Hello YAM Northwest. It’s me, Mike, and I wanted to share my thoughts about our first Winter Wine speaker: Samantha Povlock. Samantha is the creator of FemCatholic and she joined us at St. Mary’s in Buffalo Grove to present her talk “Three Reasons for Catholics to be Feminists.” As a guy, I was curious to see what a Catholic feminist speaker would say, and I definitely had a stereotype envisioned in my head of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find Samantha’s talk informative, rather than preaching. After all, how often do the Facebook political monologues convert anyone from their preconceived notions? Samantha was a well-informed speaker who made me rethink my views on feminism, as well as why the church’s stances on contraception and abortion are really the feminist perspectives. After all, what is the point of contraceptive devices? Used properly, they are supposed to prevent pregnancy. They take away the ability of a man to impregnate a woman (condoms) or for a woman to become pregnant at all (birth control). Basically, they are tools by which the miracle of life is stymied. Abortion goes one step further and kills the baby already growing inside of a woman. Why would someone want to prevent women from getting pregnant and then ending their pregnancies when they do happen?

This won’t win me any fans, but I always chalked this up to selfishness or fear on the part of the woman. Again, I say this because it is a view I have shifted away from, but one I had and one I feel needs to be owned up to. I no longer think this is a decision made for selfish reasons: I think that hardly anyone could be that selfish. Maybe there is still some fear in the decision, but it’s clear that society created reason for that very fear. During her talk, Samantha informed us that it was legal to fire a woman for becoming pregnant until 1984. Not only was this new life not being celebrated, but women were being fired for it! I remember my older sister telling me once that her female principal, at a Catholic school no less, suggested that she might be let go if she kept having children. This wasn’t decades ago…it happened in the last five years, and it was a woman who told her. Not only that, but our country is one of the only developed nations (it might in fact be the only one) that doesn’t require paid maternity leave. If you were financially struggling and now there is a baby in the mix, that’s a scary thought. What about teen mothers? Just picture how society treats teen pregnancy (like a disaster or a giant spectacle) and ask yourself if you are really surprised that these young women get abortions.

The original purpose of feminism, it would seem, was to create a world where men and women are treated equally. Just as society caters to men and their needs, the same society should be just as considerate of women and theirs. However, this was twisted at some point to make women think they need to be just like men. Take away their ability to get pregnant via birth control and take away the baby if it somehow still forms via abortion. This perversion of ideal feministic goals (for women to be recognized for how amazing they are) not only doesn’t truly help women, but it ironically calls them to act more like men. How is giving up your femininity a win for your sex though? I realize that I am limited to an outsider perspective as I am a man. However, I understand just a little bit better what women have gone through (legalized marital rape into the 1970s, continuing denied inheritance in 30+ countries, being forced to marry your rapist) thanks to Samantha Povlock and her talk. I highly recommend Ms. Povlock as a speaker, and I would gladly attend another of her talks in the future.