Vox’s posts tagged women's rights

LADIES. Check yo'self before you wreck yo'self.

nobody@vox.com(bethie-noodle) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:03:35 +0000

Boy, it's been a landmark race, so far. At first glance, it seems a huge victory for feminism in general... we had a woman nearly win the Democratic primaries, we've got another woman who's been chosen as a VP candidate for the Republican party, and people in this nation (hell, the WORLD!) are a-flutter with pride at their own 'new viewpoints' and their modern opinions- look how far we've come, we don't mind if a woman runs the country! I guess I'm seeing a different thing happen.

Hillary Clinton fought a long, hard battle, and was a viable candidate because of her charisma, her platform, and her abilities, NOT because of her reproductive bits. Hillary Clinton's campaign did their best to leave no doubt that she had the gumption to be commander in chief, so pandering to some gender-politics agenda wasn't even an option. I felt, in general, that most people in the media and even amongst voters tried to keep gender out of the primaries, because women (and men too, I'd imagine) everywhere wanted to feel like she was being propelled towards the finish line by her merits (and I very much think she was), and not some ignorant "I don't care if she eats babies, she's a woman, so I'm going to vote for her" movement among soccer moms.

Unfortunately for everyone in this nation, as soon as things began to go south for Sen. Clinton, we watched a respectable person capable of leading this "equal opportunity" country downgraded into a bull dyke angry feminist victim, doing her best to succeed in "a man's world". Is that really where we are? Maybe us ladies ARE still fighting for recognition in a man's world. Clinton's campaign seemed a signpost to me, though, at the beginning. Maybe things really are evening out. Maybe this country isn't as bigoted as I feared. Maybe we're starting to release our white-knuckled grip on some of the stereotypes and prejudices we've carried for so long (and this is saying NOTHING about Obama's campaign, which is another history-maker for entirely different reasons). I was a bit heartbroken to see the steamy soft-serve hit the fan. Encouraging the legions of devoted women horrified to see her go, Clinton began doing exactly what I was afraid she would, shouting "sexist!" at Obama's campaign and focusing her attention on her disenchanted female fans. Thanks, ladies, for rolling back the clock a decade or so on 'women's rights'.

Little did I know, that was just the beginning. The mufuggin' [WARNING, GENERALIZATION COMMENCING] conservatives, who sit in their churches every Sunday and read their Bibles and hear "the man is the head of the household" and "no woman should be allowed to teach a man" and "a woman's place is in the home" and "abortion is murder" select a woman to be the runningmate for John McCain. Why? Certainly not because they've had some gender-specific sea-change of heart. You know EXACTLY why. Because they knew what would happen. One woman is as good as another, right? Women are FLOCKING to support Palin and the Republican party, SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T HAVE A PRICK. Never mind the woman believes the Iraq war was a mission from the Lord, or has no relevant experience, or whatever you want to say. Women who supported Hillary because of her strong advocacy of women's rights are now proclaiming their allegiance to pro-life Republican windbags saying exactly the OPPOSITE of what they want to hear. But they're deaf to it. The uterus is a powerful organ, I kid you not.

I don't get too worked up about discrimination against women, because I have so rarely seen it for myself. I make the same money my peers make, I've been given the same opportunities, my opinions and desires have been on equal footing with my male counterparts, and I just don't feel justified in complaining. But I DO feel compelled to bitch about women making a big fucking deal of NOTHING. Hillary Clinton was a strong, viable candidate because of who she was. She lost because Democrats voted that as fantastic as she was, Obama was better. That is ALL.

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Anatomy of a “Bounce”

nobody@vox.com(Ash) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:34:24 +0000

The term “Bounce” has been defined as “a temporary lift from an outburst of hot air”. This is how I can best understand the recent “surge” in McCain/Palin popularity. Or is it the other way around--Palin/McCain? It does seem that he is standing comfortably in her limelight these days.

It appears that people, especially women, don’t seem to get what an “anti-women’s rights” woman Palin actually is. Were she to make it to the white house she could potentially unravel much of the progress made by women in this country in the last 50 years not to mention hold up progress on other globally important issues.

Gloria Steinem sums it up well in an article recently published in the LA Times called “Wrong Woman, Wrong Message” “Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves 'abstinence-only' programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.”

