7 posts tagged “feminism”
Dear American Public,
It has come to my attention that there will be a third direct-to-video sequel to the popular 2000 teen flick, "Bring It On." While the first movie was at least bearable, because of Kirsten Dunst and that adorable boy who played Xander in "Buffy," and because it was chock-full of pop culture references, the sequels have had not an inkling of that same ditzy charm. They are hypersexualized and often objectify women horribly, and send horrible messages to young women about who society wants them to be. So why do they keep getting made?
Because you, the American Public, keep buying them. So, I appeal to your sanity. Please stop. If you stop buying them, I promise they'll stop making them. You are wasting the time of at least four or five screenwriters who would rather be working on the next American masterpiece. You are taking up valuable cable airspace, where if not showing a "Bring it On" marathon, they might instead be showing "The American President," or some other movie that the non-preteen set adores. And you can spend the recovered time building strong daughters. Teach them how to play a sport. Play a board game. Have them learn a musical instrument. Enroll them in actual cheerleading or gymnastic classes, where they'll build self-esteem based on their accomplishments. But stop buying movies for them that tell them that the best, strongest woman they can be is a hypersexual, big-breasted, small-minded cheerleader.
We now return to your regularly scheduled programs.
I have long considered myself to be pro-life, and if not pro-life, then at the very least, pro-living. I say this because I believe that the rights conferred to those who live should be concentrated among those who are alive, and I believe that life begins at conception. I also believe that abortion is something to be avoided, but in order to reduce the number of abortions performed in this country, there must also be comprehensive sexual education and cheap, reliable birth control available to anyone (man or woman) who wants it, as well as completely legal emergency contraception.
I also believe that one of the failure of the choice movement has been our failure to control the lexicon. Until we control the language, we cannot control the debate. And until we control the debate, we cannot stop anti-choice people from chipping away at our rights.
They have become experts at creating language that demonizes people who believe that the control over their bodies lies solely in their own hands. They tell us that we're pro-abortion (which is a blatant lie). They call us baby killers. That's really just the beginning.
It's time to take back the lexicon. I am pro-choice, and I am pro-life. Those who have previously belonged to the movement known as "pro-life" will henceforth be called members of the forced pregnancy movement.
Small Things
- I've been thinking about how eventually I'm going to want a dog, because I've been mostly out of my parents' house, and I miss my dogs and having pets around in general. We have English bulldogs at home, but those aren't really practical for a small apartment that I'll probably live in for at least awhile. So I was trying to think of dogs that I could get that would work in small spaces, and I think I've settled on a Westie. They're cute and small enough, but sturdy, and they need to be walked every day, which would get me moving more.
- I love how the Republicans favor small government. They favor government so small that it fits inside a classroom to prevent medically accurate sex education. and faith-neutral public education. They favor government so small that it fits inside a single house to tell you who you can or can't file your taxes with. They favor government so small that it fits into your bedroom to tell you who you can and can't have sex with. They favor government so small that it fits inside my uterus. I prefer big governments that don't fit into any of these places.
- The Decemberists concert in Kansas City was at least ten times more amazing than the one in St. Louis, which was pretty incredible in its own right. The venue was a little bit larger, but much more intimate, so it felt a little smaller. It was a lot more like the first show that Beth and I saw in Columbia, with a lot more energy and a lot more closeness, but with more killer grooves.
My stance on abortion is not at all determined by whether I would ever have an abortion or not. I feel very strongly that motherhood is one of the most blessed roles a woman can have, and it is one that I am very excited for.
I believe that the greatest documents ever set forth by man alone were the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The most valuable doctrine among these is the venerable First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which says:
Plainly stated, we are free to believe what we want, say what we want, write what we want, assemble peacefully to talk about what we want, and tell the government when we don't like things that they're doing. We are free to do this without fear of the government banning any of these practices."Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
We are free to believe in (or not) any G-d that we choose. Because the question of when life begins is a religious question, the government's decision to try to legislate when life begins is, in itself, unconstitutional, to say little of the fact that it violates the long-standing principle of stare decisis, the court doctrine that says that in most cases, the Supreme Court justices should let stand the decision of previous justices. It defies precedence in that it begins to chip away at the protections afforded to women in the Roe decision, but also because this version of the ban, like its predecessor that was deemed unconstitutional, it also lacks a provision for the life and health of the mother.
There are those among us who will point to the single case of the child born at 21 weeks and say that is the new determination of viability. Just because that baby survived does not mean that all will, or that twenty-one weeks is viable. That baby will be lucky to grow up with more than a mere shell of normal abilities.
