This is a guest post written by David Ellert. You see…..we have an anti-choice caravan in our city and while I have been boiling with so much rage that I can’t really comment, here’s a good summary of the feelings!
Hey kids! Just a warning, this lil’ piece is going to be sooooooooo inflammatory that no amount of ibuprofen could ever take away the glaring swelling of reality.
I am tired of hypocritical, obsolete reactionaries calling themselves “Pro Life” and concerning themselves with what choices women make with their bodies. It’s kinda like sticking your nose into somebody’s business. But it’s more like sticking your inconsistent moral code into somebody’s vagina.
I have noticed a few two tonne trucks roaming the city of Winnipeg lately, all decked out in bloody, graphic anti – abortion livery. Cruising down the street for anybody to see are huge full colour images of freshly aborted foetuses and the like.
Nobody wants to see this. Not people on either side of this ridiculous ‘debate.’ Anti – abortion people don’t want to see this because it’s preaching to the choir, and it’s graphic. Their eyes are too fragile. Sensible, democratic people don’t want to see scare tactics pandering to misguided emotion, because they can educate themselves and make their own informed decisions when they choose. Such images are available for those that seek them out. Talk to your doctor.
If you are at a stage in your life when you are considering your options and contemplating parenthood, adoption, or abortion, there are many resources available to you, and the health care community won’t lie to you. When you need them, there are options, and when you need it, there is a wealth of real information to be found. And it won’t be found plastered to the sides of fucking delivery trucks. [Delivery trucks. Ha.]
People don’t purposely conceive a child simply to ‘kill a baby.’ They choose to abort undeveloped organic matter before it becomes a child that may not get the care it deserves.
I’m not calling for an end of these abortion ‘still life’ images. Humans have the right to document most things they experience. But bloody pictures of lumps of dead flesh – enlarged to show texture, like Mini Wheats – should be an 18+ experience. I mean, if Robocop’s Rated R, then maybe uterus related jazz should be as well. In reality I’m always against censorship and age limits, but let’s at least have an even playing field here.
I am not suggesting these propaganda pictures are not accurate. They probably do depict an operating table scenario. A scenario an actual doctor or mother could explain. But maybe instead of blown up shots of bloody, undeveloped limbs of no educational value, accompanied by bait words like MURDER…. we could turn to…. I dunno…. EDUCATED PROFESSIONALS WHO DEAL WITH THE REALITY OF ABORTION EVERY DAY. (editor’s note: but we know from previous postings just how not accurate these pictures end up being!)
And so it comes to pass that I urge these so called ‘pro lifers’ to curb their hypocrisy. These same people who jack off to censorship at every opportunity and call for strict artistic guidelines, ambiguous rating codes for films, and ‘parental advisory’ labels for music are advocating taking bloody X – Rated foetus photo ops on a public cross country tour?
Really?
Art should be censored, but any innocent child on a sidewalk, regardless of their ability to read, should be subject to images such as these? If these scenes were included in a film or art display these same alleged ‘pro lifers’ would protest the art and call for censorship. They would demonize the artists and lobby for content removal. Because when you’re a religious zealot, you can get away with anything, simply by whining like a feeble bitch and crying that you’re ‘offended.’ If you’re democratic, progressive, rational, accept science, and live in the year 2012, it’s an uphill battle. Reason, liberty, and choice become threatened rights in the face of a violent, entrenched enemy of irrational bigotry.
We could debate ‘when life begins’ forever. Damn, we could go Ultra Crazy Fundamentalist and say that life begins with a sperm or an egg. In which case, with every ejaculation, every coupling, every menstruation and every wet dream we all become mass murderers. Hell, last week at your sister’s I must have committed genocide, what with all the protection and messiness and all.
But when the sun sets none of this really matters. What does matter is that there is a discourse going on in the public sphere, and this discourse may influence the way some people see abortion. This is a conversation for those interested in the subject and willing to learn. It is a conversation for the homes, and, perhaps, the schools. But this conversation should always employ facts and reason. It should cite sources and engage professionals and ask hard ethical questions.
What it should not do is reduce itself to tasteless, pandering, bloody distraction on the side of a truck.
So to all you anti abortion fanatics out there: I disagree with your cause and your supposed case. But even if I was on board I would want to engage in a real dialogue, and not wrap trucks in Graphic Horror Quasi – Snuff Pics. That would seem pretty damn hypocritical for somebody who values censorship.
My advice to y’all dinosaur pro lifers is simply this: You have the right to fight for your cause, however obsolete and ridiculous it may be. This is because the progressive values of liberalism have granted you these rights. I understand your rights, and I understand that’s you are legally entitled to advertise and promote your views to the public. I support this.
I also think that slimy red foetus campaigns are tasteless, desperate, and contribute nothing to the discourse that actual thinking people are engaged in.
If my kid is forced to see bloody images on the sides of trucks then your sad shell of a sheltered sperm should be forced to watch Robocop.
Let’s have an honest debate with words, because if you opt instead to drive around in a large fucking truck with tiny bloody limbs plastered to the side, I’m going to cut you down and apply the C word.
And nobody wants to be called cantankerous.
Those trucks should be driving around offering free help to women who didn’t abort and now need help. Anything else is just GROSS.
