Post Date May, 17 2023
The speech by sex researcher Sophia Javid Weiser at TED delves into our understanding of pregnancy and sexual pleasure, as well as the relationship between women, sexuality, and the power system.
Women talking about sex often attract many people to frown. There are actually deeper social reasons behind this phenomenon - objectification of women, multiple discrimination In many cases, a woman's body does not belong to her. Ms. Soia Jawed, Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska and Deputy Director of the Central Centre for Sexual and Reproductive Health Research in the UK, explained in this TED speech why the sexuality of pregnant women is worth discussing. What needs to be stopped is society's control over women's bodies. Pregnant women are not reproductive containers without a face, identity, or ability to stand independently- Sofia Jawad
Today I want to share many secrets with everyone. Through this sharing, I hope to partially eliminate many people's shame about sex. How many people have been booed by strangers on the road? (Please raise your hand) Many women. The most memorable time was when one of my students booed me. That night after class, he came to see me. What he said confirmed his idea to me. Sorry professor, if I knew it was you, I would never have said those words. For him, if I weren't his professor, then I wouldn't be alone. This concept is called objectification and is also the foundation of gender discrimination. This concept has been strengthened through various aspects of life, such as the government's refusal to punish men for raping women, such as advertising. How many people here have seen advertisements that sell completely unrelated products using women's breasts - or movies that depict women as images who only know how to pursue love.
These examples may be insignificant or irrelevant, but they are actually very cunning and will gradually form a culture of refusing to treat women as adults. We can see news like this: a teenage girl was sent home by the school because her clothing would distract boys from studying, or a woman was killed simply because she demanded that men not harass her on the dance floor.
The media plays an important role in the concept of objectification of women. Let's imagine a classic romantic comedy. There are usually two typical types of women in this type of movie: the first is a sexy woman, a beautiful woman with a devil shaped angel face. The male protagonist is more likely to notice her and have sex with her; The second type is our female protagonist, beautiful but dignified. The male protagonist will eventually fall in love with her, even if he didn't notice her at first, or even if he did, he didn't like her.
The first type is female consumption and forgetting, she is too promiscuous. The second is that it is both pleasing and dignified, making it worthwhile for the male protagonist to have children with her, which is a necessary material for marriage. People always say that women have two types of roles, but it seems difficult for women to possess the characteristics of both types of roles at the same time.
I occasionally tell new acquaintances about my research, and they either end up immediately or are very curious. 'Speak more', then I will speak more, 'I study sexual behavior between partners during pregnancy or postpartum', and then I will get different reactions, 'Oh, ha, have you ever considered sexual desire or orgasm? So interesting, it's also very sexy.'.
Tell me, when you imagine a pregnant woman, what comes to mind first? In a survey, I asked over 500 adults this question, and the most common answers were big belly, round and cute. I am not surprised by this. What will we label cute? Babies, puppies, kittens, elderly people, right? When we label an adult as cute, we actually think they are not smart enough and too simple, lowering them to the same level as children.
I once asked heterosexuality men to imagine that their female partner is pregnant, or women to imagine that they are pregnant, and then told me their first idea when imagining sexual behavior. Most of the answers are negative - disgusting, awkward, not sexy, strange, uncomfortable, how to do it, not worth spending money, not worth taking risks
Some people may think that the image and sexiness of pregnant women and mothers are separate. If they don't treat them as sexual objects, they will face less gender discrimination, right? Instead, there is another type of materialization. When I tried to explain this to others, I once said that Venus de Villendorf is a Paleolithic sculpture. Scholars initially believed that this was a goddess of love and beauty, but later this theory was modified because some noticed that sculptors were clearly concerned about the reproductive characteristics of this statue. Large breasts are considered very suitable for breastfeeding and pregnant stomachs; The remaining red fuel indicates menstruation or production. Scholars also believe that she should be held or lying down because her small feet are not enough for her to stand independently and she has no face. Therefore, research has begun to believe that she is a symbol of fertility, rather than a person's image, and that she is a thing. In interpreting her history, she has transformed from a representative of perfect beauty and love to a representative of reproduction.
