(no subject)

[trinityvixen]

I love how when the only man coming to writing group is delayed, the ladies all set to talking about bra shopping. It makes me glad to hear (and sad, too, of course) that it is a universally trying process. No matter your cup size or circumference about the chest, there's always something that makes it impossible to buy bras at one point or the other. I'm not saying that we should be glad of this, but it's nice to know that women are as unique as I like to think we all are.

It also occurred to me in our discussion of prices that it's not fair there's not similiarly expensive must-have for men. I suppose a sports cup comes close, but not really. Makes me think of this presentation we saw in health class in high school about gender equality. Made me think of subconscious ways in which the gender war has gone in the era of political correctness. Yes, we should be damned worried about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but there are still other, less obvious deficiencies that need looking after. One of them is the bra, oddly enough, more specifically the Wonder-bra. The presentation in health class I saw proposed we institute the "wonder-jock," a device to make a man's package more prominent in the way the wonder-bra enhanced smaller bust lines and put larger ones just that much more out there.

I think there was a proto-feminist rant in there somewhere, but I haven't the energy to keep it going.

Comments

[i-am-rachiv.livejournal.com]

Gah. I'm going to have to regretfully agree with you about how unfair it is that bras cost about $50 a pop, and you need, well, like $50 of them. Where is the equivalent undergarment staple for guys?!?!?

However, on your stance on abortion-- me and my mangled fetus older sibling are hurt, Dayle. There do exist some situtations where it is just categorically wrong. Does that merit overturning Roe V. Wade- not those sitations alone. But, I'd hope that you concede, on some level, that abortion can be wrong.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

If we want to get into this, sure, I'll say there are plenty of instances where I find it reprehensible. Anyone who thinks an abortion is an acceptable method of birth control needs to have their right to have a uterus revoked. This is not an easy choice, and to abuse this right that way is both disgusting and totally unnecessary. I would say that it's absolutely necessary in cases of jeopardized health to the mother (most people can agree upon that) and should be discussed with all women who find themselves pregnant for causes that were against their will--rape or incest. I know most religious folk would say that it's making the hurt that much worse to damn a woman's soul for aborting a baby after she's been raped, but I don't believe that, the woman in question might not, and so we're not allowed to tell her what to do to make herself whole again. Imagining rape is bad enough, imagining having to carry the burden of baby forced upon you by a man who tore your soul to pieces is enough to make me contemplate another sin: suicide.

Really, if you want to stem the tide of abortions, you have to agree to teach better contraceptive methods than 'waiting,' 'loving someone enough,' or withdrawal/rhythm method. For one, none of these are terribly realistic, though admirably hopeful. For two, non-barrier methods of sexual protection aren't protecting anything. You can still get disease and spread it without condoms et al. So, safer sex education, emphasizing respect for your partner in ALL its forms--agreeing to wait if you or they are not ready, protecting yourself and them through monogamy and safer sex--is really the way to go. Like so many things, abortion would be a less explosive, divisive issue if people could agree to work at solving the problem through education before there's a stupid decision made versus punishing the mistake-maker with legislation.

[i-am-rachiv.livejournal.com]

Check, check, check, check, check, and check. I only disagree with you on the efficacy of education... I am 100% for safe-sex education in schools, but sadly, I really doubt it's efficacy in preventing unwanted pregnancies. People are stupid animals and will satisfy their fucking needs in the heat of the moment. Classic teen pregnancy sob story. Edumacation goes straight out the window as soon as blood rushes to their genitals. Of course, a decent amount of kids do lear. But I think unwanted pregnancy is largely the folly of human nature.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on that, actually. Education will do wonders, I say, but it won't be perfect.

You know what would really work? Making men responsible for children they father. If every guy who got a girl pregnant were forced to raise his child, we'd see a few of them reconsider the consequences. This is part of my larger rant in general about men determining issues related to pregnancy. If men could get pregnant, we wouldn't have a one of them screeching about how it's murder and not right (okay, we'd have a few, but a LOT less than we do now). But reproductive rights/concerns are woman's Achilles heel, and as out-and-out discrimination based on gender falls out of favor, there are more underhanded means employed to keep us sisters enshackled.

Does that mean the girls getting pregnant weren't stupid and horny? No. Do I still think the unwanted pregnancy debacle is part of sexual subterfuge and the war of the sexes? I'm going to say "Yes, a little bit, actually."

[earthrise.livejournal.com]

I'm going to say "yes, a lot, actually." It doesn't take being a camoflage-pants-wearing-bra-burning Angry Feminist to see that. Though I do appreciate your diplomacy, I also sometimes wish we could be as angry as the right about these things.

Meanwhile, it may not be about mpreg, but I direct you to an incarnation of the menstruating men bit that was going around about 5 years back. I have no idea if the Steinem bit is legit, but I remember thinking "right on" back then.

[earthrise.livejournal.com]

The point is that, with a situation in which it's impossible to categorically dismiss all abortion cases as "wrong" (c.f. this case about Claudia Crown Ades continued here for a good example of the cases whereby it is "right," in addition to being a good example of the pain and horror most women who need abortions go through) , the government simply CANNOT pass or revoke an absolute law illegalizing and/or criminalizing a medical procedure.

Unless I've missed Dayle's point, and the point of most people who seek to protect Roe v. Wade, nobody goes to get abortions for fun. It's an emotionally and physically trying process, but one that cannot be banned for health and humanity reasons.