Fiction Writing 101: Consequences

Dear Gentle Readers,

The lesson for today occurs at the end of this post, so please be patient because I need to say something about the the politics of reproduction in the United States because something needs to be said. Of course, a lot is being said lately because some United Statesians still want to control women's bodies.

Many people, including many women, believe that women in the United States have equality. The sad truth is that women in the United States are second class citizens, and I don't hear that said too often which is why I'm saying it here. Since I have a readership of about a zillion, this message will reach all corners of earth, maybe even deep into our solar system, so I repeat: Women in the United States are second class citizens. The politics of reproduction is a manifestation of that status.

What is the politics of reproduction?  I will let Rickie Solinger explain:

"Reproductive politics is a late twentieth-century term.  Women's rights advocates known as Second Wave feminists devised the term originally to describe late twentieth-century struggles over contraception and abortion, race and sterilization, class and adoption, women and sexuality, and other related topics. The term has been useful because it captures the way that questions about power are at the heart of these debates." (page 2, Pregnancy and Power by Rickie Solinger)

Yep, power is at the heart of these debates, and there are some who just don't like the idea that women are in control of their very own bodies.  Solinger goes on to say, "I understand the term reproductive politics to refer most basically to the question, Who has power over matters of pregnancy and its consequences?"

Ah, consequences.  Maybe we're getting closer to the discomfort. What are the consequences of women having control of their bodies? There are many consequences-- some can be construed as negative and some as positive and many fall somewhere across the continuum-- but that doesn't mean the government should take away choices and options. Everyone must deal with consequences in her or his own way. And this so nicely leads me to tell you about my fiction and the lesson of this post.

Much of my fiction deals with the politics of reproduction and consequences. The consequences aren't always terrific, but we must have choices! Characters make difficult decisions in my stories, and the characters aren't always that content with some of the consequences of their decisions. Remember: If characters make decisions that don't cause conflict there wouldn't be a story. So please take a look at Momentary  Mother, To the Left of the Microwave, and My Valley is Icky Too.