𩸠Theyâve Always Watched the Womb: A History of Obsession, Control & Harm From the plantation to the present day, menâparticularly those in power
𩸠Theyâve Always Watched the Womb: A History of Obsession, Control & Harm
From the plantation to the present day, menâparticularly those in powerâhave long been fascinated by female reproduction. But it has never been a harmless curiosity.
They didnât just wonder how the womb worked.
They experimented on it.
They didnât just observe menstruation.
They tried to control, regulate, shame, and profit from it.
Centuries ago, enslaved African women were subjected to brutal, non-consensual gynecological experimentation under the guise of medical advancement. They were cut open, stitched up, examined, and violatedâall without anesthesia, all without consent. Their suffering built the foundation of modern gynecology. Their names are often erased, while the names of their violators appear in textbooks and on hospital walls.
But the story didnât stop there.
Today, that same obsession shows up in new packaging:
Laws policing menstruation and puberty education
The forced sterilization of incarcerated women
The silencing of girls’ reproductive health in schools
The commodification of period products without addressing dignity
Digital surveillance of menstrual apps
 Male fantasies that erase the specificity of the female body
And a cultural discomfort with women bleeding, birthing, or simply being
They want to regulate when we bleed.
They want to time when we give birth.
They want to shame when we say no.
And they want to control when we say yes.
This is not just history.
It is a continuum of colonizationâof the womb, the cycle, the self.
WE name this for what it is: reproductive coercion, dressed up as concern. We speak the truth our ancestors whispered through shackles and sterilization wards.
Our bodies are not experiments.
Our wombs are not warzones.
Our blood is not shame.
It is time to reclaim what was always ours.
𩸠Dignity. Autonomy. Truth.
Welcome to the conversation. Stay loud.
