I consider myself pro-life for all these reasons.
1 Like
Because it’s not polite to use the N word anymore? Pro-life sounds so much nicer than, “You are an N-word.”
4 Likes
I’ve worked with left-wing Catholics who do. They espoused an admirably consistent, if partially incorrect, philosophy on life-related matters.
11 Likes
As a pregnant person, there’s nothing that I fear right now quite like the intolerable cruelty of pro-lifers. In my state, it’s illegal to have an abortion if you think the fetus has Down’s. It’s “medical discrimination” against that fetus. If something happened to my pregnancy today, would I be dragged in front of a court and demanded to answer for medical choices I made to preserve my life with my doctor? I have a friend who went into labor at 24 weeks while traveling, away from her spouse. The only thing they could do was help the labor along, knowing the baby would die. She only ever got to hold her baby for a moment. The pro-life movement would see her punished for not doing more. When she announced the pregnancy loss, people told her, in public, on Facebook, that she was wrong for what she did. In the state I used to live in, during my first pregnancy, I had to scrutinize my 20-week anatomy scan because it was legal for the doctor to lie to me if she thought I’d seek abortion. I didn’t think she would, but you know.
I hate the pro-life movement for forcing women into these situations. The women of the pro-life movement are so blinded by their just-world fallacy that they really believe anyone who needs an abortion is a horrible liar who deserves it for whatever sin she committed. They can’t imagine it would ever happen to them, and so it’s fine to inflict suffering on anyone who does need these services. It’s the same victim-blaming self preservation that leads women to blame other women for being raped.
20 Likes
And yet a lot of these people won’t support UHC because “the government shouldn’t make your health decisions for you, just you and your doctor”. They do not see (or are so invested in controlling women that they do not care) the enormous hypocrisy involved in holding those opinions.
And again, you can’t be “pro-life” if you are willing to deny medical care.
14 Likes
Exactly. I don’t think we can understand what calls itself the “pro-life” movement outside of a Christian dominionist framework. The goal is dead women, disabled women and dependent women. They can’t put the women’s lib genie back in the bottle, but they can create a patriarchal religious hegemony by putting women in coffins and physically limiting their ability to interact with public life.
14 Likes
Fear of contamination as well, I think.
6 Likes
Same. I respect their views on this issue, because they are very consistent. I even agree with them. I believe that quality of life is more important than quantity of life, and that we should make more investment in social safety net programs overall. I am completely against capital punishment, and mostly against war. I believe reducing the number of abortions is a good goal to have, but not if it means restricting access to safe and legal abortions… especially if everything else is kept the same and this restricted access only deepens our growing class divide.
9 Likes
Well, they seem to hope that they can, anyway. That might ultimately be wishful thinking in pursuit of more wishful thinking.
2 Likes
Its literally already happening.
11 Likes
All the more case for militancy, instead of taking the place you’ve been given.
2 Likes
You do realize they’re in Israel right?
You want to start a religious war?
And what about the male journalists that SEE this is happening and do nothing?
But sure, lets blame the women for “taking the place you’ve been given.” - how about MEN step up? Thats what I’d like to see more of. You don’t want to be lumped in with all men? Fine. Step up and call out other men. Other wise I’m back on the #YesAllMen train.
17 Likes
Nobody has control over what other people do, only themselves. And doing what is right is not a matter of blaming anyone else. Trying to convince oppressors to do the right thing and come around to fairness is worth doing, but it would be naive for anyone to expect that to be enough. People work in terms of incentive, and when an oppressor’s only incentive is positive - that they get something out of it - they don’t stop, They also need negative incentive, real consequences for committing injustice. That’s the case with ANY kind of oppression, any societal group. Sentiments of blame/support don’t actually do anything, it is a matter of following that with praxis.
Other men? I am not any men, thanks.
Recognizing transgressions and culpability is an important first step in achieving justice. Then raising popular awareness. Next, actually doing something.
It is not a problem unique to feminism. I think that the left as a whole has a problem of learned helplessness/bystander effect/diffusion of responsibility where publicity campaigns are treated as a real substitute for action. But that seems to be the very disempowerment you were accusing me of, that of us just hoping that somebody else fixes the problem.
Well, good luck with that, I guess. Personally, I think that “calling out” relies upon embarrassment as being sufficient negative incentive. But dictators and CEOs still laugh all the way to the bank every day. A lack of strategy and concerted action on our part, teaches our adversaries that the worst consequences they face for abuse is that we will complain about it. Reminding people that they are responsible for their own actions means also reminding us that we are also responsible for our own actions - or inactions.
3 Likes
Meanwhile in the UK…
https://www.ft.com/content/075d679e-0033-11e8-9650-9c0ad2d7c5b5
And in case you can’t get around the paywall I’ve pdf’d the article. I can send it to you.
It is for men only. A black tie evening, Thursday’s event was attended by 360 figures from British business, politics and finance and the entertainment included 130 specially hired hostesses.
All of the women were told to wear skimpy black outfits with matching underwear and high heels. At an after-party many hostesses — some of them students earning extra cash — were groped, sexually harassed and propositioned.
The event has been a mainstay of London’s social calendar for 33 years, yet the activities have remained largely unreported — unusual, perhaps, for a fundraiser of its scale.
The questions raised about the event have been thrown into sharp relief by the current business climate, when bastions of sexual harassment and the institutionalised objectification of women are being torn down.
The Financial Times last week sent two people undercover to work as hostesses on the night. Reporters also gained access to the dining hall and surrounding bars.
And we’re STILL sending women journalists undercover in “skimpy” outfits to expose the bad behaviour of men… Bunny Tales was 54 years ago. The more things change the more they stay the same. /sigh
15 Likes
Good piece here:
9 Likes
Putting this here, because… well, just read the letter:
11 Likes
Could you just post the text here? It’s definitely paywalled.
5 Likes
Turns out, snow plowing is gendered. Makes so much sense.
10 Likes
Amazing.
Its “funny” how on the one had MRA types will complain that men do all the hard/dirty/dangerous jobs and yet won’t acknowledge that women are actively prevented from entering these fields.
I was literally talking about this yesterday on twitters, cuz some MRA-tween was yelling that women should do the hard/dirty/dangerous jobs and we were all, yes, you are correct, women would like that opportunity thank you!
Link to an excellent response to the above:
“http://the-exercist.tumblr.com/post/105284613217/is-that-so-women-have-been-a-leading-force-in”
13 Likes
I even hear this about engineering “blah blah blah women’s studies, why don’t they go into engineering” and then when questioned they say women aren’t smart enough to be engineers* and are only taking men’s jobs. Then they wonder why they can’t get a girlfriend 
*engineer here. A shaved ape can do this job.
14 Likes