There is a scene towards the end of the book 1984 when Winston Smith is being tortured, and told that 2+2=5. In his traumatised state he becomes so confused, that he actually starts to
believe it.
As I read post after post about ‘women’s body autonomy,’ I become more and more convinced that much of what I’m reading is not driven by logical thought.
The notion of body autonomy as a ‘fundamental human right,’ demands that it is fundamental, that it cannot be usurped by the ‘greater good’. For example when donating stem cells for a leukemia patient, consent must be given, even if you are a rare match for someone who might die without your donation.
I can’t help suspecting that many of the posts I am reading are written by people that appear to hold two contradictory positions. On the one hand they believe in ‘women’s body autonomy,’ and yet it seems they haven’t had a problem with the last two years when men, women, and children were put in positions of extraordinary pressure to have a medical procedure they did not want.
Put simply, this is illogical, like 2+5= 5. It doesn’t make sense.
Something is happening to people’s minds. Something that takes the place of logical, ‘normal’ thinking, and allows people to hold contradictory beliefs, without questioning them at all.
The media does this. The last two years have been a good example of how the media can
create a state of fear and trauma (see Laura Dodsworth’s book A State of Fear). When scared the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for rational, reasonable thinking does not function as the person is focused on survival. Perhaps this is explains why people then can be told illogical viewpoints and believe them. Either that or they just stay very quiet about the views that are not socially acceptable in the mainstream.
The media tells people that it is socially acceptable to jump on one body autonomy cause, while telling them they’ll be a social leper if they talk about the other.
There is extreme pressure to believe a single narrative, even if it doesn’t make much logical sense. So, as much as it bothers me I do understand while people fall for it.
However it is the responsibility of us all to think beyond what the media tells us to think, to think beyond what our political viewpoint thinks. To question the beliefs we hold and if we hold them to virtue signal and ‘fit in’ with our peer group, or if we really believe them. To look for new information. To return out of our traumatised media-controlled mental state and reclaim our mind.
It is also, I think a responsibility to speak. To stand up for our beliefs. To not simply say the fashionable things,. but to stand up for the causes that do not have the media giants behind them. Yes, sometimes, there is a lot at stake in speaking up. But ultimately, what could happen if we stay silent, is much, much worse.
If anyone thinks that ‘women’s body autonomy’ is our biggest concern right now, then I urge you to please look deeper. The body autonomy of every man, woman and child is on the line. I pray you’ll realise it before it’s too late.