The problem is not patriarchy. The problem is that men (and women) have become selfish and indulgent and immoral, and do not fear God.
You state that surrogacy exploits women. This may be true, but in today's day and age, when everyone has an equal right to choose, cannot an argument made that the surrogate has made her choice? She has chosen to exchange her womb for money. Who are you to say that she may not make this choice? Who are you to presume to "protect" her from her choice?
Is her vulnerability that she's a woman, or that she's poor? If it's the former, then you're proposing that her autonomy over her body be limited just because she's a woman. If it's the latter, then it's not a women's issue but a poverty issue. Where does a free and fair exchange end and coercion begin?
The fact is, as I've lately come to see with more clarity, women are inherently more persuadable than men. Women are inherently more in danger of being coerced and seduced. Thus a woman needs the protection of her father and her husband. And a man does (or should) inherently bear the burden of protecting his wife and his daughters - and even the womenfolk of their country.
For this to be feasible, the man himself must be moral and self disciplined.
Is this a form of patriarchy? Perhaps it is. But more importantly, it's reality.
The problem is today's western men are very very far from this form of patriarchy. This can be seen in the dating scene, where the man's goal is free sex. As long as the woman has "consented," the exploitative nature of the interaction is justified - actually, it is not even seen. And the women have by and large been consenting, as our schools and media groom young women for this. Fathers and husbands now have zero authority in this domain. And women's bodies have become "cheap."
If you're going to talk about exploitation, start with the exploitative "dating" culture that's going on in front of our noses. It's all connected. You won't fix the trend to exploit women surrogates if this is not addressed.
Surrogacy is a women’s issue AND a poverty issue. You don’t get many, if any, rich women acting as surrogate mothers for poor couples. And you don’t get any men acting as surrogate mothers - it’s a physical impossibility. Patriarchy is a system which enables men to treat women’s bodies as a resource, whether in surrogacy, prostitution, pornography, or the dating culture. Men can and should be 'moral and self-disciplined', but that requires them to understand, and go against, their patriarchal conditioning.
In Japan, uterine transplants are now being discussed along with surrogacy. Many women are against it, but the group of parliamentarians and doctors refuse to make the debate public. Only a very small part of the information is available.
The problem is not patriarchy. The problem is that men (and women) have become selfish and indulgent and immoral, and do not fear God.
You state that surrogacy exploits women. This may be true, but in today's day and age, when everyone has an equal right to choose, cannot an argument made that the surrogate has made her choice? She has chosen to exchange her womb for money. Who are you to say that she may not make this choice? Who are you to presume to "protect" her from her choice?
Is her vulnerability that she's a woman, or that she's poor? If it's the former, then you're proposing that her autonomy over her body be limited just because she's a woman. If it's the latter, then it's not a women's issue but a poverty issue. Where does a free and fair exchange end and coercion begin?
The fact is, as I've lately come to see with more clarity, women are inherently more persuadable than men. Women are inherently more in danger of being coerced and seduced. Thus a woman needs the protection of her father and her husband. And a man does (or should) inherently bear the burden of protecting his wife and his daughters - and even the womenfolk of their country.
For this to be feasible, the man himself must be moral and self disciplined.
Is this a form of patriarchy? Perhaps it is. But more importantly, it's reality.
The problem is today's western men are very very far from this form of patriarchy. This can be seen in the dating scene, where the man's goal is free sex. As long as the woman has "consented," the exploitative nature of the interaction is justified - actually, it is not even seen. And the women have by and large been consenting, as our schools and media groom young women for this. Fathers and husbands now have zero authority in this domain. And women's bodies have become "cheap."
If you're going to talk about exploitation, start with the exploitative "dating" culture that's going on in front of our noses. It's all connected. You won't fix the trend to exploit women surrogates if this is not addressed.
Surrogacy is a women’s issue AND a poverty issue. You don’t get many, if any, rich women acting as surrogate mothers for poor couples. And you don’t get any men acting as surrogate mothers - it’s a physical impossibility. Patriarchy is a system which enables men to treat women’s bodies as a resource, whether in surrogacy, prostitution, pornography, or the dating culture. Men can and should be 'moral and self-disciplined', but that requires them to understand, and go against, their patriarchal conditioning.
In Japan, uterine transplants are now being discussed along with surrogacy. Many women are against it, but the group of parliamentarians and doctors refuse to make the debate public. Only a very small part of the information is available.