MRA types talk a lot about how “misandrist” feminists are. It’s patriarchy that thinks men are stupid, not feminists. Patriarchy says that men can’t control their urges, that they’re simple creatures of impulse. Feminism says no, men are people, and they can control themselves, and tells them to do so. They claim that TV shows portray men as simple, dim-witted, lazy, cowardly creatures doing whatever their wives tell them to. They cite this as proof of a “feminist conspiracy” in which feminists (who in their eyes are invariably women) have invaded the film industry with the sole purpose of making men look bad. Yes, these are sexist stereotypes, but they’re not the result of some feminist conspiracy. The people writing these characters are not feminists. They’re the same people who write female characters as ditzy, self-absorbed, shallow, sex objects. The same people who write sexist stereotypes of men are writing sexist stereotypes of women too. Feminism is opposition to sexism, not “reverse sexism.”
I saw someone yesterday say that trans* people demanding that cis feminists not be cissexist shitheads when talking about reproductive health is a product of male privilege.
I sat at my computer for 5 minutes just staring at the fuckery.
But wait, there’s more!
One obvious problem with the “you’re exerting male privilege over me when you want me to say ‘people who can get pregnant’ instead of woman!” is a fuck-ton of people in this conversation don’t have anything resembling male privilege. I ain’t a dude or a chick, thankssomuch. I face misogyny every goddamn day, and the conservatives aren’t exactly going out of their way to make sure that I’m excluded from their attacks on reproductive healthcare. They do not hate me less for my lack of womanhood.
Furthermore, conservatives know trans people exist. Guess what? They want to control our access to reproductive health care, too. Why do you think so many areas require surgeries that result in sterilization to change the M or F on one’s birth certificate? They make sure that we are invalidated on very basic levels if we dare to conceptualize our genders in a way that includes keeping our reproductive organs (or if we’re too poor to get rid of them). Conservatives are not going to say, “Wait, some men can have babies?! Oh, well, that changes everything—let’s get to work on free and open access to reproductive justice right away!” Nope, they aren’t interested in protecting any trans people, regardless of whether or not that person identifies as a dude. Don’t even try to play that bullshit.
I’d also like to point that you, cis feminists, are actually the oppressor group in this conversation about why you totally don’t have to cissexist ass-jackets about reproductive justice. When trans people, including trans men, come to you and say, “Hey, the way you talk about abortion and birth control denies our realities,” we are not exerting privilege over you. We are coming to you as trans people confronting cis people about centering your cis-privileged narrative. You are not being asked to deny yourselves a place in the pro-choice movement; you are being asked to not constantly center yourselves and to not ignore and erase other people who you have privilege over.
Yeah, we tried pointing this out several times yesterday. It doesn’t seem to matter or make a difference :/
(Source: trans-terrific, via tal9000)
CHRONICLES OF MANSPLAINING
Excerpt:
For those very few readers who are unfamiliar with “mansplaining,” Karen Healey has a pretty good, concise definition of it:
Mansplaining isn’t just the act of explaining while male, of course; many men manage to explain things every day without in the least insulting their listeners. Mansplaining is when a dude tells you, a woman, how to do something you already know how to do, or how you are wrong about something you are actually right about, or miscellaneous and inaccurate “facts” about something you know a hell of a lot more about than he does.
Bonus points if he is explaining how you are wrong about something being sexist!
This explanation was linked to at the blog Thus Spake Zuska, which then added an additional Mansplaining Process Outline to the mix:
1. You MUST explain why everything I said is beside the point, and wrong, and silly.
2. You MUST explain why you are not a mansplainer, then re-explain things to the wimminz. Also, call them sexist.
3. You MUST explain that you mansplain because you assume that blogs are written by men, then re-explain things to the wimminz AGAIN.
4. Ignore everything everyone says, then accuse everyone else of being sexist to you. Follow this with some SERIOUS explaining! Teh wimminz are slow, but they will surely understand someday! Because you are a MAN! And you are SPLAININ’!
*********
This happens to me all the time. I may be young and I’m not sure I’m an expert at anything, but there are some topics that I pwn pretty frequently: photography, art history theory and criticism, feminism/gender studies, politics, my own damn life growing up female and poor. And I can’t tell you how many men have mansplained to me about things when I clearly know more than them. And it’s obvious. And I say it nicely. And they insist I’m wrong. And then they attempt to show me what a fucking f-stop is, or tell me what sexism really means, or “explain” semiotics to my itty bitty female brain, or they rant about bootstraps and how poor people are parasites, or how I don’t really understand capitalism because if I did I wouldn’t be a socialist.
