9/8/2013-Reproducing Empire

            In this week’s reading Reproducing Empire by Laura Briggs we were shown the connection between Puerto Rican and North American ideas and beliefs in reference of sexuality, reproduction, and race. Briggs’ focuses on the impact that the United States has had on Puerto Rican colonization. In regards to the sexuality aspect Briggs discusses the matters of prostitution in depth and says that in the twentieth century an international policy of prostitution regulation developed. This fed into the notion that native women were promiscuous and likely cared diseases because of the venereal diseases that came to be associated with prostitution. Prostitution was increasingly visible in poor women of the dislocated rural classes and are referred to as “loose” women who need containment.

            This linked with Briggs other major argument of reproduction in regards to sterilization. It was seen problematic that poor women would be reproducing in an already somewhat over populated location. Their sexual behavior being considered dangerous and unreasonable, also being blamed for causing poverty, leaving these women in need of management and regulation. To what extent is government crossing the line in this situation? Why is it that they feel a need to place blame on only the woman, when it takes two people to conceive a child, hence the male should also be held accountable. Another compelling topic that Briggs discussed was the birth control pill. It was stated that overpopulation became such an issue that Puerto Rico began to see large pharmaceutical companies invest in and develop the birth control pill. Briggs argued that the mere fear of overpopulation help to contribute to justification of such experimentation in efforts to “fix” the problem of over population. This made the account of overpopulation more plausible by associating it with science and technological solutions. It seems to me that they were try to “fix” a problem that didn’t exist just yet. It seemed very interesting to me that the blame was seemingly placed on the U.S. stating the government was forcing the women to be sterilized when there was no evidence to back that up, other than the fact that the government was promoting it.