Fear for Their Safety
Janet Kuypers
9/10/22, 9/11/12, and 9/12/22
How women speak is interpreted
Under the cloak of womanhood
Well, she’s just a woman,
How can she say that —
She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
So, subliminally, all women couch what they say
Based on who’s listening to them,
Based on how people interpret their words.
When a woman with any authority in a workplace
Says something strong, to correct a problem at work
Men will say she’s being a bitch
When a man says the same things
They say he’s being driven
#
When a woman went to a doctor
During menopause, complaining about hot flashes
The doctor suggested giving her Xanax
Which can impair memory, judgment, or coordination
Which can cause paranoia, or suicidal tendencies
The doctor doesn’t deliver a remedy, he
Just prescribed her a pill to make her shut up
When a woman was hospitalized with an ulcer,
She came back, the pain remained, especially during menstruation —
There would be days at work when she would
Lay down underneath her desk, in pain.
Once I helped her walk to her train station during the day
Because she had to be bed-ridden and didn’t know if she
ould walk one block to her train without collapsing.
She spoke of how uncomfortable she felt with her male doctor,
Who never listened to her, dismissing her problems
As if they were all in her head —
Doctors later suggested to her to go on the pill,
But she took that advice from a doctor years earlier,
And it made her more violently moody, and
Still didn’t help with the pain.
She feared her only choice was to follow her doctor’s orders.
When a woman went to a doctor
Complaining of stomach pains
They suggested she had a yeast infection
When she knew full well it was not that
When she told him that was ludicrous,
The doctor brushed her off.
Sharing her problems with another doctor,
He suggested it was the stomach flu,
Gave her a prescription, said she’d be fine soon.
Within two weeks she was admitted to the hospital
With a laceration in her stomach,
worsened because it was never treated —
Strong acidic fluids were seeping
through her body, infecting other organs.
Admitted to the hospital on a Friday,
By Saturday morning she was dead.
This says a lot about women’s healthcare,
and how they value women.
#
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade,
Women’s health doctors feel increased scrutiny
Amid abortion bans*, and patients now struggle
To find access to potentially lifesaving care**.
I read headlines like, “Four more Republican-led
US states ban almost all abortions”*** (that’s not a
Shocker), and “The Link Between Abortion Rights and
Gender Equality”**** (did somebody actually need to
Research this to figure that out?) ... I see these
Battles as South Carolina republican women fight for
Abortion right*****, and Kansas voting recounts confirm
Abortion rights****** too. And as I seem like some
Mad scavenger scooping up any news I can to
Help women in this struggle, I suddenly
Remember how women have been stripped of
Healthcare rights all across the spectrum, from
Prescribing crazy pills to never listening to female
Patients, all leading to so much pain — and death.
I’ve seen it. First-hand. How long must women
Fight this battle, and if women win abortion rights,
Do we think that everything is wonderful again?
Because it never was wonderful, not for women.
Continually ready to fight, it may take too long,
Women may win battles, but after millennia women
Lose the war. We women keep fighting, keep thinking
We’re making a difference, but... are we. Do we feel
Comfortable walking down the street at night
Without fearing the threat of theft or rape?
Do we feel we can stand up for ourselves at work
Without sounding to all men like a bitch,
Instead of an insightful, valuable contributor.
Will we ever feel comfortable with a male
Doctor, at the one place where we should feel
The most safe? Because I wonder how women
Can talk about equality when, in all relaity,
women always have to fear for their own safety first.
* https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/
womens-health-doctors-feel-increased-scrutiny-amid-abortion-87625799
** https://www.vice.com/en/article/3add8b/
roe-v-wade-overturned-impact-abortion-rights-reproductive-healthcare
*** https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/25/
four-more-republican-led-us-states-ban-almost-all-abortions
**** https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/
how-abortion-rights-are-linked-to-gender-equality
***** https://www.counton2.com/news/south-carolina-news/
sc-republican-women-fighting-for-abortion-rights
****** https://apnews.com/article/kansas-abortion-vote-recount-
e874f56806a9d63b473b24580ad7ea0c
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