Deepak Chopra has similar comments… “Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from 'us' pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of 'I'm all right, Jack,' and 'why change? Everything’s OK as it is.' The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.”

Well said! There will be serious setbacks for this country if the McCain/Palin ticket is successful; I’m personally very troubled by this concept for obvious reasons. I’m looking forward to the first debate on September 26^th. Fortunately this one will be between Obama and McCain…no Palin, “no way, no how”.

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“Got Hope?”… You bet! But what’s up with McCain?

nobody@vox.com(Ash) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:54:19 +0000

I’m extremely motivated by the potential for change in this country. The Democratic National Convention did not disappoint last week and was completely inspirational to say the very least. GO USA, GO WORLD! I should also state that I’m a registered Independent incase it matters to anyone anywhere.

But since then the curiosity of McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as VP has weighed heavily on my mind. I expected McCain’s choice to be “risky” as he never seems to go completely with the status-quo-flow of the Republican Party. But what exactly was his motivation in selecting Palin? Really, I want to know. I understand that he is a maverick but do all pantsuits look the same to McCain? By simply switching the skirt do you automatically gain the loyalty of womankind? I don’t think so. Not to imply that Sarah is an empty-dress. McCain must be naive to think that by putting Palin on his ticket that women will run to support his cause. Again, not to diminish or undermine Palin’s abilities and contributions to the state of Alaska and her family… After all how many gun-toting, moose-stew loving, PTA-grannies-to-be do you know? OK that was a low blow. I take it back. I do feel VERY sorry for her eldest daughter, Bristol, who is currently in the lime-light being unfairly scrutinized for her untimely underage pregnancy. That is the saddest part of all. HUG to you girl! It’s not fair that at your tender age you are on display for all to review. Hang in there.

Back to the relevant issues… How does running a state the size of the city of Austin, TX make you VP potential? Didn’t Palin get her first passport in 2007? Let’s face it; based on McCain’s ongoing health concerns, she could conceivably be the leader of the free world! In charge of one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world! That is curious…

To quote James Carvel “This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen”. Touché James!

John McCain had more than 6 months to select a running mate. Go figure. Apparently he is a gambler, not a maverick. In my opinion his choice is not representative of solid decision making but rather of rolling the dice and hoping for the best. Sarah Palin is by no means a bad person or a bad mother, she has many qualifications but she is simply not experienced enough to hold the role of Vice President of the United States of America. John McCain’s judgment should be under serious and critical analysis.

Want to go backward put it in “R”… Want to move forward put it in “D”…

I’m ready for real change.

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Soapbox, part one

nobody@vox.com(Twinge) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:25:52 +0000

Family values are a whole lot easier with money. Blah blah yippee for the Palin family for sticking to their family values, but their family is not the one I'm worried about. So their 17-year-old will soon be a mother. She'll have financial and emotional support and it'll be damn hard but she'll get through it - they'll make sure she gets through it.

But what about the 17-year-old who gets kicked out by her family when they find out, whose boyfriend high fives his buddies because he's proven he's potent and has his eye on the hot chick on the next block, and who has no idea how she'll finish school or support herself and her baby?

What about the 44 year old who finds out she's carrying a baby with a fatal genetic defect? While I realize Sarah Palin could have made a different choice with her pregnancy, many kids with Downs live and live well. She'd make a woman carry a baby to term, even knowing that that child will die shortly after birth. She doesn't support exceptions in cases of rape or incest or to protect the health of the mother.

I'm fiercely pro-choice, in case you couldn't tell. Sounds funny when you know how desperately I want a baby. The idea of a woman making that choice makes my heart sink, but I can't make it for her. I can't tell her that no matter what, she can't control what goes on inside your own body. I don't believe that the rights of the fetus trump the rights of the mother immediately after conception. And I don't believe I can tell someone that she now has to be an incubator when she doesn't want to.

We need to make this choice easier for women - we need to weight the question on the side of life. We need affordable day care, education possibilities, paternal accountability, and psychological care for any woman who needs it. So many of the women who end up in a clinic are between the cliched rock and hard place. What if they were between said rock and a memory foam pillow? Which way would she lean? See what I'm saying?

