Rape Culture and the Religious Right

I'm so tired of people, mostly right wing middle aged men, trying to find the "positive" side of rape so they can advance their anti-abortion laws. Rape is a brutal, violent, traumatic crime that can leave victims with lifelong problems. There is no "positive" side.

In 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock of Indiana thought that “...even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

I'm pretty sure no one's God would wish that on someone.

Or how about the Former Representative  Todd Akin stating that  "...if a woman experienced a “legitimate rape” she wouldn’t get pregnant because “the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

Hmmmm, what exactly is a legitimate rape? Are there different levels? This one is implausible, this one absolutely fake, this one is invalid...Really? 

Washington Congressional candidate John Koster noted on what he called the "rape thing," "...how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime, how does it make it better?"

First, "rape thing" sounds like he doesn't even believe the crime exists. Secondly...how does it make it better? I don't know, how about ridding yourself of the reminder of being brutally violated instead of carrying it around every day for the next nine months? I think that makes it better.

Photo by Gage Skidmore

And we all know good old Mike Huckabee, right? Well, "Ethel Waters (who is a singer by the way), for example, is the result of forcible rape."

Wow. Okay, firsts off, like "legitimate rape" is there any other kind of rape than "forcible?"  Of course, that doesn't matter because you've sold me. I won't abort my rape baby because it could become famous! (I have no idea who Ethel Waters is).

Representative hopeful Tom Smith compared having a rape baby to having a baby out of wedlock because, "Yes, it is similar."

O.o

And oh, good lord, is this a good one. "The facts show that people who are raped - who are truly raped (againt, "truly" raped. WTF?) - the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant." - former Representative Henry Aldridge.

I would like to see these "facts." Were they published in a medical journal? Complete bullshit.

"As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lay back and enjoy it." Another former Representative contender, Clayton Williams, comparing rape to the weather.

Let's see if you would be able to "lay back" or in your case "bend over" and enjoy it if it were you.

And just recently, "Obviously rape is awful. What is beautiful is the child is that could come from this." Delegate Brian Kurcaba.

There are SO MANY MORE! Some from women. This disgusts me. The ignorance these politicians display is truly sickening. Here is a site that has some posted.

I'm so happy that many of these people are no longer in Congress or lost their bids. These are not the people that should represent us, especially women.

There is nothing "beautiful" about rape. Not even a baby conceived as the result. It's violent. It's traumatic. It's an invasion, an assault, a desecration of the female body.  Forcing a woman to carry the reminder around for nine months would be agonizing, tortuous, and morbid.  There would be mental and emotional consequences for the rape victim, again, probably life long.

What if the victim is a child herself? 17, 15, 13? You want a child having to bear that responsibility? What if it were your daughter? Or, what about a baby conceived as a result of incest? What then? Should we just expand the family tree?

These politicians have no way of stepping into the victims shoes to see the damage a forcible pregnancy would cause. So why should they have the right to determine what choices we make with regard to the fetus? 

I'm not for or against abortion, I'm pro-choice. I think abortion should be available for those who choose that option.  You could be a child, impoverished, too old, your health is at risk, a victim of rape or incest - the reason shouldn't matter. I will say that I do not think it's a good alternate to birth control. If you're having sex, you should be protecting yourself. But the fact is that people don't, and who am I to tell them what they can and cannot do with their bodies. 

If I was a rape victim, I would more than likely choose abortion. I have enough problems, mentally, financially, physically...I don't need to add another to my plate. You may not agree with my opinion, but I expect you to recognize that it is mine. I own it.

My life. My body. My choice.

4 ways, as a woman, you are destroying women's rights.

This is my response to the article 5 ways you are unknowingly destroying your husband and killing your marriage. I blogged about it yesterday too because I think it is such utter bullshit I can't help but blog about it again. While this blog is about that, it also transcends that though. It's about women who fight against women's rights, sometimes unknowingly, sometimes with purpose. Let's know turn the clock back, let's move forward and become the women we were meant to be, strong, powerful and equal to men.

So here are

1. You write articles that set us back 50 years. Whether we are working mothers or stay at home mothers what we do is important and difficult. I know as I've done them both. So, tell me, why is it automatically the wife's job to cook dinner when she's worked all day too? And tell me, is cooking, cleaning, doing all the grocery shopping, running errands and tending to all the children's needs not as important as the work our spouses do?

