I got a comment from a reader on my last blog who was basically annoyed with me because she felt I voted with my vagina. Which is strange because I didn’t even know my vagina had fingers (although my husband does claim it has magical properties). Anyway, she was generally ticked that I vote for President Obama (or any other candidate who supports a woman’s right to choose, thinks birth control should be included in health care, and believes all rape is “legitimate”) because I’m a woman.
The thing is, I do feel very strongly about women’s issues. I’m a woman — these policies will directly affect me. If I were an African American living in 1960’s Alabama, clearly I wouldn’t be voting for George Wallace. And if I were a poor/elderly/disabled person and major cuts to social programs that were going to keep me alive were in play, clearly I’d be voting for the pro-social programs person.
So as the person who is directly affected, yes, I vote to make sure my freedoms remain intact. To prevent us from all slowly slipping into burkas (metaphorically or literally). To give all the girls in this world — not just the ones who can afford birth control or are well connected enough to have an abortion when they need one — a fair shot.
I also don’t want to deal with the fallout for my husband. He’s an emergency room doctor, and if abortion became illegal, his job would get much more complicated. Every time he sees a young women with abdominal pain, he’ll need to rule out the possibility of a botched abortion. Of course, the woman won’t admit to having had an abortion because that would be illegal. And if you think women will stop having or trying to have abortions just because they aren’t safe and legal, you haven’t read your history books (well, maybe you have, but they were the ones printed in Texas).
And I just need to say here that I’m not a fan of abortion. It’s not like I go around telling people it’s a swell idea. I mean, of course it awful. Of course it’ll mess with a person. Of course it has consequences. And logistically speaking, everyone knows it’s not going to be fun (I mean, it’s not like anyone even likes going in for a pap smear, so come on). But sometimes, the alternative just sucks worse.
And really, that’s what this comes down to — I’m not going to be the one to go around deciding which alternative is less sucky for someone else.
Not to mention, I think the idea of assigning “personhood” to something that’s nowhere near fully formed as a human being is, well, kind of freaky. Next thing you know we’ll be attending memorial ceremonies for miscarriages and seeing the refrigerator repair guy go to jail when a bunch of embryos accidentally thaw out.
But back to the voting. . . yes, I vote for myself. I vote for my daughter. I vote for other women. But you know what? So does my husband. And so do all my male friends (the good ones anyway). And I’m going to take a wild leap and say that when he hits 18, my son will too.
So it’s true that I have a vagina. And I vote for people and policies that’ll do it right (okay, bring on the jokes, get it out of your system). But I’d also vote against George Wallace. And I always vote to help the poor, the elderly, and the disabled.
Make no mistake — when I say I can’t believe any woman would vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan because of their records on women’s issues, it’s not because I think only women should have a stake in this. If you’re a man who cares about women — who cares about humans — I would hope you’re thinking the same thing.
Especially if y’all want to keep having sex with us. And I’m pretty sure you do.
So you see, this isn’t really a women’s issue. It’s a people issue.
It’s just that the people with the vaginas have a lot more to lose.
I really don’t understand why any woman would vote for them.
Kelly DeBie recently posted..Those who walk among us
You and me, sister.
Dead On.
I thought we were over persecuting women. Since when is Rape Legitimized? Some of this bogus crap coming out of the mouths of these (what can only be called) anti-women politicians sickens me. Do they not have mothers? Wives? Daughters? Women friends? Where are the champions of women. Or, right…it’s those “crazy liberals”. Thank God!
People forget that if it weren’t for crazy liberals, we still wouldn’t be able to vote. Or marry out of our own race. Or keep our kids from working in factories. Yeah. All real. All relatively recent.
OMG I love you! Please please please let me post this as a guest blog on How I Learned to Wear a Dress (partial post with full links to your blog page).
I vote with my brain which, as it happens, is attached to my vagina (among other body parts) and all of those body parts will vote for freedom, choice, health, and equality before anything else on the table.
Kelly O’Sullivan (HILWD) recently posted..You Have Been Warned–Bunions Are NOT Sexy
You were raised right…
Of course you can post it. It would be an honor!!
I love this…and wrote about it some time ago too…cause the last thing I thought I’d be doing in 2012 is having to fight the good women’s lib vote that my grandmother and mother already fought for…Votes for Vaginas all the way here…There are three in my house, hubby even registered to vote for the first time (he became a citizen 3 years ago!) so he could support the vaginas in our house…”Votes for Women” and now I am going to be singing the Mary poppins song all day..”Our daughter’s daughter’s will adore us.”
Ginger recently posted..Women’s Lib
Can you believe we’re having women’s suffrage conversations and references? Unbelievable despite the apparent necessity.
Why are men never accused of voting with their penises? Oh, wait, they’ve never had to fight. I have a house full of men (and boys) and they are all voting for and with women.
Kelly O’Sullivan (HILWD) recently posted..You Have Been Warned–Bunions Are NOT Sexy
I love that part in Mary Poppins! I think a lot of people gloss over it.
