“And that’s the rub: Our progress infuriates these men. And anything that eases our suffering or improves our lives makes them hate us exponentially more.”
This. I like how you cut through bullshit to get at the core of it. For a long time I thought that people who were antiabortion just really believed that fetuses were real babies. Then I started talking to some of them, and it became clear what they really believed was that consent to sex was consent to pregnancy, so it was really about policing women’s sexuality. Why does it matter so much to men that women might get abortions? Do they care about babies? Or do they want women pregnant and barefoot so they can’t divorce as easily or make more money than men or just threaten fragile masculinity in general? I’ve seen some crazy comments by men who are threatened . . . By other men wearing a skirt. Of course a woman who can avoid pregnancy is a threat.
Do y’all know about aid access? They mailed me abortion pills this month. I am not even pregnant, and I told them I just want them on hand as one man in Texas wants to take it from everyone and will if he gets his way. It was 105 euros, ($119) I just spoke to a woman I know today that spent 600$ for the same medication, mostly because she was frightened about her pregnancy getting too far along, and being unable to access them at all. That pisses me off. Aid access has a dr in the Netherlands that prescribes and the pharmacy is in India. Took 10 days from when I ordered it, until I could pick them up from the post office ( I had to sign for the delivery, and I wasn’t home during the day) I was so happy with how easy it was.
I mean it's an economic issue for men, too. According to Google, on average, raising one child in the U.S., parents can expect to spend between $1200-1400 per month, for 18 years, but most likely longer, given housing costs. And, if the child has special needs or chronic health issues, that average increases and can extend for the duration of that child's life. These smug ignorant men who think they're owning the libs or punishing women are (to use Hillary's word) deplorable.
We can no longer look at these people as judges or legislators or politicians. I'm done with that. They are soldiers of a fanatical ideology meant to subjugate and oppress women and girls, hell-bent on turning this country into a theocracy. That's what they are -- soldiers.
Jessica Valenti! I am so proud to join your amazing group of readers! Actually..... it makes me proud to become a paying subscriber. I don't want to miss a syllable of yours!
Yes, it's the sneers on their faces and in their voices that generates the most anger and rage in me.
It's the smugness, the sense of superiority and control, expressions I thought I had long erased from my memory banks. But apparently, I had just mentally filed them away in an archived folder and they have all re-emerged.
I am 80 and so came of age before both Roe and the Pill, back at the beginning of second wave feminism.
The memories that bubbled out of my archives were of all those men who so cavalierly refused to hire me, refused to approve a mortgage, or even a bank account - those men who felt perfectly entitled to explicitly say "no you can't have this because you can get pregnant".
And then they would almost literally pat me on the head, call me a girl, and usher me out of their offices.
And as much as I don't want to feel these feelings all over again, I somehow feel compelled to do so. And so I remain on Twitter and occasionally engage with yet the newest and latest generation of these men, who may well respond and tell me to "just keep my legs shut" and stop being a slut.
We can't afford to look away. But we can prevail and today's youth will accomplish it. I watched last year as my grandchildren, newly eligible to vote, rose up en masse to resoundingly win the bellwether referendum here in Kansas.
Should they have to fight this fight all over again? Of course not. Will they do it and do it well? Hell yes.
Abortion using mifepristone is one of two drugs to induce abortion. The other is misoprostol. The Texas ruling involves only mifepristone. The availability of misoprostol is not affected by this Texas ruling.
I myself don't think women should be taking mifepristone or misoprostol without being under a medical practitioner's supervision. Severe side effects are rare, but severe cramping and bacterial infections are not that rare.
If, in fact, a lot of women are getting access to mifepristone without having access to a medical practitioner and a follow up ultrasound, I would say that there is cause for concern.
Thank you, Jessica, for writing this in a concise factual way that conveys your anger and frustration but leaves a little window for hope. This news makes me want to cry for our country but we all have to collectively come together, support each other and continue the fight. You are my #1 source for abortion rights news and I can’t thank you enough. ❤️
That feeling of despair is physical and mental. It literally hurts. And just over and I very again since November 2016. That was the first but they have kept coming with such fierce rage toward women it can lead to hopelessness. But finding community with other women and rising every day to keep fighting fuels me. As you say- our rising power scares men and this is their backlash and power grabs. We wont let it stand
A day of despair before picking myself up for the next fight. Well said. With this last (I pray) gasp of the ignorant, frightened male dominated political and social culture, I hope I can limit it to one day.
It's a cliche, but true... the cruelty is the point. The more women can be humiliated and confined to a biological box, the better. Mark my words, birth control is next.
So I have been thinking about 6 week bans and I wonder if there’s a device “someone” could carry to mask any sign of “cardiac activity”. Science gave these goofballs an unearned wedge. Maybe science can mask the fallout until we develop a better solution.
You summed it up for me. I often wonderWHY they hate us so much. But the truth is they hate everyone and everything better than they are, more beautiful, more happy, more fun, more accomplished, just anyone better. It’s a tough price to pay for just being oneself.
“And that’s the rub: Our progress infuriates these men. And anything that eases our suffering or improves our lives makes them hate us exponentially more.”
