*All characters in this story are fictional and above the age of 18.
**Please do not read if you are offended by themes of misogyny, and non-consent.
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I opened my eyes and checked the calendar just to make sure. Sure enough, today was my 18
th
birthday. The dreaded day had finally arrived. This was the one birthday you didn't look forward to, not if you were born a girl. Today I became a legal adult. Before today the law sheltered me, but my protection ended the moment I woke up this morning.
Years ago, when my mom was young, the United States experienced a political upheaval. Tides of change always start small, and ending abortions was a small concession. After all, it was for the children. Over time, however, the changes escalated to include mandatory bed rest during pregnancy. Another innocuous change to benefit children, but with sinister consequences.
Between pregnancy and maternity leave, women were forced to leave work for a year at a time. Though it was technically illegal, companies grew reluctant to hire women. If a woman became pregnant, the company would be forced to pay over a year's salary to an absent employee. Why take the risk?
Many women felt discriminated against, so they took their cases to court, but judges were overwhelmingly male, and often looked the other way. The tide was growing.
As the number of women in the workforce dwindled, people questioned whether women should be working at all. Pundits argued a women's place was supposed to be at home caring for her kids. Only a selfish woman would choose a job over her own children.
According to my History class, the "Mothers for Families Act" solved our country's parental crisis. The law made it impossible for women to work all but the most menial jobs. Additionally, women needed government approval to work more than 15 hours a week.
The day after Mothers for Families passed, my mom was fired from her job as the marketing director of a Fortune 500 Company. Luckily, one of her former interns was willing to hire her as his secretary.
The new paradigm led many men to argue they deserved the majority of representation. After all, they worked the difficult jobs and paid most of the taxes. This led to the 30
th
amendment to the constitution, which officially made a woman's vote worth 1/2 of a man's vote.
This was when reform began in earnest. A few years before I was born, women lost their right to vote entirely. Then when I was two years old, Congress completed their coup, and forever altered the lives of women.
The "Right to Reproduce Act" or the "Right to Rape" as critics called it. The law stated it was an honor and a responsibility for women to reproduce, and in order to share this burden, men required sexual liberty. The law stripped women of the right to refuse a man's advance. In other words, it was illegal for women to refuse sex once they reached adulthood. Supposedly this was for our own good.
Pregnancies skyrocketed in the years following, and lawmakers credited the Right to Reproduce Act (R2R). Popular with the voter-base, R2R was hailed as a victory for women everywhere, because starting a family had never been easier.
Mom always assured me the R2R Act would be repealed long before I turned 18. I even wrote a school paper arguing against the Right to Reproduce Act. Initially, I lost points for saying the law was oppressive for jailing women. Fortunately, my teacher let me edit the paper and submit it for a regrade. My new paper argued the law gave women the chance to prove themselves as responsible adults. I got an A for my report and it was even printed in the local paper.
Three years had passed since I wrote that paper, and the Right to Reproduce was still the law of the land. Worse, today I become a legal adult.
For a moment, I pulled the covers to my chin and pretended I could spend the whole day in bed, but I knew it was fantasy. It was Wednesday, and I had High School classes to attend. Attendance was compulsory for girls.
I slid out of bed and made my way to the dresser. My school uniform was laid out where I had left it the night before. The white blouse took a moment to button, but the skirt was easy to slip on. I frowned as I examined myself in the mirror, the skirt cut off before my knees and left my thighs exposed. Not for the first time, I wished my school uniform was less revealing, especially today.
I distracted myself by packing up my soccer bag. Organized sports were one of the only ways I could access higher education. There weren't many colleges for girls, but some used it as a big selling point. With enough practice I would get a scholarship to one of them.
Finally, I was forced to admit there was no reason to delay leaving my room. Grabbing my backpack and soccer bag I headed downstairs. The smell of pancakes greeted me when I entered the kitchen. I saw my Mom look up from where she was cooking breakfast.
"Happy birthday, Jessie bear. It's a special day, so I decided to make pancakes." My mom smiled, but it faltered a moment. There was an unspoken truth in the air. Despite protecting me my whole life, there was nothing more my mom could do for me. From this day onward, I was on my own.
We ate mostly in silence, ignoring the elephant in the room. I watched my mom closely; she was wearing extra makeup today and her work skirt barely came down past her butt.
"Why do you wear clothes like that mom?" I asked. "It's for Jeremy isn't it?" Jeremy was the intern who had become my mom's boss.
My mom's cheeks turned pink, "Please don't say bad things about Jeremy. I'm very grateful to him for my job. He even lets me do most of his work for him, since he has my old job."
"If you're doing his most of his work, why do you need to wear clothes like that?" I asked. My mom didn't respond right away, instead fiddling with her fork.
"Well, the truth is Jeremy made a comment yesterday. It was nothing big, he just said it'd be nicer to have someone younger around the office. So, I just thought-- If I keep making him happy, I can keep my job. You don't realize how lucky I am to even have this opportunity."
We ate the rest of breakfast in silence, afterwards I got ready to follow my mom out to the car. When I got to the door, my mom grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug.
"I love you Jessie, everything's going to be ok." I savored the warmth of my mom's embrace until we broke apart. Then I followed her out the front door.