Have I mentioned yet that we've started again? I'm on day #5 of the stupidly ironic birth control pills and can start the joys and night sweats of forced menopause on Sept 11th. And as annoying as the side effects are, I'm so glad to be moving forward... a friend who knows about the IVF and miscarriage just announced that she's 15 weeks pregnant. She knew as I was confiding in her while still bleeding, and I truly thank her for not telling me then.

I left her house dazed and in tears and went home to an argument with Mr Twinge who was too freaked out over our impending home purchase to realize that I needed some comfort. Her news didn't interest him. He didn't get that it interested me very, very much. So we had a bad day.

This home purchase is a whole 'nother basket of crap. (That sounds like the Martha Stewart version of the flaming-bag-of-dog-poop prank, topped with a tasteful gingham bow.) The bank has been too optimistic with their time estimates, so we may have to move our belongings to a storage facility and us into a hotel at the end of the month if the money doesn't come through in time.

Oh, did I mention that my mother is coming to visit? The very same maternal figure who knows nothing about our IVF or miscarriage yet will be here while I'm injecting myself with serious mood-altering drugs that make me twist my face and do the ugly cry at the slightest unhappy thought? Yes, she'll be arriving during the forced menopause stage and will stay through the move and stimulation phase, which means she may also need to be installed in a hotel. It's getting better and better.

I'm somewhat relieved to have to tell her about the IVF (which I'll do after she has arrived). I'm hoping that I might get a little TLC that Mr Twinge seems not to be able to give at this moment. He's a good guy and he's worried about me, but he can fly into all-about-me panic mode (many mortgage snafus are not helping my cause) and let's be honest, he's a guy. If I don't tell him specifically that I need something from him, I probably won't get it.

Well. Moving forward. Not feeling so optimistic at the moment, but early days and yadda yadda.

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Women! Rebel!

nobody@vox.com(Virna) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:29:22 +0000

WOMEN! REBEL!

Gabby Buzzman

I just bought this book hours ago, and I finished it for only 2 hours. It's really interesting. It's all about how we (women) could spot abusive men, and how to deal with 'em. It told of a lot of stories of abused women and how they survived it. The author, Gabby, was also a victim of this kind of abuse. She got a divorce and underwent counseling.

I Got Flowers Today

I got flowers today.
It wasn't my birthday or any other special day.
We had our first argument last night,
And he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.
I know he is sorry and didn't mean the things he said.
Because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today.
It wasn't our anniversary or any other special day.
Last night, he threw me into a wall and started to choke me.
It seemed like a night mare.
I couldn't believe it was real.
I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over.
I know he must be sorry.
Because he sent me flowers today.
I got flowers today.

And it wasn't Mother's Day or any other special day.
Last night, he beat me up again.
And it was much worse than all the other times.
If I leave him, what will I do?
How will I take care of my kids?
What about money?
I'm afraid of him and scared to leave.
But I know he must be sorry.
Because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today.
Today was a very special day.
It was the day of my funeral.
Last night, he finally killed me.
He beat me to death.
If only I had gathered enough courage and strength to leave him,
I would not have gotten any flowers
today.

_________________________

Poem's author is unknown, taken from the book, WOMEN! REBEL! by Gabby Buzzman.

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History in the making

nobody@vox.com(Lissette) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:29:00 +0000

Today, I am proud to be a democrat. I am proud to be a woman. I am proud to be watching history in the making. I sat here and watched Hillary’s concession speech on CNN and I felt proud because for the first time in the history of the United States we had the decision to either elect a woman or a black man to run for presidency. For the first time ever we have a black man running to be president of the United States. This is a moment that I am proud to be able to see, and I am proud to be able to share the importance of it with my stepson and explain to him what a big deal this is and how this is going to open him up for many choices in the future. I’ve been saying from the very beginning that should Hillary not win I would vote for Obama, because regardless of what the differences between them is, and regardless of how I feel about him personally, the issues are still there and they will not away easily and we need to tell the government about how we feel about this issues. The biggest way we could tell the government is to vote for the person that addresses these issues and promises to change the way the government is controlling our rights.

