Women are on the defensive with respect to their rights today. Those who would criminalize the rights they held until recently are tightening the net around them with these laws penalizing assistance in travel to places where their rights are still respected.
I wonder, why haven't women gone on the offensive surrounding the issue of an un…
Women are on the defensive with respect to their rights today. Those who would criminalize the rights they held until recently are tightening the net around them with these laws penalizing assistance in travel to places where their rights are still respected.
I wonder, why haven't women gone on the offensive surrounding the issue of an unwanted pregnancy. It takes two to tango, after all. Women make up slightly more than half of eligible voters in this country. Why don't they begin to hold their male intimate partners to equal obligation for conception under the law? Why can't a woman who becomes pregnant immediately name the putative biologic father, and compel that individual to submit a buccal swab that will definitively establish him as such or rule him out by whatever technology can first obtain fetal DNA, or at birth, whichever comes first. Then, why are biologic fathers not then offered a choice; sign a mandatory promissory note dedicated to infant/toddler/child care expenses for 18 years regardless of marital status, or as an alternative to that note, submit to compulsory vasectomy. Why not make it illegal for males to conceive children outside of a marital contract or the equivalent, on penalty of 18 years parole with an ankle bracelet and wage garnishment, mandatory military service for a nice long enlistment or an equivalent obligation that will fully fund that child's care and education to age 25 or so. If the penalty for an unwanted pregnancy is at least as harsh for males as it is for females in this age of genetic certainty (there was never any doubt about biologic maternity), then we'd see a very different attitude towards women and their right to autonomy over their reproductive potential.
There was a great poster in the seventies I think, with a very pregnant man and the caption: If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Same is true today.....
To be clear, when asking why women haven’t gone on the offensive-it us because we have lacked the power in this culture. We have done our best and beyond, but when it comes to real clout, we are second class citizens. Jobs, education, pay-we are rarely treated equally. I have served in a male-dominated career for almost 39 years and have NEVER been paid or treated as my male counterparts. Women, in my opinion, have had to be better than their male colleagues to just get attention or traction. Women are often not heard. Again, these are my opinions and experiences-but what is most appalling is that we have dialed back women’s rights even further than before. I had rights in my lifetime that my three adult daughters (35, 32, 30) do not have because of the overturning of Rod v Wade. It feels like many white men in our country got their panties in a twist, thinking that women and people of color are getting too much of a fair shake, and so they have lowered the hammer on us all. Their outrage and anger is palpable. What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all. I grieve at the direction our country is taking. I don’t recognize the USA anymore, thanks to the fascistic GOP.
"What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all." Well said.
I have no idea how to get the idea through to them that the solution is not to deprive other citizens of an equal voice: don't limit the number of chairs at the table - MAKE THE *$$KING TABLE BIGGER! How can they persist in this selfish, blind stupidity?
JEN , I Understand, Your Pain, & as a man, I can never Feel it, because, as Men, its that * Mars/Venus * Syndrome ! * MAY GOD, !! , BLESS YOU !, &, Your FAMELY !
Thank you, Mark. Really, thank you. There are so many truly good men out there-but those members of the GOP and their leaders are not good men or women. I have an aversion to judging, but because they lead with hate, I feel confident in saying they are not good folks.
Since this is not a face to face but a written medium, I need to clarify. I may sound angry, but I’m not. I’m exasperated, yes, but I’m also genuinely sad that my daughters and granddaughters, and all our daughters and granddaughters have lost rights we thought were protected as law. I hoped things would be better for the next gen or women. I still do. But with the rise of fascism, and the looming threat to women and people of color and lgbtq+ and all the rest-I’m afraid. Deeply afraid. The hate is real. The thirst for power is real. Their call for violence is real. I just don’t see how this will end. So I grieve.