Now, there is a distinguishable difference between mansplaining and explaining something while simultaneously being a man. The clear difference is the invalidation of the marginalized person’s expertise and/or experience as well as the general patronizing or condescending tone on the part of the mansplainer.
I also want to note that on the post at Thus Spake Zuska someone tried to mansplain mansplaining.
I’m sorry it came off that way. This was brought up in the notes as well, so I’ll address that concern here.
I think it should be obvious (but I guess maybe not) that the intent of the post wasn’t to vilify pregnancy but rather vilify the antichoice rhetoric, misogyny, and male privilege that was dripping off the original tweet as a basis for claiming that pregnancy is just “inconvenient”. This argument is being used in the context of taking away my constitutional right to an abortion due to the poster’s assumption that 9 months of pregnancy is no big deal and that I have no basis for my concerns. Therefore, I didn’t feel the need to end with a footnote that “yay, pregnancy is actually awesome” because my prochoice stance should make it clear that pregnancy is always an option for those willing to do it. I even said in a follow up post that I fully support pregnancy as a reproductive choice.
The point of the post is to cut through the bullshit of the antichoice rhetoric that cis men like to spew. The fact of the matter is that every pregnancy is potentially life-threatening (a point I will never cede) and that alone elevates the state of pregnancy above a “mere inconvenience.” I don’t really think it’s relevant that *some* of the complications are rare (at least in developing countries) because every pregnancy has the potential to take a turn for the worst, and almost half of all pregnancies experience complications. While they might be temporary, manageable, or even wildly uncommon I fail to see why they should be reduced to mere “inconveniences” especially since the pregnant person is the only one capable of deciding if those are risks they are willing to take. As a trans* person who never wants to be pregnant, pregnancy let alone even mild side effects or complications would make me suicidal. So you can see how that would be offensive to be dismissed as “alarmist” or an “inconvenience.”
With 358,000 pregnant people DYING yearly due to pregnancy or complications I think it’s highly suspect when people, especially cis men, take the view that pregnancy is no big deal, and that the unwilling incubator should just deal with it as such rather than make the right decision for themselves and their bodies. Pregnancy isn’t the problem here, nor are the people who choose it. It’s the people who feel compelled to be glib about the inherent dangers of pregnancy, and the dangers people subject themselves to in order to bring children into the world. Because of that, I feel the need to call out bullshit like this tweet because some of us would rather get hit by a bus than deal with the easiest, most uncomplicated, risk-free pregnancy let alone die from one.
Hope that clears that up.
![Inconvenience? You hear that people capable of getting pregnant? This is all merely an inconvenience:
Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:
exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
heartburn and indigestion
constipation
weight gain
dizziness and light-headedness
bloating, swelling, fluid retention
hemmorhoids
abdominal cramps
yeast infections
congested, bloody nose
acne and mild skin disorders
skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
mild to severe backache and strain
increased headaches
difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
increased urination and incontinence
bleeding gums
pica
breast pain and discharge
swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
inability to take regular medications
shortness of breath
higher blood pressure
hair loss
tendency to anemia
curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease(pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, andare more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases)
extreme pain on delivery
hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section — major surgery — is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)
Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:
stretch marks (worse in younger women)
loose skin
permanent weight gain or redistribution
abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
changes to breasts
varicose veins
scarring from episiotomy or c-section
other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)
Occasional complications and side effects:
spousal/partner abuse
hyperemesis gravidarum
temporary and permanent injury to back
severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses — 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
gestational diabetes
placenta previa
anemia (which can be life-threatening)
thrombocytopenic purpura
severe cramping
embolism (blood clots)
medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
hormonal imbalance
ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
hemorrhage and
numerous other complications of delivery
refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
severe post-partum depression and psychosis
research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including “egg harvesting” from infertile women and donors
research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease
Less common (but serious) complications:
peripartum cardiomyopathy
cardiopulmonary arrest
magnesium toxicity
severe hypoxemia/acidosis
massive embolism
increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
malignant arrhythmia
circulatory collapse
placental abruption
obstetric fistula
More permanent side effects:
future infertility
permanent disability
death.
