[TW for discussion of forced sterilization and racism]
So someone on Feministing (I think) finally made the connection that trans* rights and reproductive rights/abortion are both fundamentally about bodily integrity and autonomy and therefore have many intersections, and proponents of both should be working together (something I’ve been saying since day one, along with many other trans* people before me).
Well radical feminists aren’t having it. Apparently the fact eludes them that forced sterilization and forced birth are two sides of the same antichoice coin. Which brings me to my main point. This so-called “conflict of interest” has happened before (maybe more than once?). During the second wave the interests and reproductive rights of wealthy, white feminists and WoC were going in opposite directions. White women were demanding access to abortion and to voluntary sterilization without restrictions from paternalistic doctors and simultaneously WoC were struggling to: be allowed to have children, not be demonized for having children, not be forcibly sterilized (often without their knowledge or consent), and not be tested on for development of contraception or other medications. Guess who was prioritized. Exactly. There’s a history here and a lot of tension and mistrust (rightfully) still remains because rich, white women made “reproductive rights” synonymous with what they needed access to and completely avoided the fact that the right to have children is as much of a reproductive rights issue as the right to abort/not have children.
My point is we know these radical feminists hate intersectionality because they think sex-based oppression is the only thing that matters (this is racist all on its own) and we know they hate trans* people. The fact that they don’t see how important forced sterilization is now anymore than they did back then has some serious implications considering the intersection of race and trans* status. Forced sterilization affects us all but TWoC are disproportionately the victims of violence and often have an even more precarious and tenuous relationship to the medical establishment, opening them up to all kinds of violations, particularly in regards to reproductive rights. That once again forced sterilization isn’t a priority for radical feminists and reproductive rights activists is further proof of their racism and the fact that White Feminism™ is alive and well, in case you doubted it for a split second.
I would point out it’s not just radscum. Sure, radscum are the most obvious and most extreme but mainstream/liberal feminism still doesn’t really give a shit about reproductive rights as anything but abortion and voluntary sterilisation. Oh, wait, I take it back, they will sometimes mention fistulas and women in the developing countries but it’s still self-centred and paternalistic to other people. White Feminism™ lives in the mainstream as well as the backwater sludge that is the radscum.
Oh, definitely, definitely! I was just a little hyper-focused on them because this was a direct response to some stuff I saw on radical feminist blogs, but you’re absolutely right and I do usually go after mainstream/liberal feminists just as hard on this issue as well. They’re certainly not much better.
As someone who has seen a lot of her friends become parents in their teens and all- to that I say fuck you. As a feminist. And as someone who is feircly pro-choice.
Maybe you need a wake up call or some shit but being pro-choice MEANS SUPPORTING CHOICE.
It means RESPECTING CHOICE
It means FACILITATING CHOICE
and it also means PROTECTING CHOICE
The same way that I will do everything in my power to give you hell if you shame someone on getting an abortion
the same goes for people who shame those who choose to become parents.
And before that whole “well they should have accessed an abortion/ birth control” comes spouting out, let me remind you of a few things.
sex education is still one of the most poorly covered topics in our education.
sex education (the proper kind, none of that abstinence shit) is still banned or made optional depending on where you’re from. And hey, if your school is hella religious or run by a pack of shits, quite likely you won’t even access an education at all
just putting it out there that people rally for abortion rights because NOT EVERYONE CAN ACCESS AN ABORTION. This is where class, religion and finances come in. Even in Australia, there is a state by state difference in abortion laws and who can access it and at what age. Depending on where you live, having an abortion is financially impossible to cover for. And guess what, if you do fall into a low socio-economic class or district, you sure hell won’t be able to ACCESS any means of getting an abortion, heck even decent birth control.
If you, as a feminist have utterly dismissed things like class into the discourse THEN REVISE YOUR SHIT. LOOK AT THE STATS. IF YOU CAN’T COVER FOR WOMEN OF LOW SOCIO ECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS THEN YOU’RE DOING YOUR FEMINISM AND YOUR PRO-CHOICE BELIEFS WRONG.
