What one is willing to do for money is often dependent on how bad they need the money. That seems easy enough to conceive, but one thing that is fairly universal in capitalist societies is that we put poor individuals in situations that jeopardize their health and safety to survive. The medium I will be exploring is the series Squid Game. 

The film identifies a distinct identity of people right from the start and that is the low income individuals of Korea. The individuals are identified by their willingness to gamble their physical safety in order to win small amounts of money through a children’s game on the subway. These

Individuals are identified and then given a card and asked if they want to be involved in a game that could potentially win them a large amount of money.  

Once they are identified and brought in they are all numbered and told that they will be playing grade school games like Red Light, Green Light to win the prize money. The catch is that their other alternative is they die. The prize money is built on the number of people who die throughout the games. The players are made to believe they are not forced to participate because if half the group decides to quit they may do so. 

We learn, however, when these players leave the game that they do not have anything to lose by playing. Most of them are in such bad living and economic situations that death with the possibility of more money than life on the outside. So they elect to get back into the game. Where 455 players out of 456 players die by the end of the game, leaving the winner with 45.6 billion Won. This is equivalent to just over 38 million US Dollars. 

A main troubling dynamic with this show is the dehumanization of the poor. This is represented by giving them numbers instead of using their names. Even for most of the show the poor individuals in their own class do not even share or call each other their names. This represents that it is not just the people in “power” oppressing those below them but also that those in the lower class have dehumanized each other because of the system issues. 

This issue has a lot of gruesome scenes and ways of showing these individuals dying. It is complicated because it is not just those in power that are killing the poor, but they are forced to kill each other as well. Even though there are gruesome killings the most haunting part of this show is that it personifies the lengths someone is willing to go for money when they have no other choice and it makes the viewer uncomfortable because in the society we live in it is so easy to identify with the characters. 

https://www.thecut.com/2021/11/ohio-proposes-extra-extreme-version-of-texas-abortion-ban.html 

This article depicts proposed Ohio bill banning abortion statewide. As the article says this proposed plan to eliminate legal abortions would not change the deadline in which one could receive an abortion, but would outlaw them all together. Additionally, this law would put those who “helped” aid in any abortion that takes place in legal hot water as well. This proposal is said to be even more extreme than the Texas abortion laws passes recently, which the most extreme law against the healthcare service to date. This is systemic oppression because it is the only healthcare act that is subject to such partisan debate. This would not only affect women but also a variety of other groups as well. This would affect organizations that support sexual health and general health as well. The legal consequences could go as far as to the the suppliers of the equipment used by medical personnel to administer an abortion. This is not just an attack on women and their bodily autonomy, but could threaten the health care system on a greater level as well. If this were to pass it would cause a ripple effect of issues for insurance agencies, manufacturers of medical equipment, gynecological practices and IVF clinics  The proposal allows for punishment of individuals that assist in the abortion taking place meaning rides hare personnel or public transit employees that take an individual to an appointment.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8QrSqkR/

This link above is to a TikTok by Planned Parenthood Ohio discussing how Ohio Republicans are attempting to make these changes. One of the main things that representatives are trying to change is the definition of “person” in Ohio revised code to include fertilized egg. This language is important because it tries to make all pregnancies as black and white. You either have a person inside of you that you will carry to full term or you have committed a crime in ending a person’s life. The TikTok describes how they are meaning for this to carry the same weight for cases of rape and incest as well as ectopic pregnancies. This goes well beyond the “care for human life” because if it was about that we would not be endangering women carrying fetuses for any reason. In a case that a woman was going to die because of pregnancies the doctor must prove there was absolutely no other choice than to terminate the pregnancy for the woman to survive. This is problematic because it is creating more of a taboo around situations that women already struggle with. This is on par with telling a woman who miscarried that she is a murderer because she was unable to carry her child to full term. 

This is an urgent and on-going issue in Ohio that anyone and everyone should care about. There are actions that we all can take by contacting local representatives, donating or volunteering at places that create accessible sexual healthcare, and signing petitions to voices to protect women’s right to bodily autonomy.