That’s what I thought and then said out loud to my napping cat last night. Of course he didn’t care and just opened one eye, gave me that ‘Lady! I’m sleeping!’ look and then went back to his slumber. But I was far too angry to shut my eyes.
It started with a Virginia bill that would require a transvaginal ultrasoundbefore allowing a woman to have an abortion. To which a conservative commentator said that a TVU is just like sex and when someone else repeated her words back to her she (commentator) then referred to that person (a male) as a pervert and, bonus! A child molester and then the rest of the Internet got really mad and several progressives expressed their hope that the commentator be raped only to be followed up by referring to said female commentator as a CUNextTuesday. And as I am typing this all out I just keep rolling my eyes more and more dramatically and whoops! One just popped out.
This situation doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘debate’ or ‘discourse’ as those who engaged from the commentator to her foes on the other side of the aisle are adult enough to have participated in actual discussion. I returned to my computer after 18 hours of true engagement on how to help communities of color and promptly stepped into a Twitter feed of WTF. One of those moments where you’re looking back at who said what and when and for God’s sake, WHY? I was turned off. It has nothing to do with who in this argument was wrong or right and I would be remiss not to say that I do not agree with giving women transgavingal ultrasounds or any other ultrasound before allowing her to have an abortion. I do not agree with a growing sentiment that women who want to use contraception are ‘sluts’ or that rape and incest are things that women should just roll with. And I am most certainly not OK with men treating my body as if it is their own and their very manly way of assuming that because they have a penis they know what is best for everyone. Unless you are my gynecologist you have no business being all up in my uterus. Thank you very much.
While the above makes me shake with rage that hasn’t been the root of my concern over the past 48 hours. My dismay is not just because I am a woman (a woman who can make her own choices about her body but thanks for the faux concern) but as a person who has spent much of her time encouraging debate and pleading with friends and family to take an interest in what happens on all levels of government. I am constantly asked how to get women involved in politics and I have stayed true to saying that ALL women, no matter their ideology, should voice their concerns and be aware of what is happening in the world around them. To come home to a Twitter feed of progressive women being referred to as ‘pro-abortion’/'pro-murder’ and the response being calls for rape made me quite literally hate everyone. How can I suggest to women to get involved when voicing their opinion means being called a cunt? How am I to say with a straight face that discourse is a good thing and that democracy and difference is why we are able to have real discussion but in the event that someone disagrees you will be threatened with rape? How?
I literally shrug and sigh deeply as I type these words because I feel defeated as I ask for conversation to happen and then I see that women don’t want to be involved in politics because they will be threatened with bodily harm. Women don’t want to be involved in politics because of the above. Because discourse can turn to evil. Because no one can focus on REAL issues. Because it’s all about besting the other person instead of conversation.
I’m currently in Salt Lake City, Utah for a conference and though I mentioned that I would be 2,000 miles away for the week my mother phoned the other day to ask when I’d be returning. Sunday, I replied.
“Oh. Well Obama is doing this fundraiser at the Apollo tomorrow night and I have an extra ticket since no one else could go but if you’re not going to be back then you can’t go”
“Uh….thanks?”
So she went to the Apollo and spent the first hour telling me all of the things she would tweet if she were on Twitter:
- Apollo, India, Al, Barack — Absolutely Amazing!
- India Arie just came into the audience to hug Roberta Flack.
Shortly thereafter my aunt sent me a message saying “Thought you would appreciate this”:
Fun, right?
This morning I woke up to this:
There’s the comparisons to President Clinton on Arsenio playing the sax of course but it’s so refreshing to see a President goof around and show off their other talents. It almost makes them ‘real’, if you know what I mean. I found it absolutely charming. Also, I think singing Al Green to a bunch of supporters at the Apollo Theater is a great way to get your base back. But that’s just me.
At the height of the Affordable Healthcare Act I had a meeting with a now former member of the House who was unsure of whether or not he could support the legislation. He carried around all 3,000 plus pages in a large three ring binder with each page thumbed through, highlighted and dog eared as he tried to figure out what his position would be. At one meeting he peppered a group of us with questions, details that we might have glossed over after page 675 but he had made sure to write down and figure out the impact on his district. I remember at once being irritated as I awaited an answer that was more than a shrug and also impressed by the seriousness with which he took his position in congress. Though he was one of 435 and not every vote he cast would be as crucial as the attempt to rehaul the nation’s healthcare system; he still read every single bill that came across his desk. And that was and still is a rarity.
I recalled this experience during yesterday’s mass protest and inevitable hysteria over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). I say ‘mass hysteria’ not because I agree with either bill in their entirety or because I think that people should not be honestly it isn’t the bill language (and yes, I have read both bills) it is about the process leading up to their introductions and the after. My twitter stream was full of folks blacking out their sites and putting giant black ‘CENSORED’ bars over their avatars to protest. But the more retweets and bandwagon hopping I saw the more I thought to myself: Do you know what you’re protesting? Or are you doing it because you heard about something that someone else heard about via Wikipedia and because your friend’s friend is against SOPA, you are too? I’m not trying to be an asshole (famous last words) but it’s a question that needs to be asked before being all “RAWR! STOP SOPA!” then calling your congressperson about an issue that you know little to nothing about.
