Vulnerable Women and "What the Constitution Means to Me"

I was recently in New York and, among other things, saw a much-discussed play on Broadway entitled "What the Constitution Means to Me."

In truth, it is more of a one-woman monologue than a play, although at the end, there is a brief debate between Heidi Schreck, the author and chief actor, and one of two school-age girls as to whether the Constitution should be kept or scraped.  Audience participation -- cheers or boos for the various points made -- are encouraged at that part of the show.

I mention this because Schreck focuses mainly on the 9th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, the latter of which in particular underpins the Supreme Court's decision that a person's right to privacy (unmentioned explicitly in the Constitution) allows a woman to get an abortion without government interference at least in the first trimester of her pregnancy.

This is a hot topic at the moment because various individual states have recently passed legislation would undermine or overrule that decision. Moreover, because of recent changes in the make-up of the Supreme Court, it is possible Row v Wade, the landmark ruling on abortion, will eventually be revisited.




Schreck's play essentially examines the question of whether the Constitution, and the manner in which it has been interpreted and enforced, adequately protects women, not just with respect to their ability to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy, but also with respect to domestic violence. (Schreck depicts herself as a victim of inherited trauma because of domestic violence in the history of her own family).

Not surprisingly, the answer is "no."

The play is "a chronicle of the legal subjugation of women by men, as experienced in the day-to-day injustices of living while female and in the foundational American document that offers paltry recourse," is how New York Times theater critic Jesse Green put it in his review.

I mention this in part because a new book on domestic violence in the U.S. has just been released. Entitled "No Visible Bruises" and written by Rachel Louise Snyder. It was recently reviewed by the New York Times. In a nutshell, Snyder argues that domestic violence, of which women are the chief victims, has reached epidemic proportions (about 50 women a month are shot and killed by their partners) and that legal and enforcement protections are minimal.

This, however, is not just a topic that appalls people: it is also a source fascination that the entertainment industry has seized upon.

Consider, for instance, a Washington Post article entitled "America Already Binge-Watches Violence Against Women."

"Here in America, it’s perfectly acceptable to turn on the television and binge on rape, subjugation, kidnapping and torture — as long as we agree we’re doing it in a serious manner. As long as we claim we’re learning from it," said Monica Hesse, the newspaper's gender columnist and author of the article in question.

Back on the topic of abortion, interested readers might want to take a look at my novella entitled "Gina/Diane," available as an e-book here.