Abortion: Inga Muscio Vs. The Milan Collective
While the allegory, "There are two sides to a story," is an often-used phrase, it's an expression that's widely untrue. In situations that are complicated, there usually aren't only two sides to a story?it takes three sides or more to paint a more accurate portrayal of all of the details that the situation entails. Abortion isn't just an issue of "pro-life" vs. "pro-choice;" the issue has assorted variables and participants that influence different results. This essay shows the views exhibited in our course, Philosophical Aspects of Feminism, by feminist author Inga Muscio and feminist autocoscienza group The Milan Collective. In their respective pieces, SEXUAL DIFFERENCE and Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, the Milan Collective and Inga Muscio display several contrasting views on abortion, feminism, and women's rights.
One fundamental similarity that both Inga Muscio and the Milan Collective have in common is that each of them believe in women having the right to have freedom regarding what they can or cannot do with their bodies. In the minds of both parties, women have the right?whether it's formally legalized or not?to have abortions. But for the most part, this is where the similarities between the two idealists ends.
One difference between Muscio and the Milan Collective is that the Milan Collective try to work within the male-dominated legal system to get what they want. As stated on page 60, The Milan Collective was active in a location and during a time where abortion was illegal, so women were circumventing the law altogether by getting abortions on their own terms. Even though they later found that they didn't get the results they thought were ...