Verso Books, the “largest independent, radical publishing house in the English-speaking world” according to its Twitter bio, posted a thread yesterday about “womb carriers”:
In the 1970s up to 50% of Native womb carriers were sterilized against their will by the Indian Health Service (IHS).
— Verso Books (@VersoBooks) June 23, 2022
“In the 1970s up to 50% of Native womb carriers were sterilized against their will by the Indian Health Service (IHS).”
“Stripping our womb-carriers of their ability to have children is the continuation of over 500 years of misogynistic violence against Indigenous peoples.” [emphasis added]
As easy as it is to dismiss this absurd, demeaning language, remember how quickly such terms become mainstream. A decade ago, there were women and men (a very small number of whom liked people to pretend they were women).
Now, in the mainstream, there are “cisgender women” and “transgender women.” Next: “birthing people,” “menstruators,” and womb carriers.