In addition, there’s the risk of losing one’s job and, by extension, home; pregnancy/childbirth triggering traumatic experiences due to rape, molestation, or partner/spousal abuse; body or gender dysphoria; missing or dropping out of school; the potential trauma of choosing adoption; suffering from pregnancy related job discrimination; the economic toll of pregnancy and raising a child; and not being able to continue taking important medications or exacerbating pre-existing conditions.
Here’s some statistics:
358,000 people die annually from pregnancy related complications.
20% of people who die during pregnancy are murder victims.
The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescents under 15 years old.
Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescents in most developing countries.
A person’s lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15-year-old will eventually die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 4300 in developed countries, versus 1 in 120 in developing countries.
A pregnant person has a 35.6% greater risk of being a victim of violence than a non-pregnant person. The estimated prevalence of violence against people during pregnancy ranges from four percent to eight percent.
40% of all pregnant people have some complications during pregnancy or childbirth. About 15% have complications that are potentially life-threatening.
Tl;dr So in case that wasn’t clear: pregnancy is always life threatening and never merely an “inconvenience”.
[ETA: I wish beyond all belief this edit wasn’t necessary, but I guess it is. This post isn’t meant to vilify pregnancy or the people who choose it. As I’ve said in a reply and an ask, pregnancy is always a valid reproductive choice for those who choose it. As a prochoicer, I support all reproductive choices including birthing ones like advocating for the choice to have VBACs, home births, and the right to say no to unwanted c-sections. I will fight as hard for those rights as I do for the right to an abortion. I don’t think birth is bad for those that want to do it, but some of us would literally rather die. This isn’t meant as a scare tactic against fellow people who can get pregnant. This is about the flippant manner in which cis men like to dismiss people’s concerns that pregnancy is more than an “inconvenience.” The last time I checked people don’t regularly die from inconveniences. For more see: this reply and this ask, which I also made rebloggable on request.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ludn9tsDQx1r3bzxoo1_1280.png)
Inconvenience? You hear that people capable of getting pregnant? This is all merely an inconvenience:
Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:
- exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
- altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
- nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
- heartburn and indigestion
- constipation
- weight gain
- dizziness and light-headedness
- bloating, swelling, fluid retention
- hemmorhoids
- abdominal cramps
- yeast infections
- congested, bloody nose
- acne and mild skin disorders
- skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
- mild to severe backache and strain
- increased headaches
- difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
- increased urination and incontinence
- bleeding gums
- pica
- breast pain and discharge
- swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
- difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
- inability to take regular medications
- shortness of breath
- higher blood pressure
- hair loss
- tendency to anemia
- curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
- infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease
(pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, and
are more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases) - extreme pain on delivery
- hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
- continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section — major surgery — is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)
Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:
- stretch marks (worse in younger women)
- loose skin
- permanent weight gain or redistribution
- abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
- pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
- changes to breasts
- varicose veins
- scarring from episiotomy or c-section
- other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
- increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
- loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)
Occasional complications and side effects:
- spousal/partner abuse
- hyperemesis gravidarum
- temporary and permanent injury to back
- severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
- dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses — 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
- pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
- eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
- gestational diabetes
- placenta previa
- anemia (which can be life-threatening)
- thrombocytopenic purpura
- severe cramping
- embolism (blood clots)
- medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
- diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
- mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
- serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
- hormonal imbalance
- ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
- broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
- hemorrhage and
- numerous other complications of delivery
- refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
- aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
- severe post-partum depression and psychosis
- research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including “egg harvesting” from infertile women and donors
- research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
- research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease
Less common (but serious) complications:
- peripartum cardiomyopathy
- cardiopulmonary arrest
- magnesium toxicity
- severe hypoxemia/acidosis
- massive embolism
- increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
- molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
- malignant arrhythmia
- circulatory collapse
- placental abruption
- obstetric fistula
More permanent side effects:
- future infertility
- permanent disability
- death.
In addition, there’s the risk of losing one’s job and, by extension, home; pregnancy/childbirth triggering traumatic experiences due to rape, molestation, or partner/spousal abuse; body or gender dysphoria; missing or dropping out of school; the potential trauma of choosing adoption; suffering from pregnancy related job discrimination; the economic toll of pregnancy and raising a child; and not being able to continue taking important medications or exacerbating pre-existing conditions.