No matter if you are a single mom or married, it is hard to raise a family. I know, because I've also done both. Also, we should be in relationships in which we are equal partners. We should not need to coddle, pander to or be submissive to our husbands, boyfriends or significant others. I am not June Cleaver, Donna Reed or  Harriet Nelson. I am SuperMom, BadAss Mom, who does it all and will second to no one in my household. If I'm not an equal, I am gone.

2. You equate feminism to misandry. Specifically I am talking about the group Women Against Feminism (WAF). They post pictures of themselves with posterboard signs stating things like, I don't need feminism because...:

"Because I enjoy being feminine" "If every man is a potential rapist, so is every woman"  "My husband loves and respects me" "I always enjoy making sandwiches"

There are so many more. Let me see here. Not all feminists are butchy. Yes, women can be rapists, but the majority are men. I'm sure many feminists have husbands that love and respect them. And wow, go make a fucking sandwich then. And come one, the whole sandwich thing has gone too far and there are groups of men out there that are sick and post disgusting "humor" out there such as the meme below.

This is what feminists are against. Not making a damn sandwich.

But if you are for...

• Women earning equal pay for equal work.
• Being able to decide what you do with your own body.
• Being able to pursue any kind of career you like, even if it's physically demanding.
• Wearing whatever you like without it being seen as an invitation to be raped.
• Not being fired for being pregnant.
• Not being passed over for promotions because there is the possibility that you may become pregnant.
• Your little girl being able to play any sport she wants, be it football, wrestling, or whatever. 
• Not being sexually harassed at the workplace.

...then you already are a feminist because this is what true feminists are working towards. Yes, there are some bad apples in the bunch, and some of them are vocal, but you find that everywhere in every social and political group. 

But WAF believes we don't get equal pay because of the jobs we take (what about the ones that are the same?) and that alcohol fueled sexual mistakes are mistakenly equated to assault (which may be true in some cases, but not all, probably not many and it actually disgusts me that a woman would think that about another woman).

I consider myself a feminist and I enjoy being feminine and I LOVE men, and sure, I even like catering to a significant other sometimes, but not all the time. Again, I want to be treated with respect and equality and frankly, there are still a lot of misogynists in the world. Maybe the man haters are sometimes more vocal than true feminist and it's time to take back the name, but the cause of WAF is not the way to go. 

3. You pretend your politics protect my rights.

• Concerned Women for America, for example, contends that abortions lead to depression, anxiety, and breast cancer. The American Psychological Association reported in 2008 that "the relative risks of mental health problems are no greater than the risks among women who deliver an unplanned pregnancy." And according to the American Cancer Society "Scientific research studies have not found a cause-and-effect relationship between abortion and breast cancer."
• In opposition to gun control, Gayle Trotter of the Independent Women’s Forum testified that guns reverse the gender “balance of power in a violent confrontation. Armed with a gun, a woman can even have the advantage over a violent attacker. "An armed woman does not need superior strength or the proximity of a hand -to-hand struggle.” How about taking self defense classes to learn how to disarm someone instead? I would rather do that than carry a gun. What if the violent attacker disarms you? Then what?
• The Independent Women’s Forum challenges the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. It opposes the law, because they think funding isn't used to address “proven causes of violence" such as substance abuse, psychological disorders, and marital instability." They don't believe that sexism could be a possible root cause of domestic violence. 

4. You are a woman who has joined The Red Pill. If you don't know what The Red Pill is, this is a tiny summary according to the site on Reddit: Discussion of sexual strategy in a culture increasingly lacking a positive identity for men.

I tend to disagree with this summary. I think The Daily Dot got it right. "The forum is a trove of horror stories disguised as men trying to “better” themselves. While there are plenty of posts about becoming the sort of guy women want to be around,” most members of the subreddit must have a delusional image of what that means"..."this section of Reddit (or subreddit) is one of its darkest corners, populated by rape apologists, revenge-porn enthusiasts, and those who would justify domestic abuse." I have read some of the stuff on there, and that's exactly what much of it is.

Feminism is not a bad word. If you think it is, you have no idea what it truly means. We do not seek special rights or superiority. Yes, as I said there are those who spoil the bunch. If you're working for women's rights and equality though, you are a feminist. If you're doing any of the things above? Not so much. Rethink what you're doing in the name of women and in the name of your rights as a woman. Don't set us back, move us forward. There are men who support the cause of equal rights and women's issues as well. Do your homework, do your research and make informed decisions.