The rendering of this ban as constitutional does more than essentially relegate women to second-class status, telling them that the ball of cells in her body has more of a right to life and opportunity than she does. It also slaps in the face any citizen of this country who does not ascribe to the religiously-grounded belief that life begins at conception.
It also marks the beginning of a dangerous trend in medicine. This is the first time in United States history that a genuine medical procedure has been banned outright by the federal government. As someone who hopes to become a physician, I want to know that I can provide my patients with the best medical care available. If that means providing an abortion, I want to make sure that ALL of my patient's options are open. Medical care is circumstantial; the moral basis of procedure performance should not be based on the opinions and beliefs of wealthy seventy-five year old white men who will never understand what it means to carry a forced pregnancy.
Nobody makes decisions for me over my own body. Nobody but my doctor, in conference with me, determines what procedures are most appropriate for my body and my situation. So suck it, Roberts court. Suck it big time.
I'm starting to feel better over the last few days, at least a little less anxious. It was a beautiful day on campus today, one of those days that I'll really miss when I'm not here anymore.
We have a delightful little spot on campus called Speaker's Circle. The main draw is that it is the single-most
Anyway... it was a beautiful day and I wasn't feeling much like spending my lunch break inside, so I went to sit at the Circle. Brother Jed was there, along with his wife, Sister Cindy. They were talking about the Virginia Tech shootings and how we should be thinking about how we should be thinking about using this event as motivation to find Jesus, among other things. Sister Cindy came out and invited us all to their open house next week, and said that she would teach the women who came to make turkey gravy, because "that's all you need to be able to do to find a good man to marry you."
Because apparently, all men need to be happy is food and sex. And all women need to be happy is a kitchen and twelve bouncing, joyful children because you don't believe in birth control! Never mind that your government has just designated you to second-class citizenship - congratulations! As long as you can cook and clean and pump out babies like movie tickets, you can find a man to pay for all of the babies that you didn't want and can't afford!
Today, as I walked about campus, I was reflecting on the statement I made yesterday, in which I said I wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of legalizing physician-assisted suicide, but wasn't sure it was something I thought I could do.
The thought process merged somewhat with one I had been pursuing earlier in the week, where I was thinking about an anti-choice law that passed which basically banned abortions from being performed in areas that were a certain number of miles away from a hospital, or in places without documented hospital privileges. The law in and of itself is pretty dumb, since abortions tend to be one of the safest surgical procedures out there. So, it was basically a nonsensical law designed to portray abortions as inherently, if inaccurately, unsafe. I began thinking about what I might do to fight such a law, and came to the idea of opening up what would in essense be a full-service womens' hospital.
This is almost utopian for me. A womens' hospital staffed in its entirety by pro-choice physicians that covered the full range of womens' health services. She could get a well-woman exam, and choose from any number of caring, compassionate obstetricians to carry her through the course of her pregnancy. Basic and complex surgical procedures could be carried out. An oncologist specializing in gynecological cancers would be on staff. In-patient and out-patient beds. Special counseling for pregnancy issues, post-partum depression, and lactation, etc. And patients seeking options for their pregnancy could be presented with a full spectrum of options. Maybe we'd have an out-patient pharmacy, too, so that patients could obtain birth control and emergency contraception without any fear of conscience clauses.
It was here that the two streams of thought collided. In terms of womens' health, I am adamantly opposed to conscience clauses. I very strongly feel that if a physician does not feel that he/she is morally able to perform the duties that his/her specialty calls for, then a different specialty should be chosen. The same with pharmacists: if a pharmacist does not feel like they are morally capable of filling birth control or EC, then they should have chosen a different career. Your patient is a customer, and is not asking for your moral judgment. They are paying you to fill a bottle with the things their doctor says they need. As long as a procedure or a drug is legal, then it should be easily obtainable by the patient.
But I reach a stumbling block when I apply the same rationale to physician-assisted suicide. It is easy for me, I suppose, to consider ending a pregnancy because I don't feel that a fetus is alive. However, I could not consider PAS as a reasonable course of treatment. Yet, if it were legalized, I would have to appeal to some conscience clause written into the legalization law, much like anti-choice physicians and pharmacists do in terms of abortion. I suppose it is just another question in a long line of 'when does life begin."
"Because woman's work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we're the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it's our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we're nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we're nymphos and if we don't we're frigid and if we love women it's because we can't get a "real" man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we're neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we're selfish and if we stand up for our rights we're aggressive and "unfeminine" and if we don't we're typical weak females and if we want to get married we're out to trap a man and if we don't we're unnatural and because we can't get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon an dif we can't cope or don't want a pregnancy we're made to feel guilty about abortion and... for lots and lots of other reasons we are part of the women's liberation movement."
From NOW.
The end.
