Read Disclaimer Clause at the Bottom First and Last
I used to tell my students, in my women, gender and social work class, that women's rights, like a garden, had to be carefully watched, nurtured and protected, otherwise no matter how big and beautiful it will wither and die...or be killed!
American women's rights, hard fought and won in the 60s and the 70s, are now on a forced retreat and a political backslide. This time, not because of any callous oversight on the part of feminist organizations, but because the Conservatives have been meticulous and strategically shrewd in the way they have eroded women's rights and options from the ground up. Their actions are more than control of women's reproductive rights and related freedoms...it is a slow erosion of basic civil rights.
What Conservatives are forgetting is that in this kind of policy over-reach they might be threatening American individual rights, traditional male independence and their Constitutional privileges - entitlements they hold dear to their hearts. Are Conservatives shooting themselves in the foot?
There are three insidious reasons: religious, ideological and racial, behind these "reproductive restraints and choice removals". The religious and social belief that conception begins at birth - which labels abortion as a crime against life and a sin (in moral terms). The other is a broader ideological attack on feminism and women's rights - beyond reproductive choices - that are seen as an affront to traditional family values. Third is racial politics, that is not discussed much, based on the statistics and fear of the declining birthrate among white women.
Mellissa Harris-Perry in The Nation (Online March 21, 2011) writes:
Since the introduction of the birth control pill and the legalization of abortion, women in America have significantly reduced the number of children they bear. This decrease in fertility has been particularly striking among white women. Fewer white women marry, most marry much later than in previous generations, far more get divorced and the size of their families has decreased dramatically. Along with these changes, white women’s educational achievement has soared, their participation in the workforce has increased and their health outcomes, lifetime earnings and political participation have improved. Today, more than three in five American women work for pay outside the home.
However shrouded in the language of fiscal austerity, the GOP’s social agenda intends to undo these changes, forcing women back into the domestic sphere. While leaving abortion nominally legal, cuts to family planning services and the legalization of terror against abortion providers would create an environment of compulsory childbearing. Women who can’t control their fertility will be unable to compete for degrees or jobs with their male counterparts. Likewise, without affordable childcare women would be less likely to work outside the home. And without basic rights to organize, women teachers, nurses and other public sector workers would be compelled to accept lower wages and harsher working conditions, shoving many women out of the workforce altogether. In the Republicans’ future America, women will be encouraged to marry younger, to stay in difficult (even abusive) marriages and to rely on male wages.
All these reasons to restrict reproductive rights for women are hypocritical in that it overlooks male responsibility in avoiding pregnancy, or in becoming and being a responsible parent. It also overlooks what Conservatives constantly worry about: debt, deficit and excessive spending.
Unwanted children, young parents (married or not), unprepared parents, unwilling or reluctant parents, abusive parents, poor parents and large families...can be a big financial cost to society already reeling in debt and deficit. Also, while family values are touted as good for children, with an old fashioned romantic view of a home as having a father, a mother, two children and a dog in a happy healthy suburb exclusively, it overlooks an important conservative emphasis - "Individual Freedom"!
There is a Conservative loss to these emerging reproductive restrictions that many Republicans have not bothered to pay attention to:
For every woman who is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy there is a man who is forced to be a father - without choice.
For every woman who is expected to carry an unplanned pregnancy to full term there is a man who might continue his "unprotected sexual activities" without responsibility -because the woman is expected to carry all the weight (literally).
For every woman who is now compelled to have a child, only because contraception and/or abortion were unavailable, there is a man who has to pay for unwanted children - which consumes, indirectly, community or corporate money.
And, for every woman who is forced to have a child there will be a man who will abandon or ill treat that child - due to pressures of forced parenting that goes against his need and individual freedom.
Did the White Conservative boys in power, old and/or rich, think about these serious repercussions that erode into their own protection and pursuit of American freedom and the Constitution?
I used to tell my students, in my women, gender and social work class, that women's rights, like a garden, had to be carefully watched, nurtured and protected, otherwise no matter how big and beautiful it will wither and die...or be killed!
American women's rights, hard fought and won in the 60s and the 70s, are now on a forced retreat and a political backslide. This time, not because of any callous oversight on the part of feminist organizations, but because the Conservatives have been meticulous and strategically shrewd in the way they have eroded women's rights and options from the ground up. Their actions are more than control of women's reproductive rights and related freedoms...it is a slow erosion of basic civil rights.
