I am turning 80 this year and so I came of age before both birth control and abortion were legalized.
I come out of college with a technical degree, fully qualified for any number of professional positions. Except I am told over and over and over in interview after interview that I'm not qualified because "I could just get pregnant" . It was explicit and blatant.
I finally secured a job in the brand new field of computer programming, because they were desperate for anyone who could do that job and they could get women really cheap. But the personnel manager still told me he didn't want to give me the job because of course I would just get pregnant and leave. In desperation I finally pulled my brand new bottle of birth control pills out of my purse, told him I had no intention of getting pregnant, and if he didn't believe me he could feed me my pills every morning.
He shut up and he hired me. That's what it took for a woman to get a job before birth control and abortion.
And yes 60 years later that is still seared into my brain. And yes I am livid. And I will stay livid.
We must have someone who can figure out an even better law than roe v wade by now, and I’m waiting for that person to step up. RBG seemed to think that was possible. I want to see something even stronger then roe v wade as a result of this moment
One thought that I've had, that I hesitate to express because I think it makes my position as someone who is far removed from being personally affected by the law in this area, all too obvious, is that sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. Sometimes that's the only way to really galvanize the public. I think that was the one silver lining of Trump, for example; I feel like his presence in that office motivated a lot of people to become more serious and focused and committed to justice, because the threat was so imminent. (And his absence now might be part of the reason for giving in to fatigue over feminism which Jessica brings up).
So while on the one hand I think it would be better for Roe to stand, on the other hand I can hope that its demise will provoke a backlash in the American public, one that those who've been eagerly anticipating this moment are completely unprepared for. I've read that polling suggested something like 80% of Americans didn't believe Roe was in danger. So what happens when the unthinkable becomes reality?
In this debate one side has been on defense since 1973, and the other side has been on offense. Those positions are about to be switched for the first time in 49 years. It's a high risk but potentially high reward proposition. I just hope we can meet the challenge. It's that old curse, "May you live in interesting times."
I mean seriously can we start crowdsourcing it? I'd donate money if it were needed to help fund the research that would come up with an ironclad constitutional reason abortions should be allowed.
I suppose the first place to look will be in the dissents the justices write when Roe is overturned. They may each write their own, with different arguments, and they'll no doubt all be impassioned. (Roberts might even be among them, it's hard to say. I don't think he wants to be remembered as chief of the court that went batsh*t, but it looks like that's his fate.) They say justices write their dissents with the future in mind so I'd start there.
I may be crazy but I could have sworn RBG said that she thought Roe V Wade needed to be replaced by something stronger, because it was going to get overturned eventually, or words to that effect. Why she wasn't working on that before she was done is a mystery to me. But someone should have been working on it all along, especially once she expressed that thought
I'm not sure but that sounds very likely. She was a wise woman. The problem is just that it's exceedingly unlikely to convince the court in its current composition, but yes it would lay the groundwork for a more secure future. In the immediate future it's probably going to have to be more of a political issue than a legal issue even; that's where the challenge, and opportunity, lies.
This is a brutal piece but I don't think there's anything here that's an overreaction.
I don't know what the answer is for race; I don't know how to get white people to care about people who aren't (identified as) white.
But since it seems pretty clear that, likewise, the only way to end misogyny is to get men to think differently about women, the one thing that occurs to me is that almost every man had a mother at some point in his life. Maybe it has to start there or otherwise it's too late. I don't know, it's really hard to wrap one's head around the truths about men that Jessica describes so well here.
He should think about his mother? That will have the opposite effect. All he will see is that person who gave up her life for 15 plus years to take care of him.
I couldn't read any news today because I'm so depressed. I feel with you, Jessica.
But I am not so sure abortion rights will be overturned. We have six months for those "partisan hack" justices to remember they aren't supposed to vote their beliefs and political ideals, but they are to interpret whether laws are constitutional. I need something to hold on to as this country sinks further into a sticky, mean, violent morass.