Here’s some statistics:
- 358,000 people die annually from pregnancy related complications.
- 20% of people who die during pregnancy are murder victims.
- The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescents under 15 years old.
- Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescents in most developing countries.
- A person’s lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15-year-old will eventually die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 4300 in developed countries, versus 1 in 120 in developing countries.
- A pregnant person has a 35.6% greater risk of being a victim of violence than a non-pregnant person. The estimated prevalence of violence against people during pregnancy ranges from four percent to eight percent.
- 40% of all pregnant people have some complications during pregnancy or childbirth. About 15% have complications that are potentially life-threatening.
Tl;dr So in case that wasn’t clear: pregnancy is always life threatening and never merely an “inconvenience”.
[ETA: I wish beyond all belief this edit wasn’t necessary, but I guess it is. This post isn’t meant to vilify pregnancy or the people who choose it. As I’ve said in a reply and an ask, pregnancy is always a valid reproductive choice for those who choose it. As a prochoicer, I support all reproductive choices including birthing ones like advocating for the choice to have VBACs, home births, and the right to say no to unwanted c-sections. I will fight as hard for those rights as I do for the right to an abortion. I don’t think birth is bad for those that want to do it, but some of us would literally rather die. This isn’t meant as a scare tactic against fellow people who can get pregnant. This is about the flippant manner in which cis men like to dismiss people’s concerns that pregnancy is more than an “inconvenience.” The last time I checked people don’t regularly die from inconveniences. For more see: this reply and this ask, which I also made rebloggable on request.]
[TW for rape apologist comments found on MRA blog]
Make no mistake he is referencing CIS men here
In fact I would liken forcing a man to be a parent to be a form of rape, since you are forcing his body to go through physiological changes against his will.
Different MRA in response to the question: “TB, do you think that the nine months leading up to parenthood are the same for men and women? I mean emotionally, not physically. I just wonder at your take on it.”
Not TB, but this is the way I see it in the modern, female oriented West in the case of forced parenthood:
What’s worse, being forced to have your body perform an automatic procedure, for which you only really have to labor for a few hours, or, being forced to prepare for possibly 21 years of abuse?
Simply put, I’d rather push out a melon and be done with it than live in fear.
And another MRA comparing parenthood to rape:
Feeling entitled to 18 years fo [sic] parenting form [sic] someone without their explicit consent is at least as bad as feeling entitled to 10 minutes of sex without their consent.
Apparently being called out on their bullshit leads to a lot of *shrugging*:
The practice of labeling as “rape” anything the speaker considers to be a comparable violation gets tiresome after a while.
**Is being tiresome a bannable offense? If not, *shrug*.
The reference to women being forced to bear children in pro-choice rhetoric refers to the use of coercive methods, including the force of law, to restrict the availability or access to women to safe, legal abortion or other post-coital birth control.
**So, basically, some elements of society are trying to put women back to a point where they have as little control over becoming a parent as men do now.
**Okay. *shrug*
Do I need to unpack this for you followers or can you handle it while I go
???
Thought[s] of the day.
If a human is not a human from the moment of conception, then what is it? A tumor? Cancer? Something that can mindlessly grow into another human being by simple luck?
Next thought of the day - if it is a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child or not, then why does the father not get a chance to reject the child and not have to take care of it? If the woman has the right to choose whether or not the child comes into her life, then therefore so should the man, assuming we want equality.
Taxonomy=/=legal or moral status
Bodily integrity and autonomy=/=financial or social obligations to born children
There is equality in the system. Everyone gets to decide what happens to their own body, and once the fetus is born both have equal obligations as well as the right to give up the child. And if you want to talk about inequality between men and women: well, 100% of people that die during pregnancy are pregnant people (mainly women), what are you cis men going to do to rectify that inequality? Nothing? I thought so.
================================
So you failed to completely address my point. I don’t disagree that people get to decide what to do with their bodies, but I want to know WHY there is a disconnect - life is life from the moment of conception, is it not? If it isn’t, since it is part of the same evolutionary cycle that turns us into life, how is it not life? (A graphic is forthcoming, been too busy to create).