This. I like how you cut through bullshit to get at the core of it. For a long time I thought that people who were antiabortion just really believed that fetuses were real babies. Then I started talking to some of them, and it became clear what they really believed was that consent to sex was consent to pregnancy, so it was really about policing women’s sexuality. Why does it matter so much to men that women might get abortions? Do they care about babies? Or do they want women pregnant and barefoot so they can’t divorce as easily or make more money than men or just threaten fragile masculinity in general? I’ve seen some crazy comments by men who are threatened . . . By other men wearing a skirt. Of course a woman who can avoid pregnancy is a threat.
Do y’all know about aid access? They mailed me abortion pills this month. I am not even pregnant, and I told them I just want them on hand as one man in Texas wants to take it from everyone and will if he gets his way. It was 105 euros, ($119) I just spoke to a woman I know today that spent 600$ for the same medication, mostly because she was frightened about her pregnancy getting too far along, and being unable to access them at all. That pisses me off. Aid access has a dr in the Netherlands that prescribes and the pharmacy is in India. Took 10 days from when I ordered it, until I could pick them up from the post office ( I had to sign for the delivery, and I wasn’t home during the day) I was so happy with how easy it was.
I mean it's an economic issue for men, too. According to Google, on average, raising one child in the U.S., parents can expect to spend between $1200-1400 per month, for 18 years, but most likely longer, given housing costs. And, if the child has special needs or chronic health issues, that average increases and can extend for the duration of that child's life. These smug ignorant men who think they're owning the libs or punishing women are (to use Hillary's word) deplorable.
Pregnant women and mothers need to form a union and go after the government as their Employer.
Preach!
We can no longer look at these people as judges or legislators or politicians. I'm done with that. They are soldiers of a fanatical ideology meant to subjugate and oppress women and girls, hell-bent on turning this country into a theocracy. That's what they are -- soldiers.
Jessica Valenti! I am so proud to join your amazing group of readers! Actually..... it makes me proud to become a paying subscriber. I don't want to miss a syllable of yours!
Yes, it's the sneers on their faces and in their voices that generates the most anger and rage in me.
It's the smugness, the sense of superiority and control, expressions I thought I had long erased from my memory banks. But apparently, I had just mentally filed them away in an archived folder and they have all re-emerged.
I am 80 and so came of age before both Roe and the Pill, back at the beginning of second wave feminism.
The memories that bubbled out of my archives were of all those men who so cavalierly refused to hire me, refused to approve a mortgage, or even a bank account - those men who felt perfectly entitled to explicitly say "no you can't have this because you can get pregnant".
And then they would almost literally pat me on the head, call me a girl, and usher me out of their offices.
And as much as I don't want to feel these feelings all over again, I somehow feel compelled to do so. And so I remain on Twitter and occasionally engage with yet the newest and latest generation of these men, who may well respond and tell me to "just keep my legs shut" and stop being a slut.
We can't afford to look away. But we can prevail and today's youth will accomplish it. I watched last year as my grandchildren, newly eligible to vote, rose up en masse to resoundingly win the bellwether referendum here in Kansas.
Should they have to fight this fight all over again? Of course not. Will they do it and do it well? Hell yes.
Factual article about the Texas ruling on mifepristone:
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pill-lawsuit-mifepristone-misoprostol-kacsmaryk-74cb1c4cfab2c04f6cf2696151bc86ef
Abortion using mifepristone is one of two drugs to induce abortion. The other is misoprostol. The Texas ruling involves only mifepristone. The availability of misoprostol is not affected by this Texas ruling.
I myself don't think women should be taking mifepristone or misoprostol without being under a medical practitioner's supervision. Severe side effects are rare, but severe cramping and bacterial infections are not that rare.
If, in fact, a lot of women are getting access to mifepristone without having access to a medical practitioner and a follow up ultrasound, I would say that there is cause for concern.
Thank you, Jessica. For now, that is all I can say because my rage has me unable to put my thoughts into words.
Thank you, Jessica, for writing this in a concise factual way that conveys your anger and frustration but leaves a little window for hope. This news makes me want to cry for our country but we all have to collectively come together, support each other and continue the fight. You are my #1 source for abortion rights news and I can’t thank you enough. ❤️
That feeling of despair is physical and mental. It literally hurts. And just over and I very again since November 2016. That was the first but they have kept coming with such fierce rage toward women it can lead to hopelessness. But finding community with other women and rising every day to keep fighting fuels me. As you say- our rising power scares men and this is their backlash and power grabs. We wont let it stand
A day of despair before picking myself up for the next fight. Well said. With this last (I pray) gasp of the ignorant, frightened male dominated political and social culture, I hope I can limit it to one day.
It's a cliche, but true... the cruelty is the point. The more women can be humiliated and confined to a biological box, the better. Mark my words, birth control is next.
So I have been thinking about 6 week bans and I wonder if there’s a device “someone” could carry to mask any sign of “cardiac activity”. Science gave these goofballs an unearned wedge. Maybe science can mask the fallout until we develop a better solution.
You summed it up for me. I often wonderWHY they hate us so much. But the truth is they hate everyone and everything better than they are, more beautiful, more happy, more fun, more accomplished, just anyone better. It’s a tough price to pay for just being oneself.