The more we keep expecting the worst, the more miserable we will be. Why not reverse the predictions that are constantly thrown about in the media with the belief that the SCOTUS is a reputable institution and recognizes women as members of the human race and not just means to an end? Let's demand that the media do its job of reporting and upholding rights as the only thing to do because talking repeatedly of the worst things to come make it seem inevitable that they will happen.
"News" is mostly opinion and repeated headlines and stories with a new twist of different tag line just to get us to click on it. Let's just stop assuming the worst of everyone (except Trumpers and white supremacists) and demand the best, the truth. We heard what the justices asked and said but we might try believing that they are looking for angles to overturn the right to self-determination for women, but as part of their way of exploring the issues on the table from MIssissippi. They are not immune to having their reputations undermined. Let's not make it easy for them to reduce women to second-class citizens any further.
I hadn’t intended on listening to the oral arguments – but I happened to be in the car and turned them on to catch the last hour. It was painful to listen to – and I can’t get it out of my head.
I was pregnant for 41.5 weeks. I was in the hospital for a traumatic labor, delivery and recovery for 7 days. Now, approaching my sons second birthday my postpartum depression is again not under control and the C-section scar still pangs when I move a certain way.
The arguments made at the Supreme Court regarding the only imposition on a woman if abortion is not available is being pregnant for the time between “viability” and birth, when the baby could then just be dropped off at a safe haven, is completely asinine.
“I feel too defeated to move.” Is a good way to describe how I’ve been feeling as well. Thank you.
A few days back I read an article about sexism in sport and the author said that the fierce backlash against athletes who fought (or even named) sexist attitudes had a lot to do with men hating intelligent women.
When I read that I thought the (male) author was slightly missing the point: sexism and other forms of misogyny are, overtly or covertly, about men hating women with agency - and yes, that's what 'pro life' as a political movement is all about: controlling women in their bodies and their minds.
The moment Trump got elected it was obvious we would end up here. I will read the headlines but won't slow down to ogle this slow but unavoidable car crash.
I am turning 80 this year and so I came of age before both birth control and abortion were legalized.
I come out of college with a technical degree, fully qualified for any number of professional positions. Except I am told over and over and over in interview after interview that I'm not qualified because "I could just get pregnant" . It was explicit and blatant.
I finally secured a job in the brand new field of computer programming, because they were desperate for anyone who could do that job and they could get women really cheap. But the personnel manager still told me he didn't want to give me the job because of course I would just get pregnant and leave. In desperation I finally pulled my brand new bottle of birth control pills out of my purse, told him I had no intention of getting pregnant, and if he didn't believe me he could feed me my pills every morning.
He shut up and he hired me. That's what it took for a woman to get a job before birth control and abortion.
And yes 60 years later that is still seared into my brain. And yes I am livid. And I will stay livid.
Yes! I feel this whole heartedly. I even wrote about it on my substack this week, namely about how early we start policing women's bodies (fifth grade for my daughter when she came home and talked about the dress code). https://cindyditiberio.substack.com/p/the-insidious-policing-of-our-bodies/
We must have someone who can figure out an even better law than roe v wade by now, and I’m waiting for that person to step up. RBG seemed to think that was possible. I want to see something even stronger then roe v wade as a result of this moment
One thought that I've had, that I hesitate to express because I think it makes my position as someone who is far removed from being personally affected by the law in this area, all too obvious, is that sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better. Sometimes that's the only way to really galvanize the public. I think that was the one silver lining of Trump, for example; I feel like his presence in that office motivated a lot of people to become more serious and focused and committed to justice, because the threat was so imminent. (And his absence now might be part of the reason for giving in to fatigue over feminism which Jessica brings up).
So while on the one hand I think it would be better for Roe to stand, on the other hand I can hope that its demise will provoke a backlash in the American public, one that those who've been eagerly anticipating this moment are completely unprepared for. I've read that polling suggested something like 80% of Americans didn't believe Roe was in danger. So what happens when the unthinkable becomes reality?
In this debate one side has been on defense since 1973, and the other side has been on offense. Those positions are about to be switched for the first time in 49 years. It's a high risk but potentially high reward proposition. I just hope we can meet the challenge. It's that old curse, "May you live in interesting times."
