guided by a new era

We're on the abortion unit of my philosophy class. And it is filled with fail, as expected.

The unit centers around a group of readings we have to do. None of the writers are 100% pro-choice; there are two pro-lifers and two pro-choice-buts. The first of the latter group is "pro-choice-unless-I-deem-your-reasons-stupid", and the second is all about time restrictions. Our assignment for tonight is to read the other pro-lifer's essay and critique her characteristics of what makes something a person. I'll have fun shredding her argument, but all the same (and I will sound sooo narrow-minded when I say this, but believe me, I've heard it all) I do not want to have to slog through pro-life drivel that is all about the fetus. It's bad enough that our class discussions only mention the woman as an after thought, as though she were barely relevant, and that the entire discussion is made in terms of the fetus. I would almost call it a pro-life slant, as not only are all of our readings pro-life in some way, shape or form, but pro-lifers also center the discussion around the fetus, while the pro-choice side tends to center it around the woman. I'm sure almost all you know my position on the issue, and though I've piped up a LOT during this whole debacle (the only person who has said more than me is the teacher himself), it isn't doing much good. There are still a bunch of stupid freshmen who continue to say things like, "since she made the decision to get pregnant" when we are not discussing a situation in which a woman has sex with a man in order to get pregnant, and they do not listen to me (or any of the other menstruating people in the class) when I tell them that conception is not voluntary, nor is ovulation. It doesn't matter that PIV sex can lead to pregnancy, becoming pregnant is NOT something you consciously do. It happens outside of your control if you have had PIV sex. FUCKING DUH, PLEASE GO BACK TO FIFTH GRADE SCIENCE. I've managed to kick their ass, though. It's very rewarding, once they shut up. But it's extremely frustrating.

Also, do you know what else is frustrating? Straight people who think they have a gaydar. Assfriend said today in forum that he thought Katy Perry's song "Ur So Gay" was funny, and I told him it wasn't funny, it was offensive. So then he starts on this whole spiel about gay men who are in the closet but you can tell they're gay because they exhibit something that he didn't say because I cut him off (knowing he would say "effeminate tendencies" or something to that effect, because that's what I was pointing out to him was wrong with the song) and told him that straight people do not have gaydars. No, sorry, they don't. When a straight person says they have a gaydar, it means they can see gay stereotypes. People who are actually queer are better at spotting people who are also actually queer because we are able to see behavior that we exhibited as well as closeted or out people. It's like a sixth sense. We have the experiences and we can see them in other people. Straight people do not have the experiences and therefore cannot see them in other people.

ETA: And, because most of my recent posts have been negative, I thought I should add that the weather today was spectacular. IT IS 67 DEGREES, AAAAAAAAAAH. Two months ago I had a "You know you live in Michigan when..." moment when I walked out into 20 degree weather and my first thought was, "It's so warm!" -___-

Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Therefore, it is Blog for Choice day. This is the first year I've actually remembered to blog for choice, too. Here goes.

There is a theme this year. It is "why it is important to vote pro-choice". I think every pro-choice person reading this knows why it is important to vote pro-choice, and right now, I'm not in the mood to list all the reasons. Really, abortion hasn't been that much of an issue in this election. All the GOP candidates think the same*, all the Dem candidates think the same.

However, I can tie abortion to the issues that ARE being discussed. I think it helps to differentiate between the candidates when it comes to abortion when you know their stances on things that are related to abortion.

(Keep in mind that I am no expert on any of these issues, I'm just detailing what I know about them and how they relate to abortion.)

The Economy

This has been talked about a LOT recently, thanks to the falling stock percentages and the acknowledgment by the media and Big Guys that the US might possibly could maybe fall into a recession. That's really funny, because I thought we had been in a recession for years. The economy has something to do with abortion because the economy has to do with class issues. Class issues are some of the main issues in the abortion debate. If Roe is overturned, low-income women and women of color will be hit the hardest. An upper-middle class/upper class white woman could drive to another state or fly to another country to get a safe abortion if she needed it--and even if she couldn't do that, she'd have enough money that having a child would not cause her and her family to go hungry. Low-income women, especially low-income women of color, do not have that option. Even if they have enough money to sustain themselves and a child, having a child will only keep them in poverty. It is harder for people of color to climb out of the poverty cycle than it is for white people, because of institutionalized racism in the United States. You can't deny it. For every whining middle-class white person who brags about how they were able to work out of poverty, there are a couple hundred working class people of color saying that they've been working all their lives and haven't gotten anywhere near leaving poverty behind.