Also, 100% of people that die during pregnancy are (likely) female is correct. 100% that die from the complications of carrying a baby are (likely) female. It’s called biology. That’s also not an inequality.
I say that because that statement is, quite frankly, stupid (I hate being petty, but alas…). That’s like saying 100% of people that die from testicular cancer are (likely) men. How can we correct that inequality, yeah?
In other words, no shit, obvious statement is obvious.
Yes, dear, that was the point. Alas, you don’t even understand the implications of your own “logic” enough to see that.
I addressed your “points” pretty much line by line. You misrepresented the prochoice argument by going on about what species a zygote is with your straw man first paragraph, and I responded that taxonomy=/=legal or moral status (personhood, if it’s still not clear!). Care to dispute that with more drivel?
Your second paragraph looks like it’s from a MRA handbook, and actually compares the woman’s* right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy with a father’s financial and social obligations. I, again, responded with why that’s ridiculous. Tl;dr: because they’re not the same! The reason it may look the same is because to MRA’s like you it’s “unfair” for women to have sole dominance over their bodies without a male opinion being imposed on them in the name of “equality.” Following your ridiculous logic I posited another ridiculous example of “inequality” to illustrate it further. Of course, only people with female reproductive organs die in pregnancy, and of course only pregnant people get to decide whether the pregnancy continues. Once again: there is NO inequality in the way this plays out. Men have no right to have say on pregnancy once it has occurred, and both parents have equal obligations and opportunities to surrender their parental rights.
Are you getting this yet, or is nuance simply not your forte?
Thought[s] of the day.
If a human is not a human from the moment of conception, then what is it? A tumor? Cancer? Something that can mindlessly grow into another human being by simple luck?
Next thought of the day - if it is a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child or not, then why does the father not get a chance to reject the child and not have to take care of it? If the woman has the right to choose whether or not the child comes into her life, then therefore so should the man, assuming we want equality.
Taxonomy=/=legal or moral status
Bodily integrity and autonomy=/=financial or social obligations to born children
There is equality in the system. Everyone gets to decide what happens to their own body, and once the fetus is born both have equal obligations as well as the right to give up the child. And if you want to talk about inequality between men and women: well, 100% of people that die during pregnancy are pregnant people (mainly women), what are you cis men going to do to rectify that inequality? Nothing? I thought so.
Male Entitlement: Church & State Preserve Male Prerogatives, Female Punishments
(Source)
Assuming responsibility for personal and institutional sins has not been a strong suit of the Church, fallen evangelicals, or corporate plunderers. It’s easier to blame a media campaign against the Church, or in Rep. Mark Souder’s case, a “poisonous” Washington environment seeking to twist “personal failing … for political gain.”
The political right has labored mightily for over three decades to link the term “entitlement” to social programs such as nutrition, health and child support — useful distractions from enormous entitlements bestowed on corporate power brokers who have corroded common culture and brought us to the economic brink.
Newt Gingrich denounced food programs for children as “entitlements,” and attributed budget deficits solely to social spending. Yet, at the time of 1996 welfare reformcorporate subsidies and tax breaks of $167 billion in 1995 alone, totaled more than twice as much as the $67 billion all social welfare programs combined. Nor is expansive defense spending questioned: Defense “creates jobs and protects worship,” reasoned majority whip Sen. Trent Lott on Pat Robertson’s show in 1995.
Right-wing culture/class warfare consistently pits the privileged against the “undeserving underclass” — an epithet applied by a James Dobson affiliate. The doctor denounced the ideal of universal health care while ascribing health costs to the “social pathology of our underclass,” principally “irresponsible sex acts that lead to abortion.” Contemporary Tea Parties express the same class/race discontent. While rightfully rejecting the widening disparity of wealth created by ultraconservative policies, theirs is the wrong diagnosis and prescription - defense of corporate greed and abolishment of government oversight.
The right has marginalized and imputed inferiority and illicit sexual behavior to the least politically powerful. Serial adulterer Gingrich led congressional efforts to selectively apply economic sanctions, while attributing every perceived social ill to the “sexual sin” of women and minorities — not to economic, but to moral, poverty. Nor are children exempt from blame: The latest confessed adulterer, Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Indiana), champion of traditional marriage and abstinence-only education who touts a 100% rating from the National Right to Life Committee, dismissed David Koresh’s crimes of rape of young girls at Waco as “sex with consenting minors.”