McCain, I feel, will be the worst person to run this country. Allowing him to serve a term would be the equivalent of giving Bush a third term. He’s wishy-washy. He has no enthusiasm for what his issues are, he goes up at to the podiums to make his speeches and I fall asleep. There’s no chemistry, no passion, nothing. He’s like a wet fish. Obama has passion.

I have to comment about something because after her speech they were interviewing random people on the floor and they were all saying that if Obama would not pick Hillary as his running mate, they were not going to vote for him, and I’ve heard rumors of people not going to vote at all because they don’t want to have to vote for the lesser of two evils. I have this to tell them: YOU’RE STUPID! Barrack Obama believes in basically the same issues that Hillary believed in. Both Hillary and Obama are about instituting social change in our country that has already been crippled by a president who’s more concerned about his pride, his ego, and his pockets, then the real issues at hand, and I see the same thing in McCain.

Here’s McCain on the Ellen Degeneres show. Watch and I’ll comment below.

This man starts off as saying that he feels a contract is ok between people of the same sex, but what gets me is what is the different between said contract and actual marriage? Why not just go ahead and say “I agree with gay marriage”? In truth, you can’t force the church to allow this, and that’s their decision as a private, religious institution, I just won’t support that religious institution. Simple. But when it comes to the government, if they’re willing to allow “contracts” that give gay couples the same rights as married couples, just go ahead and call it a “marriage” already, because that’s what it is. At this point it’s just a play on words. Even after Ellen made some incredibly good points to him on how segregated his thoughts are, he stands by his point but almost embarassingly. This is not a man who stands by his convictions.

McCain was just here in Miami talking about conserving the Everglades, but he’s the one that voted against funding conservation efforts to begin with. Why now does he have an interest in the Everglades? I can tell you why. Because he wants the hispanic vote here in South Florida, and he’s also trying to get the conservationists to support him, but in truth-at least for me- his words are not enough. His actions have said loud and clear that he’s not about supporting the Everglades, and he can’t backtrack now.

His issues on the gay marriage, I don’t agree with. His issues on women’s rights, I don’t agree with. I get the sense that he wants to go back to a time that is outlined in the Feminist Mystique, and I am not for that at all. Women have more brains then men give us credit for. We are capable of thinking for ourselves, we are capable of working and making decisions when it concerns our lives, our futures, and the future of our children. We do not need a man to hold our hands and tell us what to do, because we can and will do that for ourselves, and people like McCain will try to turn back the clock so that we aren’t allowed to make our own decisions. Bush already tried to start the ball rolling when he signed the Partial Birth Abortion Act, which is an inaccurate term, and on top of that, they don’t even take into consideration the true facts about the procedure!

Under state law, abortions are permitted for up to 24 weeks or six months after pregancy. It is also permitted after 24 weeks if the woman’s health or life is in danger. [emphasis mine]

The partial-birth or IDX abortion procedure is usually done in the second trimester, from 18 to 26 weeks.[emphasis mine]

What is incredibly disturbing about this isn’t so much the process in which it’s done, or the act itself, it’s the fact that the government is not taking into consideration the risk that not doing this procedure may place on the woman’s life who’s trying to have the procedure done. What they’re doing is setting rules as to what we can do with our bodies, and in essence what they’re saying is that a life that most probably can not survive outside of the mother’s body for more than a couple hours or maybe even a couple of days is more important than a living, viable life that has been established for a good couple of years already.

I know this post is all over the place, but the thing is that these issues are the topics that need to be addressed during this election. This and many more are the reasons that I will be voting for Obama come November because I know I don’t want anyone telling me what to do when it comes to my body or any other decision I make, and should I have a daughter in the future, I do not want that decision being taken away from her either. I want my daughter to have all the same rights that I do and more. I want my daughter to be President of the United States if she so wishes. I want my daughter to be able to have an abortion if something were to happen and she were to have an unwanted pregnancy, and most importantly, I want my daughter to have easy access to birth controls until the time comes when she does decide to have children, and that choice needs to ultimately be up to her and her partner-male or female-NOT the government, therefore I will be voting for Obama because he stands for these issues and he stands for these changes. I really wish I could have seen a woman in office, but I’m not dead yet and won’t be for a very long time, so I’m sure the day will come when I will see a woman in office, and I will be proud when that day finally comes.

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