I mean seriously can we start crowdsourcing it? I'd donate money if it were needed to help fund the research that would come up with an ironclad constitutional reason abortions should be allowed.
I suppose the first place to look will be in the dissents the justices write when Roe is overturned. They may each write their own, with different arguments, and they'll no doubt all be impassioned. (Roberts might even be among them, it's hard to say. I don't think he wants to be remembered as chief of the court that went batsh*t, but it looks like that's his fate.) They say justices write their dissents with the future in mind so I'd start there.
I may be crazy but I could have sworn RBG said that she thought Roe V Wade needed to be replaced by something stronger, because it was going to get overturned eventually, or words to that effect. Why she wasn't working on that before she was done is a mystery to me. But someone should have been working on it all along, especially once she expressed that thought
I'm not sure but that sounds very likely. She was a wise woman. The problem is just that it's exceedingly unlikely to convince the court in its current composition, but yes it would lay the groundwork for a more secure future. In the immediate future it's probably going to have to be more of a political issue than a legal issue even; that's where the challenge, and opportunity, lies.
This is a brutal piece but I don't think there's anything here that's an overreaction.
I don't know what the answer is for race; I don't know how to get white people to care about people who aren't (identified as) white.
But since it seems pretty clear that, likewise, the only way to end misogyny is to get men to think differently about women, the one thing that occurs to me is that almost every man had a mother at some point in his life. Maybe it has to start there or otherwise it's too late. I don't know, it's really hard to wrap one's head around the truths about men that Jessica describes so well here.
He should think about his mother? That will have the opposite effect. All he will see is that person who gave up her life for 15 plus years to take care of him.
I couldn't read any news today because I'm so depressed. I feel with you, Jessica.
But I am not so sure abortion rights will be overturned. We have six months for those "partisan hack" justices to remember they aren't supposed to vote their beliefs and political ideals, but they are to interpret whether laws are constitutional. I need something to hold on to as this country sinks further into a sticky, mean, violent morass.
The more we keep expecting the worst, the more miserable we will be. Why not reverse the predictions that are constantly thrown about in the media with the belief that the SCOTUS is a reputable institution and recognizes women as members of the human race and not just means to an end? Let's demand that the media do its job of reporting and upholding rights as the only thing to do because talking repeatedly of the worst things to come make it seem inevitable that they will happen.
"News" is mostly opinion and repeated headlines and stories with a new twist of different tag line just to get us to click on it. Let's just stop assuming the worst of everyone (except Trumpers and white supremacists) and demand the best, the truth. We heard what the justices asked and said but we might try believing that they are looking for angles to overturn the right to self-determination for women, but as part of their way of exploring the issues on the table from MIssissippi. They are not immune to having their reputations undermined. Let's not make it easy for them to reduce women to second-class citizens any further.
Thank you for writing this.
I hadn’t intended on listening to the oral arguments – but I happened to be in the car and turned them on to catch the last hour. It was painful to listen to – and I can’t get it out of my head.
I was pregnant for 41.5 weeks. I was in the hospital for a traumatic labor, delivery and recovery for 7 days. Now, approaching my sons second birthday my postpartum depression is again not under control and the C-section scar still pangs when I move a certain way.
The arguments made at the Supreme Court regarding the only imposition on a woman if abortion is not available is being pregnant for the time between “viability” and birth, when the baby could then just be dropped off at a safe haven, is completely asinine.
“I feel too defeated to move.” Is a good way to describe how I’ve been feeling as well. Thank you.
Absolutely.
A few days back I read an article about sexism in sport and the author said that the fierce backlash against athletes who fought (or even named) sexist attitudes had a lot to do with men hating intelligent women.
When I read that I thought the (male) author was slightly missing the point: sexism and other forms of misogyny are, overtly or covertly, about men hating women with agency - and yes, that's what 'pro life' as a political movement is all about: controlling women in their bodies and their minds.
Couldn't watch or read either -- for the same reasons as yours. Thanks for saying the truth clearly.
Same.
The moment Trump got elected it was obvious we would end up here. I will read the headlines but won't slow down to ogle this slow but unavoidable car crash.