This week a woman live-tweeted her medication abortion in an effect to normalize discussion of the procedure and share first hand information about the process. Needless to say the crazies had a field day with it. Amanda Marcotte tried fact-bombing to bring the discussion back on point - it might have worked.
Susan Douglas argues that these are not "post-feminist" times, but instead "enlightened sexism." It is an appropriate contradiction in terms.
Pandagon on the backlash against the US women's hockey team. I think they are just jealous.
The Pentagon released 800 pages of information gained through spying. It included information on white supremacist groups and Planned Parenthood...one of these things is not like the other...
Abercrombie has managed to step in it again (the Hollister division to be exact - they know its named after a tiny town whose high school mascot is the Haybailer, right?). Here's a brief history of the douchiness.
I'm as pro-choice as any other feminist, but I have to say I was horrified by the abortion tweeting. Horrified. I don't think we are helping our cause by acting like an abortion is something to be taken lightly. Almost any way you look at it, it's a kind of spiritual tragedy, or at least a major spiritual dilemma, and I don't think the procedure should be "normalized." Do we want to hear the ins and outs of a colonoscopy? A hysterectomy? I say, keep it legal, but spare me the details. (Am I alone here?)
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ReplyDeleteJana,
ReplyDeleteInitially I had the same reaction to the tweeting, but I believe the intentions are good, particularly paired with her YouTube videos. The idea is to give first hand information about what the process is actually like, from making the decision to the physical reality. I think this is important because the silence about abortion (because it is such a loaded decision) leaves many women to feel like their experience is only their own.
And to you other point, yes I think we do want to hear the ins and outs of other procedures. Many patients (myself and friends and family included) seek out as much information as they can about what they are about to undergo because they want to know what it was like for other people or if what they are experiencing is normal.
Okay, so I googled her and do think that was she did was interesting. I hadn't followed it or read anything about it except a reference from another tweeter, and from that, I was sort of taken aback. But I do think her story shows that women have abortions for all sorts of reasons and often, are being responsible when they find themselves pregnant. I do think that too often, anti-choice people think that women take pregnancies very lightly, and it gives them fuel. I think it's important for all to recognize that women are not just being irresponsible (you know, the crack addict prostitute who has abortion after abortion), but have a variety of reasons for making their decision.
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree. Unfortunately the anti-choice argument is so illogical it is hard to engage them, but hopefully she did help broaden the conversation.
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