People become young parents for many reasons. Be it a lack of education, no access to birth control/ family planning clinics, personal beliefs (YES BELIEFS BECAUSE CHOICE) or what ever the circumstances. it happens. But here’s the thing, it’s none of your damn business as to how they became parents. If you, as some one who is pro-choice, as someone as a feminist refuses to support them or ostracise them for their choices/ circumstances
Then revise your shit and re-evaluate as to why you identify with this movement if you can’t even cover the damn basics.
Ok, I’m done and I should probably add more but I am fucking fuming.
Then revise your shit and re-evaluate as to why you identify with this movement if you can’t even cover the damn basics.
I rage when I look at her answers, even the one she gave to the young mother herself. Fuck you megan-medellin, she’s not obligated to have ever-flowing joy oozing from her pores because you can’t conceive.
Fucking seriously? Views on motherhood are so fucked in this country. You know, last I checked, raising a human being was hard work. It’s exhausting, frustrating, depressing, and stressful. That doesn’t cancel out the love she has for her child and “the things [she] absolutely loves about being a mom,” and it’s completely childish to assume otherwise. But the love you have for your child doesn’t give you more hours in the day, or the money to pay a babysitter so you can go to college. It doesn’t make the baby’s father any more responsible, and it doesn’t magically repair your body after pregnancy and birth. Those things all still exist alongside the love and joy.
If you think attacking someone for rightfully venting about how difficult it is to be a nearly-single mother is a super-awesome pro-choice move? The pro-choice movement doesn’t fucking need you.
Okay. I actually WATCHED this video. I can verify it’s not incest, but I still have a LOT of reservations about the story. I appreciate the plot twist, but the girl lies about being raped to save her lover from her violent brother.
I am not saying this would never happen or that no woman has ever lied about sexual assault, but the story ends at the revelation. There’s no follow-up on what happens to the brother due to his violent crimes. Or what happens to the girl and her lover from that point. I get that this girl in this story is young - a teen - and she’s been raised in a highly dysfunctional family. She’s dealing with pregnancy. The father is also a teen. There’s no clue about how he’s dealing with this - or if he’s even still her lover. It also makes the viewer more sceptical about victim claims of assault.
So, while I appreciate the subject matter on one score, I’m not sure it was handled in an entirely mature fashion. It seems to have been thought up more like a ‘gotcha’ sort of thing that the sister got one over on her horrible, violent brother, who in his sick way showed that he cared about her by exacting vengeance on the men he thought had harmed her. (Although the story is vague about his motivations. It seems to be more about the brother’s ideas of family honour than any actual affection for his little sister.)
All of this brings me to a final point. I’m not sure how old this storyteller is, but I did watch several of their other stories. There’s a lot of unhelpful messaging about body image and overly simplistic “morals” to the stories. However, the visuals and animations are above par for sims videos.
The banner is click-bait and skillfully so. I’m not sure I’d recommend this storyteller overall though.
Honestly, there isn’t really a book that helped me discover feminism. Not that I can think of. My feminism just came naturally, being raised in a household with two working parents who have an amazingly egalitarian relationship and going to a hippy dippy school. High school was Catholic, but still, the girls were definitely not seen as less capable than the boys, at least in the classroom. Then n undergrad I found a bunch of queer, feministy people and took some courses that solidified my beliefs. I can see if I can find the syllabus for the Intro to Women’s Studies class that really pushed me to start being active and outspoken in my feminism. If I can find it, I’ll print it out and do something depraved to it, if people want to see that.
Ohio legislature has passed two restrictive abortion bills in their lame duck session. One bans abortion after 20 weeks; the other after 6 weeks. John Kasich has 10 days to sign these bills after they’ve been passed.
• Governor John Kasich (OH): 614-466-3555
Update: Governor Kasich has vetoed the extreme Heartbeat Bill which would ban abortions after 6 weeks. However, he signed into law the ban on abortion later than 20 weeks.
This is not a victory. Bans on abortion earlier than 24 weeks are unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. Kasich should get zero good press for vetoing an extreme restriction on abortion with one hand while merrily chipping away at reproductive freedoms with the other.
