says because inevitably who are we as the creation to know more than him, our creator. And in
addition to all this, obviously, capitalism and patriarchy will exploit the market whenever they
can. As an example, we have casual sex pushed by playboy intertwined with business. Keeping
women under the control of men without abortion or contraception was also profitable in the
past. And here, we see how the market changed thus making social change. Like almost all
American cultural practices and values are tied to capitalism.

———-

Part 2: This part is about the Mary Eberstadt article where she argues how contraceptives caused
the sexual revolution and how they have cons, I argue the pros and importance of contraceptives
because they play a bigger role in our society and that there are problems that come with
criminalizing contraceptives and abortion.

Being able to delay and limit childbearing is fundamental to female empowerment and equality.
A woman who lacks the means to manage her fertility lacks the means to manage her life. Any
plans, dreams, aspirations, responsibilities, or commitments - no matter how important, have a
great big contingency clause built: “until or unless I get pregnant in which case all bets are off.”
Criminalizing abortion keeps people trapped in poverty for generations. Because it is so hard to
live with one income everywhere in the United States, and so many times it needs to be a two-
income household. Contraception isn’t even free; it's capitalized on not everyone can afford it.
Sex is so common, yet sexual education is scarce which leads to consequences of STDS and
unwanted pregnancies and dangerous abortions.

The irony of all the abortion bills is the complete lack of male inclusion. Women do not
magically get pregnant. There is a man attached to every single abortion. Why are men not being
included in the jail time for abortion? Because this isn’t about abortion, it's about men
controlling women. If it were about abortions, we would be discussing early and continuing sex
education, free birth control, healthcare for all, making childcare financially feasible, mandatory
parental leave, increasing WIC, hard sentencing for rape, fixing the foster care system, and
making adoption more accessible. You cannot refer to pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood as
“consequences” or punishment for having sex and then in the same breath tell me that you
believe pregnancy and babies are miracles. You don’t get punished with miracles.

The pro-life site always puts pictures of Babies and fetuses, but none shows the woman after
unsafe abortion has been performed on her from her partner. Abortion rates are lower in
countries with safe and legal access to abortion. There are more statistics on how high maternal
death rates and deaths from unsafe abortions came when countries made access to abortion more
restricted. There are discarded babies in streets and trash bins where abortion is illegal. If a
woman has made up her mind that she doesn’t want to be pregnant, she will do whatever she can
to get an abortion, even if it puts her life at risk. Things that reduce abortion: Livable wages,
affordable/ free health care, affordable housing, affordable education, sex education, access to
contraception. Things that don’t reduce abortions: Criminalizing abortions and Abstinence-only
education. Only in American can you be pro-war, anti-free health care, anti-refugee, anti-welfare
and still call yourself “pro-life.”

I’m just trying to say that there’s a lot more that goes into the downfall of society and other
things that lead to abortion than women having autonomy over their bodies. That being said, I’m
not FOR abortion. I’m for every woman having the right to choose what to do with her own
body. I’m FOR preventing the fear of what to do with a child that is unwanted or unplanned. I’m
for protecting women from back ally abortions because they have no other option. That’s why
it’s called pro-choice and not pro-abortion. Saying women shouldn’t be allowed to get abortions
because they where the ones who had unprotected sex is like saying smokers don’t deserve
treatment for lung cancer, and drivers shouldn’t receive treatment in a car crash because they
knew the risks when they got a driving license.

What we should talk about out is hookup culture and how dangerous THAT is for society. When
hooking up becomes very prevalent, you no longer see men and women as people, you see them
as a means to an end. You’re going out to find someone you’re attracted to enough to relieve
your desire. That also makes rape very prevalent because you see the person you’re raping as not
human you view them as an object that will fulfill your desire. You no longer look for a partner
you’re looking for someone to sleep with, and that person is your ticket. Sex is what the body
wants while love is what the mind wants. Hook up culture means giving into your physical needs
and not tending to your mental needs, which makes the world very physical. Sex is not bad in it
of its self, but it’s not all that will make you happy, so with hook up culture putting the emphasis
on sex making you happy, you lose mental needs, and that makes for high rates of depression
and loneliness. With hookup culture, you’re wasting your time finding people to sleep with and
sleeping with them that you’re channeling your energy into all this when you can be focusing on
life goals and other things that will truly make you happy like an actual relationship that satisfies
the physical and mental aspect of your life. Hookup culture is an extreme form of the lack of
delayed gratification. You can't be patient enough to wait to have the best that you’ll settle for a
lot of okay interactions and not focus on finding someone that will satisfy you on a deeper level
and is inevitably much more satisfying.

https://www.cmi.no/publications/5412-health-effects-of-criminalization-of-abortion
https://www.alternet.org/2015/04/i-am-pro-abortion-not-just-pro-choice-10-reasons-why-we-
must-support-procedure-and-choice/
https://www.sandler.com/blog/hot-off-the-presses/