My body, my choice
The use of the slogan has caused different types of controversy in different countries and is often used as a rallying cry during protests and demonstrations and/or to bring attention to different feminist issues.
[4][5][6][7][8] Freedom of choice describes an individual's opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties.
[9] Academics have shown how the framework of individual choice allowed the slogan to cross over to a wide range of feminist political claims.
In response to these critiques and the slogan’s appropriation, organisations like Planned Parenthood have shifted away from pro-choice language, promoting alternatives such as 'Bans Off Our Bodies' and 'Protect Abortion Access' that emphasize community and systemic solutions.
Its 7th annual march in 2018 focused on the "My body, my choice" slogan, to raise awareness against "sexual, gender and body-based" violence prevalent in Hong Kong.
[24][25] In 2018, multiple South African sexual and reproductive health and rights organizations came together to champion a social and community media initiative named #MyBodyMyChoice.
The initiative "call[s] for protecting and promoting women's rights to make decisions about their reproductive health, bodies and lives."
[27] The slogan Mera Jism Meri Marzi was popularized by the Aurat March in Pakistan which has been observed on International Women's Day.
[32] Protesters carried banners reading "My body, my choice" in response to the government's plans to limit abortion access in the country.
[32] Emma Watson has worn T-shirts with the slogan, "my body, my choice" to bring attention to the need for funding of rape crisis centres in England and Wales.
For example, women's bodies have been objectified throughout history through the changing ideologies of fashion, diet, exercise programs, cosmetic surgery, childbearing, etc.
Kirmani says those who oppose the slogan perpetuate a culture of rape, sexual harassment, child marriage, physical abuse, lack of healthcare, domestic violence, human trafficking, and bonded labour/slavery.
[13] According to Sondra Horton Fraleigh a woman's body is not determined by limitations but is a lived experience created through one's free-willed actions and choices in inter connected continuity with one's mind.
"[43] On the eve of International summit ICPD25 that is commemoration of 25th year of International Conference on Population and Development held at Nairobi in November 2019; UNFPA news report presents grim picture with help of global statistics; more than 800 women die from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth also 33000 girls forced in marriages every day; 4 million girl child are forced to go through female genital mutilation every year, an estimated 232 million women who would prefer modern contraception to prevent pregnancies are unable to avail the same for some reason or other.
[44][45] According to UNFPA's 2019 State of World Population Report, which could avail key information on status of Women's status of decision making role only for 51 countries; out of the countries where information was available only 57% women either married or in relationship could make decisions regarding sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care.
Mali, Niger and Senegal were in lowest list with only 7% women getting freedom to decide about their own bodies regarding sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care.
According to UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem, it is long way to go for all girls and women to have autonomy in decision making and means to govern their own bodies.
On 11 March 2013, Amina Sboui was the first Tunisian woman to post a photograph of herself nude from the waist up on Facebook, with the phrase "My body is mine and not the source of anybody's honour" in Arabic.
[53][54] When the 2015 viral short film, My Choice, starring Deepika Padukone, was released, it received a largely negative response on social media.
[55][56] Quartz India criticized the film for being hypocritical, since Padukone was advocating choice, while still adhering to patriarchal standards in other movies she stars in.
[57] Both men and women from "conservative Islamist organizations", such as Jamiat Hafsa, have protested against the Pakistani version of the slogan, 'Mera Jism Meri Marzi'.
[60] Writer Anjum Altaf says that critics' attempts to suggest alternative slogans to 'My body, my choice' don't realize that this amounts to mansplaining by subjecting feminist struggle to patriarchal approval what actually they are fighting against.
Critics claim that the slogan fails to include the fetus as an entity that deserves a voice and a right to bodily autonomy as well.
"[67] After Donald Trump was announced as the winner of the 2024 election, Nick Fuentes mocked the term, tweeting, "Your body, my choice.
"[72] Author Jess McCabe introduces a glossary of concepts related to the slogan 'My body, my choice' which includes Abortion, Bodily autonomy, Contraception, First nations, Forcible sterilization, Gendered, Heteronormativity, Institutionalized culture, LGBTQI, Prenatal testing, Pro-choice, Reproductive justice, Selective abortion, Sex positive feminism, Sexual consent, Social model of disability, Social mores, Social justice; in her book 30-Second Feminism: 50 Key Ideas, Events, and Protests, Each Explained in half a minute.
[73] As part of the women's rights movement with the concept of "My body, my choice", South Africans arranged photography and multimedia exhibitions.
One exhibition named Voices and Choices, curated by director Mmabatho Montsho, presented abortion stories and experiences with the mediums of photography, graphics, art and videos.
[78][79][80] Academic analysis has explored the phrase’s cultural and political evolution, highlighting the reasons for its appropriation across diverse contexts, including its hostile repurposing in anti-vaccine rhetoric.