What Conservatives are forgetting is that in this kind of policy over-reach they might be threatening American individual rights, traditional male independence and their Constitutional privileges - entitlements they hold dear to their hearts. Are Conservatives shooting themselves in the foot?
There are three insidious reasons: religious, ideological and racial, behind these "reproductive restraints and choice removals". The religious and social belief that conception begins at birth - which labels abortion as a crime against life and a sin (in moral terms). The other is a broader ideological attack on feminism and women's rights - beyond reproductive choices - that are seen as an affront to traditional family values. Third is racial politics, that is not discussed much, based on the statistics and fear of the declining birthrate among white women.
Mellissa Harris-Perry in The Nation (Online March 21, 2011) writes:
Since the introduction of the birth control pill and the legalization of abortion, women in America have significantly reduced the number of children they bear. This decrease in fertility has been particularly striking among white women. Fewer white women marry, most marry much later than in previous generations, far more get divorced and the size of their families has decreased dramatically. Along with these changes, white women’s educational achievement has soared, their participation in the workforce has increased and their health outcomes, lifetime earnings and political participation have improved. Today, more than three in five American women work for pay outside the home.
However shrouded in the language of fiscal austerity, the GOP’s social agenda intends to undo these changes, forcing women back into the domestic sphere. While leaving abortion nominally legal, cuts to family planning services and the legalization of terror against abortion providers would create an environment of compulsory childbearing. Women who can’t control their fertility will be unable to compete for degrees or jobs with their male counterparts. Likewise, without affordable childcare women would be less likely to work outside the home. And without basic rights to organize, women teachers, nurses and other public sector workers would be compelled to accept lower wages and harsher working conditions, shoving many women out of the workforce altogether. In the Republicans’ future America, women will be encouraged to marry younger, to stay in difficult (even abusive) marriages and to rely on male wages.
All these reasons to restrict reproductive rights for women are hypocritical in that it overlooks male responsibility in avoiding pregnancy, or in becoming and being a responsible parent. It also overlooks what Conservatives constantly worry about: debt, deficit and excessive spending.
Unwanted children, young parents (married or not), unprepared parents, unwilling or reluctant parents, abusive parents, poor parents and large families...can be a big financial cost to society already reeling in debt and deficit. Also, while family values are touted as good for children, with an old fashioned romantic view of a home as having a father, a mother, two children and a dog in a happy healthy suburb exclusively, it overlooks an important conservative emphasis - "Individual Freedom"!
There is a Conservative loss to these emerging reproductive restrictions that many Republicans have not bothered to pay attention to:
For every woman who is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy there is a man who is forced to be a father - without choice.
For every woman who is expected to carry an unplanned pregnancy to full term there is a man who might continue his "unprotected sexual activities" without responsibility -because the woman is expected to carry all the weight (literally).
For every woman who is now compelled to have a child, only because contraception and/or abortion were unavailable, there is a man who has to pay for unwanted children - which consumes, indirectly, community or corporate money.
And, for every woman who is forced to have a child there will be a man who will abandon or ill treat that child - due to pressures of forced parenting that goes against his need and individual freedom.
Did the White Conservative boys in power, old and/or rich, think about these serious repercussions that erode into their own protection and pursuit of American freedom and the Constitution?
Brilliant points Dr.Mira! That is the stupidity of arrogance and narcissim...it prevents one from seeing contradictions and idiocy in their own thoughts and actions. We'll soon be burdened with too many young poor uneducated women who cannot read - but only breed. Also what kind of children are they going to raise? Ones that'll be doing drugs, are drunk, dysfunctional or are deviant...Excpet this time it'll have a white face. Who is going to pay for all of this? Our oil oligarchs? I think women who practice contraception and abortion are responsible. They are not having children with some romantic view of motherhood or parenthood. They think and plan before choosing to be a mother. We should admire and support such thinking women. Clearly Conservatives like dumb women...with great legs of course.
ReplyDeleteAmerica has been on a backslide for a long time. And when Americans hear how their country is no longer attractive to people abroad - even for an extended visit, they don't understand that it is not a compliment. Americans call Obama an outsider, and so many bright immigrants and minorities are thrown aside.Racism, ethnocentricism and sexism makes them dig their own grave. Thank goodness I don't live there. Migrate Doc, migrate!
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