As I hope I’ve made certain elsewhere, I’m a fan of the blog. But it really bothers me that “cunt” is being used as a slur in the title, even if it’s mostly etched out with symbols (as though we wouldn’t notice or care?) The ending paragraphs sort of turn it around and try to make it a joke, but we’re still left thinking that the “C#$%S” in the title stands for “cunt” due to the number of letters/symbols used. It leaves me feeling doubtful that the author actually understands why that’s not okay.
And it’s not that the blog can’t have flaws, but part of having a feminist blog is about recognizing mistakes and correcting them. So I hope that guest poster David Ellert will understand what he did wrong there, apologize, and do better from here on.
First off, I have to agree with Bee. The title leaves a little to be desired, especially when you are calling for a rational debate on issues, and then using an offensive and pejorative term to refer to your opponents.
Second, I’ve heard this a thousand times, and while the idea is sound, the fact is: it isn’t going to work. Period. These people are irrational. The pro-/anti-choice “debate” simply can’t be a debate. For there to be debate, both sides have to agree to the terms. That will never happen with the anti-choice crowd. They operate by using irrational fear and obfuscation; any attempt to legislate away their advantage and they take their aborted fetus pictures and go home.
This is the same mentality that got Galileo locked up for revealing the facts about the universe, that caused Copernicus to publish his findings about a heliocentric solar system after he died. This is the same mentality that took Joan of Arc, after her stunning liberation of so much of France, and burned her at the stake. This is the mentality that told people in Salem, Massachusetts that there were witches in their town, possessing young girls. You can’t fight that mentality with rational debate.
We simply have to outlast them. We simply have to be more vocal than they are. We simply have to take our side of the argument to the undecided and wavering and show them how rational our side is compared to theirs. And we have to hope that eventually, their mentality will slowly die out. We have a long wait ahead of us.
Hey everyone,
I had thought long and hard about the title. I didn’t want to piss anyone off and tried to middle-ground it a bit. I knew that some people wouldn’t be offended and others would be, and I already hacked enough of the original piece because Mr. Ellert spent WAY too long defending his use of the word (going into ‘doth protest too much’ territory) so I decided to keep it in, albeit censored so I could try and have it all ways. This has obviously backfired in a way I should have expected and in a way that I didn’t and, quite frankly, pisses me off even though it’s still really my fault.
First, I am so sorry that I made people uncomfortable with the title and I should have trusted my better instincts and kept it out entirely. As the editor of the piece, this is my responsibility. I do strive to do better in these spaces and I do depend on your feedback for ways that I can improve. When in doubt, just don’t.
Second, judging by the absolutely rude and condescending comment left by Mr. Ellert still awaiting moderation (mostly because I haven’t decided whether or not I want to just throw him to the wolves), it didn’t please him either. Not enough ‘cunt’ for his taste. See, that was the most important piece to him so not having enough of it apparently gives him license to basically mock the readership with the same basic “you’re too sensitive/lemme teach you how writing works” crap we could get on an MRA website. It also apparently chaps his ass that he doesn’t know how moderation works since he, someone who never posted here before has to OMG WAIT HIS TURN TO BE APPROVED over Nefarious Newt who was approved to post a LONG LONG time ago. So, obviously, we’re awful people taking his cunt away and having to make him wait like every other first time commenter. I fucking LOVE allies like this, hard.
Needless to say, I should have vetted Mr. Ellert way more than I did before even before deciding to post his work. It was absolutely sloppy of me not to check him out and see how he would interact with others and how he would take criticism in a feminist space. Being rude to our readership and trying to disguise it as ‘dialogue’ is a huge no go from me, so I can’t imagine why someone would actively trash you guys and then have the audacity to wonder why their shit isn’t posted STAT. I will leave it up to you guys if you want me to post his comment so you can appropriately have a ‘dialogue’ with him.
In the end, the blame should fall on me and me alone. I accept all responsibility for this debacle and I do sincerely apologize for all of this. It’s under my name and I said yes to it.
As for Mr. Ellert? Don’t hold your breath.
David Ellert here again. I apologize for my rude comments. Feel free not to print them. I sincerely do feel stupid, and was writing irrationally over misguided anger. Again, if you do feel that you wish to simply remove my article I do understand. Also, I don’t expect anybody other than myself to take the heat over my own writing. This experience has taught me a lesson in tact and editing and self control. I feel bad that I have sparked such anger and hurt people when it was not my set goal to do so. I thought that I was a friend but I apparently came off as an enemyy. So once again, I would like to apologize for my foolish comments and for the problems my writing has cause. My intent is not to wound. Please feel free to remove my article if you wish. This experience has taught me to employ reason and maturity in the future. Thank you.
The word in question isn’t one I use myself, and it was probably ill-advised here. But I’m always thrilled to see a man as riled up about this issue as I am. David, I’ve seen antis push their way in front of families lining sidewalks to watch a parade so they could display their disgusting photoshopped garbage. The more parents complained, the happier the antis were, which is yet more proof of just how much they love kids.
NN is right. We cannot engage these people in any productive way. We can talk publicly about our abortions or publicly support those who do. We can pressure our politicians as relentlessly as the antis do, and more. We can support our clinics and, if we’re so minded, volunteer as clinic escorts. All of those will get us a lot farther than arguing with fanatics who aren’t even listening to what we say.