With all the discussion of birth control restrictions, including both abortion procedures AND birth control access, women and the rights that they should have to their own bodies are under fire. One solution that women have come up with is to hold a "sex strike" against men until we get the rights to our own bodies back. Basically, women are thinking "If I don't have equal access to my body men can't either". But are women forgetting, sex isn't just for men?
The problem.
By going on a sex strike, you're only hurting yourself. Period. Sex shouldn't be a form of currency, we are more than a service or a material good that can be traded around. When you withhold sex in an attempt to get something in return, you're solidifying the point that if we get what we want, our bodies belong to men once again. A sex strike continues to promote the idea that men only need us for sex, that we are only as good as the sexual service we provide. Why can't we do an intellectual strike?
We no longer give men our brilliant insight, the insight that can turn this country around, until we have our rights back. But that solution would never work because we keep giving into the objectification that has been ingrained into our society. A sex strike takes us back, way fucking back, to when women were far more unequal. Like when men and women would work the same jobs and receive different pay. Oh, wait... THAT SHIT STILL HAPPENS. Keeping our pussies on private won't stop men from taking and controlling everything, even our own bodies. Surprise honey, women withholding sex back in the 1960s to get a new sewing kit from their husband didn't help then and it sure won't help you know.
Another problem.
Despite the fact that a sex strike fuels the objectifying of women, it also takes away our rights even more. Is everyone forgetting that women like sex too? Oh yeah I forgot, the government still has the moral outlook of a Great-Depression era housewife. Why should you have to deprive yourself of something that not only feels good but is PERFECTLY NATURAL? I'm sorry to break it to all the men out there but rarely do we ever have sex with you for your benefit. Women like sex. SHOCKING. Sex is more than a means of reproduction and it's not anyone's decision who, where, when, how, and why women have sex with someone. By holding this "sex strike" you're letting men tell you that your sexual behavior is their business.
The solution.
It's sad that we've racked our lady-brains so much and the only thing we could come up with was a sex strike. I know that change, especially the change the government is forcing upon us, seems inevitable but giving up and withholding sex isn't the answer. It sounds stupid, but when the election rolls around next year please get out and vote. Vote for an administration that will count us as individuals. Vote for one that isn't full of dicks (figuratively and literally). Make your voice heard! Go protest and send money to organizations that really are fighting for us and remember to be thankful that you live in a country where you can make a change, even if it is run by an Oompa-Loompa right now.