And I remember your post. It was good.
Great post! I agree with everything you’ve said. It actually surprised me when I was writing my own post on this topic how many people claim to be anti-choice when you consider 1 out of 3 women will at some point in their life need a therapeutic termination of pregnancy. Somebody is being a hypocrite.
Just from an anecdotal point of view, I’ve heard and read of many young and maybe not so young women who claim to be opposed, sometimes fanatically so, to abortion, yet when they find themselves with an unwanted, unplanned pregnancy they go ahead and have the procedure without much hesitation.
There is such a huge difference too with regards to how well a woman copes psychologically with a termination when the period from pregnancy test to referral to the actual procedure goes through quickly without moral judgement being passed by the health care providers who treat her.
In one situation I know of the whole thing happened so fast and non-traumatically that she didn’t even feel like she had a reason to be emotionally upset. By contrast, I know of another situation where a teen girl was so badly shamed by her family doctor that at the final hour she pulled out the Laminaria that had been inserted to dilate her cervix and cancelled the termination. She later miscarried and continues to be mentally disturbed by the whole ordeal.
Anyway, I am glad to have found a like-minded blogger!
Rachel 🙂
Rachel Howells recently posted..Hunted by a Bear
Okay, that is a totally disturbing story.
I hate hearing the statistics about what women do and then how they vote. It’s the same thing with birth control usage.
And I’m so glad to have found you, too!!
Right on Tammy!!!
Thanks Aunt Karen! I was raised by strong women.;)
Shared on the Crackbook, but where oh where are your share buttons woman????
By Word of Mouth Musings recently posted..Giving away cash, yes, real hard cold cash ….
Crap, I know. New site, need to get that done. Among 500 other things! Actually, I should email you about it.
awesome words- so funny yet so important- thanks for being so articulate and so dang funny at the same time 🙂
Thank you! That makes me feel so good. You have no idea.
I’m definitely not voting for Romney and Ryan. It confuses me how any self-respecting woman could. Having said that, I’m pretty sure Obama is off the list, too. Don’t care for his ability to bail out bankers and the health care bill needed a lot more work. So, as I’ve been doing for the last two elections, I’ll be voting third party once again.
VM Sehy Photography recently posted..The Beauty of Ice
I totally understand being disappointed. I was looking for a lot more regulation of Wall Street and single payor (my husband will talk for days on this). But I also try to look at what he’s been up against — essentially a majority in congress whose singular goal has been to make him a one term president. And I’m frankly astonished that he’s done as much as he has.
And then I remember this — there will most likely be two Supreme Court Justice appointments in the next term. So there’s just no way I could throw my vote to a third party, no matter how strongly I felt about the need for changing the system.
Great to see you VM.:)
Very well said. Back in my college days I’d run around with my liberal/pro choice t-shirts and buttons — but I thought it was just a stage in life. I never imagined those rights would be threatened yet again, that we would still be fighting this fight. Now I know so many women who are completely apathetic, who just don’t understand how this affects them, their daughters. . .
Kerry Ann recently posted..My Berlin Kitchen: Review and Recipe
I think we’ve been spoiled. Unless you know how awful it was before legalized birth control and abortion (and I only know from studying the subject), you don’t even think about it. And as you know, it is U.G.L.Y.
Thanks for stopping by Kerry Ann!
Of course!
It bothers me that many think that being Pro-Choice means being Pro-Abortion. That’s not what it means at all.
I’m glad I’ve never had to make that choice, but it’s good to know that we live in a place where that option is available to me. We all have circumstances that we need to consider and sometimes, it’s the best choice – which doesn’t make it an easy one, but still a choice nevertheless.
This whole thing makes me quite crazy, to be honest.
Lady Estrogen recently posted..Hard Lessons & Broken Records
Exactly. It’s amazing how people feel so strongly about restricting people’s access until it affects them or someone close to them. Then it’s a whole new ballgame. I just can’t imagine not letting people have a choice.
roar! I happened on your blog from MFP and I salute you with a roar!
@MryJhnsn from iNeedaPlaydate recently posted..Word(less) Wednesday – Day 8 of #30DaysNet10 from @Giant_Eagle
Thanks! That makes my Wednesday.
“A woman’s right to chose [sic]”
Question: Why don’t pro-abortion people ever actually say the name of what they’re arguing for in their summaries?
I’m guessing it’s for the same reason Republicans do it about… well, everything.
And seriously, it must be legal because people will do it anyway? THAT is an argument?
Try applying that to anything else, and then see if the logic makes any sense:
“We have to legalize stabbing people because what if I cut my hand on the knife?”
Ultimately, of course, your point is right. There are no reasons to vote for Romney, and many many reasons not to. Being quite open about hating some Americans, and that being the only thing he’s consistent about, are two of them, an either one should be sufficient to say “absolutely not” all by itself.
I’ve gotta say, you just confused the hell out of me. I’ve fixed my spelling error. Thanks for pointing it out.