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Jun. 14th, 2010 11:13 amQuoted for truth, from this article at feministing.com on feminism and conservative women. I edited in a few paragraph breaks to enhance readability.
"As a feminist, my litmus test is this: Do you think women should have the power of self-determination and the right to choose their own courses, whether to be a wife or not, a mother or not, a working woman or not, or to balance it all at the same time? If you think women should have that power, and her choices should be respected because every woman knows the best path for herself, then you're a feminist.
So when those in the media talk about a litmus test of abortion, the fact that their perspective lacks nuance is problematic. Here's the thing: I do think you can personally believe that abortion is wrong, that you might not be able to have one if you got pregnant, and the beliefs you hold personally within yourself shouldn't mean you're not allowed in the club. When you think abortion should be illegal, thereby restricting all women from making the choices right for themselves, then that is antifeminist - because then you don't really believe in a woman's self-determination.
Let's be clear: mama grizzly or not, Sarah Palin thinks all abortions should be illegal, even in the case of incest or rape. Which says to me that even after a woman's autonomy over her own body has been torn from her through the experience of rape, Sarah Palin thinks she should be denied an abortion if she becomes pregnant because a bunch of anti-feminist people in government feel they should be able to dictate what happens to a woman's uterus. If that sounds Orwellian, that's because it is. It's also insulting to treat adult women like children who need the real grown-ups to show them the way. I don't know how many times we need to say this to get the message across.
So, to sum up: I think you can be anti-abortion within your personal choices. But if you harshly judge a woman who made a different choice then you as being loose, slutty, morally depraved or a baby-killer, that's not feminist. If you support politicians, policies and laws banning abortions for other people that would restrict their own ability to decide, that's not feminist. If you stand outside abortion clinics with signs and slut-shame women that go in, if you support violence against abortion doctors, if you think a mother's free will and health should come second to the life of the fetus, that's not feminist. That's my abortion litmus test. (Which is not to say I don't have a whole range of qualifiers for feminist cred. I'm just aiming for the most obvious example, since so much of the focus on these conservative candidates is on their anti-abortion views.)"
This is why, contrary to my husband's occasional exhortations, I cannot and will not ever vote for Ms. Palin. Female does not equal feminist.
"As a feminist, my litmus test is this: Do you think women should have the power of self-determination and the right to choose their own courses, whether to be a wife or not, a mother or not, a working woman or not, or to balance it all at the same time? If you think women should have that power, and her choices should be respected because every woman knows the best path for herself, then you're a feminist.
So when those in the media talk about a litmus test of abortion, the fact that their perspective lacks nuance is problematic. Here's the thing: I do think you can personally believe that abortion is wrong, that you might not be able to have one if you got pregnant, and the beliefs you hold personally within yourself shouldn't mean you're not allowed in the club. When you think abortion should be illegal, thereby restricting all women from making the choices right for themselves, then that is antifeminist - because then you don't really believe in a woman's self-determination.
Let's be clear: mama grizzly or not, Sarah Palin thinks all abortions should be illegal, even in the case of incest or rape. Which says to me that even after a woman's autonomy over her own body has been torn from her through the experience of rape, Sarah Palin thinks she should be denied an abortion if she becomes pregnant because a bunch of anti-feminist people in government feel they should be able to dictate what happens to a woman's uterus. If that sounds Orwellian, that's because it is. It's also insulting to treat adult women like children who need the real grown-ups to show them the way. I don't know how many times we need to say this to get the message across.
So, to sum up: I think you can be anti-abortion within your personal choices. But if you harshly judge a woman who made a different choice then you as being loose, slutty, morally depraved or a baby-killer, that's not feminist. If you support politicians, policies and laws banning abortions for other people that would restrict their own ability to decide, that's not feminist. If you stand outside abortion clinics with signs and slut-shame women that go in, if you support violence against abortion doctors, if you think a mother's free will and health should come second to the life of the fetus, that's not feminist. That's my abortion litmus test. (Which is not to say I don't have a whole range of qualifiers for feminist cred. I'm just aiming for the most obvious example, since so much of the focus on these conservative candidates is on their anti-abortion views.)"
This is why, contrary to my husband's occasional exhortations, I cannot and will not ever vote for Ms. Palin. Female does not equal feminist.