Of those up in arms how many actually know the name of their member of congress? And of those members of the House and Senate who signed on to SOPA and PIPA as cosponsors really knew the intricacies of piracy and copyrighted content and whether the bill they were attaching their names to could present unintended consequences. Has anyone noticed that the head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) one of the key backers of SOPA is currently being headed by former Senator and Presidential candidate, Chris Dodd? Oh and the other chief backer was none other than Rupert ‘I don’t know nothing ’bout no phone hacking’ Murdoch. The former who could easily get former Senate friends to jump on board onto what they thought was a harmless piece of legislation and the latter is a gagillionaire.
But more importantly: Did anyone actually read either bill? The cosponsors? The bandwagon jumpers? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
I didn’t say any of these things to be an asshole but to point out that sometimes congress doesn’t make the best decisions ever. This could be because it’s a topic that is so new that they know very little about it (SOPA and PIPA fall into that category as intellectual property when it comes to online content is still so new) or it could be because someone with the right ties and deep pockets wanted a law written and found a sponsor who said ‘Sure! Why not?’ again without really going into the repercussions of such. This is all just speculation of course as I have no clue who or what got the ball rolling but I do know and geared witness to people who aren’t knowledgeable on a subject area playing expert. And that is bad.
I’ll leave you with this thought and a bit of a personal note: It has taken me years – my entire adult life – to learn to be an independent thinker and to not have a ‘bridge jumping’ mentality (If everyone jumped off a bridge would you do it). I mentioned this in my previous post but I want to know every side of the story so that I’m not only well-versed in the facts for my own arguments but so I can also play ‘Devil’s advocate’. I started this site not just because I like to talk about electoral politics and current events but because I noticed that more often than not people were quick to be opponents or proponents without knowing the background. I wanted to be able to start a discussion and to not play a political pundit but to say here is the issue and here are some great resources. Go forth and get schooled. In a time of turmoil and where everyone can play an expert in any field, I hope to foster critical thinking. Reading a bill before denouncing it is the best place to start. And with this entire SOPA/PIPA/I don’t really know but I heard situation I am realizing that there is a need for sites like mine to get people talking and hopefully know what they’re talking about.
As an aside: For all those up in arms yesterday I hope that just because the day of action is over and the topic has been tabled in the House and will be filibustered in the Senate that doesn’t mean that you won’t continue to learn, explore and engage. The work of congress doesn’t end just because no one is paying attention. It is made more effective when people do pay attention. I wish that those who got SOPA excited will get just as excited about education, the state of the economy, jobs, Social Security and this election.
“You all look like idiots”
That’s what I thought and then said out loud to my napping cat last night. Of course he didn’t care and just opened one eye, gave me that ‘Lady! I’m sleeping!’ look and then went back to his slumber. But I was far too angry to shut my eyes.
It started with a Virginia bill that would require a transvaginal ultrasound before allowing a woman to have an abortion. To which a conservative commentator said that a TVU is just like sex and when someone else repeated her words back to her she (commentator) then referred to that person (a male) as a pervert and, bonus! A child molester and then the rest of the Internet got really mad and several progressives expressed their hope that the commentator be raped only to be followed up by referring to said female commentator as a CUNextTuesday. And as I am typing this all out I just keep rolling my eyes more and more dramatically and whoops! One just popped out.
This situation doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘debate’ or ‘discourse’ as those who engaged from the commentator to her foes on the other side of the aisle are adult enough to have participated in actual discussion. I returned to my computer after 18 hours of true engagement on how to help communities of color and promptly stepped into a Twitter feed of WTF. One of those moments where you’re looking back at who said what and when and for God’s sake, WHY? I was turned off. It has nothing to do with who in this argument was wrong or right and I would be remiss not to say that I do not agree with giving women transgavingal ultrasounds or any other ultrasound before allowing her to have an abortion. I do not agree with a growing sentiment that women who want to use contraception are ‘sluts’ or that rape and incest are things that women should just roll with. And I am most certainly not OK with men treating my body as if it is their own and their very manly way of assuming that because they have a penis they know what is best for everyone. Unless you are my gynecologist you have no business being all up in my uterus. Thank you very much.
While the above makes me shake with rage that hasn’t been the root of my concern over the past 48 hours. My dismay is not just because I am a woman (a woman who can make her own choices about her body but thanks for the faux concern) but as a person who has spent much of her time encouraging debate and pleading with friends and family to take an interest in what happens on all levels of government. I am constantly asked how to get women involved in politics and I have stayed true to saying that ALL women, no matter their ideology, should voice their concerns and be aware of what is happening in the world around them. To come home to a Twitter feed of progressive women being referred to as ‘pro-abortion’/'pro-murder’ and the response being calls for rape made me quite literally hate everyone. How can I suggest to women to get involved when voicing their opinion means being called a cunt? How am I to say with a straight face that discourse is a good thing and that democracy and difference is why we are able to have real discussion but in the event that someone disagrees you will be threatened with rape? How?
I literally shrug and sigh deeply as I type these words because I feel defeated as I ask for conversation to happen and then I see that women don’t want to be involved in politics because they will be threatened with bodily harm. Women don’t want to be involved in politics because of the above. Because discourse can turn to evil. Because no one can focus on REAL issues. Because it’s all about besting the other person instead of conversation.
And I don’t know what to do.