Addiction, Patriarchy, Capitalism, and Power

Talk about the relationship between “Addiction”, “Patriarchy”, “Capitalism”, and “Power”. Discuss how these concepts affect one another/perpetuate or influence the cycle of addiction. Refer to page 7 of the Northrup piece and reflect on the ways you contribute to the “Addictive System”.
The relationship between addiction, patriarchy, capitalism, and power is often not recognized in our society, much less discussed. Regardless of whether we choose to acknowledge it the relationship exists and, like the circle of life, is cyclical. Unlike the circle of life, the cyclical relationship of addiction, patriarchy, capitalism, and power has many different ways of playing out.
In Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom Christiane Northrup, MD lays out one cycle for us on page six. This circle starts with our patriarchal society which “demands” women to “ignore or turn away from their hopes and dreams in deference to men and the demands of their families.” Because of this, women deny their need for “self-expression and self-actualization” leading to great emotional pain. Rather than face the pain head on, women commonly with turn to “addictive substances” and develop “addictive behaviors”. This process is what Charlotte Kasl refers to as psychic numbing and dissociation in her book Many Roads, One Journey: Moving beyond the 12 Steps. These substances and behaviors result in a cycle of abuse because, according to Northrup, by “being abused or abusing ourselves, we become ill” and “when we become ill, we are treated by a patriarchal medical system.” This system looks down on a woman’s body, which is seen as dysfunctional and it doesn’t bother to look at the whole person or attempt to get to the root of a problem. Rather, our medical system is designed to treat part of a person and believes that science is always right and intuition cannot be trusted. As if these beliefs aren’t hard enough to overcome there is also the issue of access to good medical care. Often women don’t receive the same type of care that men do for the same illnesses leading to more sickness or the development of chronic health problems “for which the medical establishment has no answers or treatments” (Northrup, 6). The cycle starts with a patriarchal society and ends with a patriarchal medical system which we are taught never to question.
In Feminist Perspectives on Addiction Cynthia Downing shows us another cycle. She cites studies showing that women are disproportionately victimized in alcohol related battering, sexual abuse, and rape cases. Child abuse is common when one or both parents are alcoholics, especially neglect which “is a form of emotional violence” (Downing 52). Because the child is being neglected their basic needs are not being met which can lead to impairments that “can contribute to the development of the child’s own alcoholism or drug addiction” (Downing 52).
Capitalism also plays a role in the cycle by feeding into insecurities and addictive behaviors, persuading and encouraging us to purchase and consume more things to fill the voids in our life. And yet, the more we buy the less we're satisfied and then we feel the need to buy more and the cycle goes on and on.
The “Addictive System”
The medical side of the Addictive System is a hard road to navigate. I often forget to listen to my body and find myself relying on what the doctor says or the latest study. But then when I remember that this is my body and no one understands it the way I do, and I listen to what it is trying to tell me, I'm a much happier and healthier person. In my job, I walk a fine line between reminding women that they indeed know how to birth and, at the same time, trying to remain neutral about natural verses medicated birth. In natural birth, a woman does what feels right to her and she is able to listen to her inner wisdom. In medicated birth, you do what you're told and the machines know more than you because you're numb, literally and figuratively, to the process. I do what I can in my classes to give birth back to women and take it away from the Addictive System by changing vocabulary and showing women how they can move when not tied down to a bed. I talk about doctors catching their baby that they've just birthed rather than the doctor delivering the baby. But, as Northrup points out on page ten, even the studies we rely on are founded in this system that only studies the abnormal and not the normal.
As a mother, I do my best to teach my son and daughters that being a woman is a wonderful thing and the female body is just as beautifully designed as the male body. I celebrated with my stepdaughters when they had their first periods and plan to do the same for my daughter. I don't complain when my period comes around and I take that time to give my body a break and let it do what it is suppose to do, and I make sure my kids know and understand this.

Katie Reider

Please go to www.500kin365.org and read about Katie Reider.

Katie is an amazing woman. She and her family needs all the help and prayers they can get. Her voice has touched everyone who has heard it. Her music is what was playing when my son came into this world and she sang at our wedding for our first dance.

We love you Katie.

Our Country is Falling Apart

Every now and then I turn on the Today Show in the mornings, usually when I'm awake but not ready to get up. This morning I'm reminded why I'm not a regular viewer of the Today Show or any other shows like it.

Our country, and the world, is falling apart. Gas prices are soaring. People are driving less because, according to the reporter, of the high price of fuel. Here in Columbus, gas went from $3.85 at most stations to $4.09 yesterday. According to the report, there are 2% fewer cars on the road today than a year ago. More people are car pooling and taking public transportation because they can no longer afford to fill their gas tanks. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled about this shift, I just wish there were more public transportation options available to more people. I have no options but to drive to school. Between the increase in gas and the decrease in financial aid I'm not sure how much longer I can afford to go to school. I certainly can't be the only one dealing with this.