JEN ! JESUS, Asked, HIS FATHER, * in Statment, ,,,, " FATHER !,,,, forgive Them !, For THEY NO NOT !, ,,,,, WHAT !, ,,,,, They DO ! " . ( FORGIVANCE !, can be VERY HARD , in MANY ASPECTS, But! , [F, { WITH the LOVE !} You can Faithfully Believe, ,,,,, in Your HEART! That FATHER ( GOD ) SEES !, & KNOWS, the COMPLETE Situation, & STILL CONTROLS ALL Things, and TIMES, of HIS REVELATION .............GOD will MAKE THOSE * bondage CHAINS !, come STRAITWAY ! , OFF ! , of YOU !!* . GOD !, Knows ALL !! ( I !, certainly DONT ! ) BUT ! , by HIS HOLY SPIRIT ! ,,, I AM Blessed ! JEN ! ,, You !, are in , My PRAYERS !
Leaving aside the “unwanted pregnancy”-morality-trap frame of abortion rights, abortion is a medically necessary tool in reproductive health care. Obstectrically, pregnancy and birth are dicey business even without all the emotional-relationship-power-structure issues layered on. Abortion is and always has been a reproductive choice for pregnancy. We fought hard to make it legal and safe. THAT is what they took away bit-by-bit. It was taken away by faux-righteous people feigning concern for “the unborn”. Every action they take belies the falseness of that stance. Women need to own their reproductive choices. I do not want forced abortions. I do not want forced births. I DO want good, helpful reproductive healthcare for those bearing the burden of growing another human being. When it’s right, its a joy. When it’s not, I want the right to choose legally and personally what’s best for me.
You have to remember that women had to be given the right to vote via the 19th amendment 100 years ago. Women couldn't get a credit card in their own name until 50 years ago. When I was in college 40 years ago, I had a criminology professor who said he would hire a man over a woman because the man "had to support his family". I was part of a forum 15 years ago where a supervisor I'd had (he'd been retired at this point about 15 years) said that I had been one of the best "female officers" he'd worked with, and I could do the job "just as good" as a man.
Yes, Just Sayin', it does take two to tango, but when one gets to squirt and run, while the other is left holding the bag, it does not make it easier to "go on the offensive". I love the concept of the penalty of an unwanted pregnancy as harsh for males as it is for females. Ain't ever gonna happen.
Women are on the defensive with respect to their rights today. Those who would criminalize the rights they held until recently are tightening the net around them with these laws penalizing assistance in travel to places where their rights are still respected.
I wonder, why haven't women gone on the offensive surrounding the issue of an unwanted pregnancy. It takes two to tango, after all. Women make up slightly more than half of eligible voters in this country. Why don't they begin to hold their male intimate partners to equal obligation for conception under the law? Why can't a woman who becomes pregnant immediately name the putative biologic father, and compel that individual to submit a buccal swab that will definitively establish him as such or rule him out by whatever technology can first obtain fetal DNA, or at birth, whichever comes first. Then, why are biologic fathers not then offered a choice; sign a mandatory promissory note dedicated to infant/toddler/child care expenses for 18 years regardless of marital status, or as an alternative to that note, submit to compulsory vasectomy. Why not make it illegal for males to conceive children outside of a marital contract or the equivalent, on penalty of 18 years parole with an ankle bracelet and wage garnishment, mandatory military service for a nice long enlistment or an equivalent obligation that will fully fund that child's care and education to age 25 or so. If the penalty for an unwanted pregnancy is at least as harsh for males as it is for females in this age of genetic certainty (there was never any doubt about biologic maternity), then we'd see a very different attitude towards women and their right to autonomy over their reproductive potential.
There was a great poster in the seventies I think, with a very pregnant man and the caption: If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Same is true today.....
https://imgflip.com/i/31lnyh
Thanks! I’ll pass this lovely on!!
To be clear, when asking why women haven’t gone on the offensive-it us because we have lacked the power in this culture. We have done our best and beyond, but when it comes to real clout, we are second class citizens. Jobs, education, pay-we are rarely treated equally. I have served in a male-dominated career for almost 39 years and have NEVER been paid or treated as my male counterparts. Women, in my opinion, have had to be better than their male colleagues to just get attention or traction. Women are often not heard. Again, these are my opinions and experiences-but what is most appalling is that we have dialed back women’s rights even further than before. I had rights in my lifetime that my three adult daughters (35, 32, 30) do not have because of the overturning of Rod v Wade. It feels like many white men in our country got their panties in a twist, thinking that women and people of color are getting too much of a fair shake, and so they have lowered the hammer on us all. Their outrage and anger is palpable. What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all. I grieve at the direction our country is taking. I don’t recognize the USA anymore, thanks to the fascistic GOP.
