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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is addressing the political “backlash” she is receiving after going public with her decision to freeze her eggs.
“One question that I received earlier is do I regret coming out publicly about this due to all of the political negativity and the larger political context, and especially this idea that, for me, I’m quite young in my career — especially when it comes to politics — so would the backlash around this have any future impact on my career and do I regret it for those reasons,” Ocasio-Cortez, 36, said in a video shared via her Instagram Stories on Saturday, August 15.
“And the answer to that simply is — no. I was born a woman. Period,” she continued. “And I have no control over that, and I wouldn’t want to change that. And the way I feel is any negativity or judgement that I would receive at any point is negativity that I would receive for being a woman whether I shared this information or not, and so I might as well help others.”
The Democratic congresswoman representing New York City’s 4th congressional district announced she had made the personal decision to start freezing her eggs one week earlier, on August 8.
“I want to share with you all a decision that is very personal that I have made that has taken me time to consider, weigh and save up for,” she said via her Instagram Stories at the time. “And it is of a sensitive matter and a personal matter and usually I keep my private life quite private, but I have made the decision to start freezing my eggs.”
Ocasio-Cortez, considered a potential future frontrunner for the Democratic party’s presidential nominee, has since received a slew of backlash from conservative Republicans and right-wing internet personalities for her choice to freeze her eggs and decision to share the journey publicly.
On Saturday, the congresswoman said that, unfortunately, she is used to the endless and often sexist and misogynistic scrutiny she’s endured since entering office in 2019. (The congresswoman became the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives after defeating Republican nominee Anthony Pappas.)
“Another element of this as well is that ever since I was 28 years old, when I first won my primary largely unexpectedly to the national media, I have been subject to personal scrutiny and dissection ever since — for years,” she explained. “And it’s no secret to anyone that it’s been done in a way that is just simply not something that my male colleagues have been subject to, and when you go through that level of national scrutiny the first time it can be very unsettling. But I’ve gone through this so many times and for so many years — and it’s not to say that it’s fair, or right, or isn’t hurtful – but I have the privilege of being more resilient to this kind of negativity than someone going publicly that hasn’t.”
She added, “And what I find interesting, I think, sometimes with this negativity is that a lot of people think that, you know, who engage in it, they think that there’s no issue with them engaging in discourse about me, but when I take control of my life and I participate in that discourse and I open it proactively for people and shape it in a way that creates community and space for other women in a similar position — and other people in a similar position and other couples in a similar position – to feel less alone, that’s when people have an issue. It’s fine if I’m just being subject to it, but once I participate in it that’s when people get upset.”
In the end, the congresswoman reiterated that she is a woman and is refusing to “ignore that fact when no one else does.”
“It’s not to be obnoxious about it and it’s not to be whatever, but it’s to just live in the world and I want to be able to live in the world as myself,” she continued. “When I first decided to run for office, I made a deal with myself and it was that I would do this as long as I could remain myself and the day that I could no longer do this and be myself is the day that I leave. And part of this process is me being myself — this moment. And I don’t want to do this while not being me.”
She continued, growing somewhat emotional, “That’s my bargain. No one can make that determination but me and my loved ones and I’m very grateful that my friends and my family are the friends and family and loved ones that I’ve had before all of this ever even happened. And I’m also incredibly grateful for all the friends I’ve made since and all of you all that have created a tremendous community — not for me but for each other.”
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