The thing the Dems have been talking about when it comes to the economy is the mortgage crisis, among other things. It's been known for years that middle-class Americans are finding it increasingly harder to stay out of debt. The cost of living is rising, but salaries are stationary. The minimum wage was only just raised, and that raise is nowhere near good enough. People have to work two or even three minimum wage jobs--each--just to keep their families afloat. It should not be like that. Again, this relates to abortion because one of the many reasons that women choose abortion is that they cannot afford to have a child. Kids are expensive, and people do not have the money to raise them. This also brings up healthcare, which is another economy issue. People can't pay for their healthcare costs. This is stuff you NEED--regular doctor check-ups, emergency room care. I think it's pretty terrible that in one of the richest nations in the world that wastes so many resources, we've got a large chunk of the population that can't even pay for necessities like medical care.

If we want to help women who may need abortions, we should strengthen the economy and do as much as we can to eliminate poverty in the United States. We need to eliminate racism in our government and in our institutions. We need to vote for candidates who are committed to all of those things above, as well as to keeping abortion safe and legal. All three of the leading presidential candidates on the Democratic side are committed to those things (though I'd say Obama is more committed than the other two to ending racism, and Edwards is more committed to ending poverty than the other two). The Republicans aren't even pro-choice, like to refer to universal healthcare coverage as "socialized medicine", and are the first to blab on about "welfare queens". More information on the candidates and their stances:

First link is from OntheIssues.org, the others are from the campaign websites.

Edwards--Women, Poverty, Working Families, Health care.
Obama--Civil Rights, Economy, Healthcare, Poverty.
Clinton--Healthcare, Women.
Romney--Healthcare, American Values.
McCain--Healthcare, Sanctity of Life.
Giuliani--Healthcare.
Huckabee--Sanctity of Life, Healthcare
Paul--Life and Liberty, Healthcare, Racism.

That's all I have for now. I need to go to class. Comments are welcome and loved, as per usual. <3

* Rudy Giliani is not pro-choice. He is against Roe vs. Wade, in the name of "state's rights". He is for parental notification laws. That is not a pro-choice mentality, that is a "I'm trying to play the middle and failing terribly" mentality.

First shred of pro-life argument for several months.

Aaaah, nothing like the stench of Lifer Logic and Ignorant Analogies to wake me up in the afternoon.

And in the First Feminist Guild of Gaia of all places. I really liked what SarahArden had to say: "I assume that most feminists are pro-choice simply because we respect a woman's right to not have a life-crippling law imposed on her body." &hearts

Yay for the big kick-off of OBF 2! Maybe this year the lifers will have some originality. Maybe hell will freeze over.

I finally made an icon of Eleanor from Alvin and the Chipmunks. The official website has coloring pages you can download, so I colored part of one in OpenCanvas and went crazy in Photoshop. Eleanor was my first real favorite TV show character, since she was the first one that had my name. Even though we spell them differently. My eight-year-old self loved the idea of a somewhat well-known character having the same name as me.

For the past month or so I've been working on an abortion information binder in MS Word, and yesterday I finished it. It's all formatted, I've got sources for everything, and I even made a table of contents. Now I just have to wait for us to get more ink for our printer and I'll be set. Screencaps ( under the cut. )

If you guys have any suggestions, they would be loved. <3

It's a really telling piece from Rolling Stone, but it's fucking scary.

"One Man's God Squad: Troy Newman's plan to stop abortion in Wichita, Kansas"

I mean, Jesus Christ. They pretty much stalk these people out of a job.

My favorite part?

The girl furrows her brow. "We just clean the guy's clothes."

"Babies have to die when you accept his money," Sullenger says.

The woman suggests they talk to the owner, who is gone for the day. Newman and Sullenger return the next morning, but the owner cuts them off with a curt "Bye" as soon as they identify themselves. When Newman persists, the owner makes it plainer: "Get the hell out of here."

The first part sounds like a satire, and the second part is just made of win.