"What they have never understood is that we don’t want to take from them-we simply want a chair at the table to make it better for us all." Well said.
I have no idea how to get the idea through to them that the solution is not to deprive other citizens of an equal voice: don't limit the number of chairs at the table - MAKE THE *$$KING TABLE BIGGER! How can they persist in this selfish, blind stupidity?
“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you are on the menu.”
We may have to build our own table and chairs. And set our own menu.
JEN , I Understand, Your Pain, & as a man, I can never Feel it, because, as Men, its that * Mars/Venus * Syndrome ! * MAY GOD, !! , BLESS YOU !, &, Your FAMELY !
Thank you, Mark. Really, thank you. There are so many truly good men out there-but those members of the GOP and their leaders are not good men or women. I have an aversion to judging, but because they lead with hate, I feel confident in saying they are not good folks.
Since this is not a face to face but a written medium, I need to clarify. I may sound angry, but I’m not. I’m exasperated, yes, but I’m also genuinely sad that my daughters and granddaughters, and all our daughters and granddaughters have lost rights we thought were protected as law. I hoped things would be better for the next gen or women. I still do. But with the rise of fascism, and the looming threat to women and people of color and lgbtq+ and all the rest-I’m afraid. Deeply afraid. The hate is real. The thirst for power is real. Their call for violence is real. I just don’t see how this will end. So I grieve.
Your concern is real, not some blather about what might be. It is here
JEN ! JESUS, Asked, HIS FATHER, * in Statment, ,,,, " FATHER !,,,, forgive Them !, For THEY NO NOT !, ,,,,, WHAT !, ,,,,, They DO ! " . ( FORGIVANCE !, can be VERY HARD , in MANY ASPECTS, But! , [F, { WITH the LOVE !} You can Faithfully Believe, ,,,,, in Your HEART! That FATHER ( GOD ) SEES !, & KNOWS, the COMPLETE Situation, & STILL CONTROLS ALL Things, and TIMES, of HIS REVELATION .............GOD will MAKE THOSE * bondage CHAINS !, come STRAITWAY ! , OFF ! , of YOU !!* . GOD !, Knows ALL !! ( I !, certainly DONT ! ) BUT ! , by HIS HOLY SPIRIT ! ,,, I AM Blessed ! JEN ! ,, You !, are in , My PRAYERS !
Only sperm can cause pregnancy
My new bumper sticker, Jeri!
Lol-love that idea!!! 💙💙💙
As the old saying goes...
First they came for them...then....when they came for me, no one was there to help......
Leaving aside the “unwanted pregnancy”-morality-trap frame of abortion rights, abortion is a medically necessary tool in reproductive health care. Obstectrically, pregnancy and birth are dicey business even without all the emotional-relationship-power-structure issues layered on. Abortion is and always has been a reproductive choice for pregnancy. We fought hard to make it legal and safe. THAT is what they took away bit-by-bit. It was taken away by faux-righteous people feigning concern for “the unborn”. Every action they take belies the falseness of that stance. Women need to own their reproductive choices. I do not want forced abortions. I do not want forced births. I DO want good, helpful reproductive healthcare for those bearing the burden of growing another human being. When it’s right, its a joy. When it’s not, I want the right to choose legally and personally what’s best for me.
1,000 upvotes. This should be the standard .
You have to remember that women had to be given the right to vote via the 19th amendment 100 years ago. Women couldn't get a credit card in their own name until 50 years ago. When I was in college 40 years ago, I had a criminology professor who said he would hire a man over a woman because the man "had to support his family". I was part of a forum 15 years ago where a supervisor I'd had (he'd been retired at this point about 15 years) said that I had been one of the best "female officers" he'd worked with, and I could do the job "just as good" as a man.
Yes, Just Sayin', it does take two to tango, but when one gets to squirt and run, while the other is left holding the bag, it does not make it easier to "go on the offensive". I love the concept of the penalty of an unwanted pregnancy as harsh for males as it is for females. Ain't ever gonna happen.
Many young women are choosing to not have sex...or even date.