Is Women's Labor A Commodity Summary

477 Words1 Page

Read the article "Is Women's Labor a Commodity?" Elizabeth S. Anderson concludes that women's labor should not be treated as a commodity for business transactions. The commercialization of childbirth harms women and should not be encouraged. I will examine Anderson's argument to reach this conclusion. Anderson argues that women's labor should not be a commodity based on the premise that commercial surrogacy facilitates the degradation of children by reducing their value to that of objects. In the world of surrogacy, the values and standards that compose paternal love are absent. Instead of being cherished, the child is regarded in the same way a piece of merchandise would be. The parents of a child have a system of trust instilled into one …show more content…

The author makes her argument based on the premise that women are degraded and exploited in commercial surrogacy. The intense focus on financial arrangements assigns the women the degrading role of a reproduction machine undeserving of respect and consideration. Within the world of surrogacy, there exists the use of intimidation and manipulation from the surrogate agencies that aid in stripping the mother of her autonomy. The complex emotions experienced by surrogate mothers are often ignored and belittled. While these agencies view themselves as facilitating a financial transaction, surrogate mothers are experiencing an emotional transformation. Becoming a surrogate means being alienated from the pregnancy and suppressing any parental bond that can come about so as not to violate the terms of an agreement. In surrogacy, "the mother should feel guilty and irresponsible for loving her child" (Anderson 147). The motive for a woman to become a surrogate mother is much more complex than what surrogate agencies are willing to acknowledge in their agreements. Instead, opt to disregard it entirely and take advantage of the mother's

Open Document