Full metal jacket
Today was such a good day… Until it wasn’t. It went south when I pitched a hissy right there at the Oscar Tango tonight. Fortunately the ambient noise was so loud that only the people *at* our table could hear me. I’m sure they were a bit freaked out and I’m sorry about that. But.
Here’s the thing. Does anyone actually think that this misguided person made an actual joke? If you cannot view the video, it’s the one where Foster Friess jokes about how when he was a young whipper-snapper, birth control pills meant that the “gal” held an aspirin between her legs. I gather that he later apologized, sort of. Y’all can google the whole sordid affair although I’m sure most of you have already seen more than you want to on facebook or wherever.
Sorry but I do not think Foster Friess is the slightest bit funny. Now. If this were a different 2012, one in which women’s reproductive rights were not being shot at from every single direction possible, I might have appreciated the aspirin joke. Instead, what do we have? A serious presidential candidate who does not believe in a woman’s right to use artificial contraceptives to plan her family (even though statistics show that a majority of the women in his religion DO use artificial contraceptives). A bunch of overstuffed Male Chauvinist Pigs claiming that allowing religious hospitals, et al, not to cover contraceptives in their employees’ health care plans is “religious freedom”. Say what? Religious freedom for who? Huge organizations that employ large numbers of people? Some of whom belong to that religion and some of whom, well, don’t.
Give me a break already! I will just say that I have spent an inordinate amount of time haannngging around hospitals in the last year or so (albeit not religious ones) and I would say that, although there are some absolutely fabulous male nurses around, probably 98% of the nurses are female. Are we really saying that all of these wonderful, intelligent, educated, professional women will have to ante up for their own contraceptives? Why? Maybe these hospitals should just not hire women of child-bearing age? Maybe these nurses would be “better off” at home barefoot and pregnant with umpteen kids? Maybe the hospitals could retrain some of those crotchety old bishops and cardinals and things to be nurses. You know, to replace all of those nurses that are now at home taking care of all those unplanned-for kids. Yeah, I am over the top.
But… Why is paying for contraceptives such a bad thing? Isn’t it better to pay a small price up front rather than a lifetime of costs for an unwanted child whose parents don’t have the financial, emotional, or psychological wherewithal to take care of it?
Sorry to be such a downer but I did grow up in the coathanger days when The Pill was a new frontier. I do not want to go back to those days and, if I have granddaughters someday, I do NOT want them to have to fight the same damn fight.
A challenge to the Republicans out there. Find a candidate who appeals to ME! I am an intelligent (erp), educated, professional, fiscally conservative, socially progressive, pro-choice WOMAN! For now, Obama has got my vote. He may be an imperfect president but he represents more of my interests than anyone in the Clown Car. They talk smaller government (which I believe in) and then they turn around and [aggressively] attack women’s reproductive rights. Sorry but it does not compute.
P.S. I think there are a lot more like ME out there. Politicians? Don’t discount us. We vote!
February 18th, 2012 at 10:05 am
What does the Master of the Uterus have to say about this?
February 18th, 2012 at 10:07 am
Yes indeed! I completely agree with this rant! I feel like the world has gone crazy sometimes.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:05 am
@Marquis, I have no idea who the “Master of the Uterus” is.
February 18th, 2012 at 11:27 am
One of the things that I believe is wrong here is that the privileged folks who *run* religious hospitals can easily afford to purchase contraceptives for the women in their lives out of their own pockets. Does anyone really believe that *all* of these folks buy the religious prohibition against artificial contraceptives hook, line, and sinker? I don’t for one minute. I’m sure that plenty of these folks’ wives are using or have used contraceptives at some time of their lives.
But what about the workers on the front lines of these establishments? With their much smaller salaries, maybe they cannot.
To me this screams of hypocrisy.
February 18th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
it’s best I wasn’t with you last night or the rant would have gone on for a much longer time. 😉
February 18th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
We believe in open and thoughtful conversation–especially at a bar. We rant as well, and we go to bars too. Good conversation is good conversation, and we always have that with you both either at Open Talk tavern or . . . . Topical ideas, one’s own thoughts, a table of sharing opinions, ‘tinis and ‘hattans, all good combinations.
— the non-freaked out others at the table
February 18th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
It was no joke. It was exactly what he meant it to be, which speaks volumes of his disgusting character. I’ve been watching the DVDs of “Mad Men” that takes place in the early 1960s, and whenever these highly paid “professional” men would harass a female coworker in the most blatant manner, and that female would exhibit any sort of offense, the comeback was ALWAYS: “What, you can’t take a joke?” And this kind of behavior continued well into the 1970s and 1980s when I entered the work force and had to deal with the same kind of crap. I can’t for the life of me BELIEVE this is still happening in 2012!
February 19th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
My issue with this “refusal to fund contraceptives” by religious institutions is that there are MANY women who use the so-called contraceptives NOT for birth control but to control honest-to-gosh health issues, like dysmenorrhea, excessive bleeding, endometriosis, etc. For THESE women’s sake, I would LOVE to take all these anti-contraceptive males and put them through the agony of being flattened for a week (or more) every month with indescribable pain from endometriosis; dealing with monthly near-hemorrhages; severe migraines that last for days; heavy periods that last 2+ weeks; etc., then tell them that they will not be able to get the relief that exists, because their church leadership has said “it is forbidden”. Then see how long their stance lasts.
I have found too often that if a male doesn’t personally experience the problem/inconvenience/etc., he believes it is inconsequential.