The climate is changing more dramatically and faster then ever before. The southwest part of the country can expect the drought they are experiencing to continue with no end in sight. The midwest can expect to see torrential downpours and major flooding more often with only 8 years between major flooding events rather than every 20 years. The average highs are only projected to get hotter.

There is a high school that had a huge surge in teen pregnancies with 17 sophomore girls expecting. When a reporter from Time magazine went to the high school to investigate she discovered these weren't unplanned pregnancies. These girls made a pact with each other to get pregnant and to raise their babies together. I feel so sad for these girls. Even more, I feel so sad for their babies.

Not only are food prices rising, the amount of food in prepackaged boxes is decreasing. Yet another hit to the family budget.

After listening to all of these stories I have noticed something missing from all of the reports. What we can do to make a difference. They may causally mention what some people are doing. In the gas price story they showed two women who have starting car pooling. But they didn''t offer any real solutions. No wonder depression rates are so high. If you watch any of these morning shows you're being told things are getting worse and worse and offered no solutions. This makes it look like there is no hope, we're doomed and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I refuse to believe this. I know there has to be more that I can do...I just have to spend hours of my time (that I don't really have) to research what those things are. Gee, that sort of seems like the job of a reporter.

Addiction and Feminism

Reflect on your experiences with addiction. What stereotypes do you have? When you think of addiction do you think of other types such as addiction to sex, food, shopping? How are feminism and addiction related?

Addiction has been part of my life, in one way or another, my entire life. Growing up my mom was addicted to Diet Pepsi and cigarettes. At times, she was known to smoke more than a pack a day. My dad has food addiction issues, more specifically, an addiction to sweet food. I myself was addicted to not eating food and to cutting. I also craved alcohol, though I never drank as a teen. I didn't understand why this was until I met my birth family (I am adopted). My birth mom had also struggled with addiction for part of her life. She, in addition to her mom and most of her brothers & sisters, dealt with sex, drug and alcohol addiction as a teen. The others in her family have been dealing with it for much more of their lives. My birth dad dealt with drug and alcohol addiction for a majority of his adult life. I wasn't ever exposed to my birth mom's issues as we never lived together. I was however, living my birth father when he admitted to me that he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol the day before checking himself into rehab. As an adult, both my husband and I have struggled with addition to video games and I am addicted to my ADHD medication as I cannot forgo a dose of prescribed amphetamine and expect to have a functional day. I also still struggle with cutting. While I have not cut in over 8 years the desire is still there at times, mostly when I'm feeling overwhelmed and have allowed others to get the better of me. I wonder if this will always be a struggle for me. I find myself thinking about cutting without even realizing I am thinking about it until it is too late. I hope one day to be rid of these thoughts for good, until them, I'll continue to push them out of my head as fast as they pushed their way into it. Food and I have a very healthy relationship now and we are good friends.

I am, however, proud to say that my mom is no longer a smoker, though, she does struggle with prescribed pills at times and still loves her Diet Pepsi. These don't bother me because she did successfully quit smoking, something she swore she would never do in a million years. My birth father, after falling off the proverbial wagon a few times, has been clean and sober for almost five years after hitting rock bottom after the birth of my son, his first grandchild, when he realized he wanted to be a good grandfather to him. I no longer have a relationship with my birth mother so I cannot say how she or anyone else in her family is dealing with their addictions. My dad is still addicted to sweets and probably always will be. Both my husband and I have conquered our video game addiction and we even canceled our subscriptions to World of Warcraft, which was not an easy thing to do! We did get a Wii for Christmas but have been pretty healthy in our use of it as well as our children's use of it.

Because of my personal and family history with addiction I really can't say what stereotypes I have regarding this issue. I have learned that addiction to anything comes in all different packages and especially from those whom you least expect it. The same goes for other types of addiction. While the first things that often come to mind are drugs and alcohol, I do recognize other additions. I do forget that things such as eating disorders (be it anorexia or over eating), sex, and shopping are considered addictions as these types aren't often talked about...not that addiction in general is something often talked about.

The biggest link, for me, between feminism and addiction comes from my belief that one feminist ideal is having control and power of my body and my life and not turning these things over to someone or something else. When a person has an addiction they are no longer in control of their body and/or their life. Instead, the addiction has control and power over the person though they may not realize it or may not recognize this to be the case.

My teacher is making me blog

For my readers who haven't been reading because there hasn't been anything new to read in some time now, you will be happy to know that I will be blogging regularly for the next ten weeks for a class I am taking. My hope is that this will get me in the habit of blogging regularly so you all have more to read from me. :)

Our Trip to Florida