So says our old pal Jesurgislac on this thread at Pandagon.
The Pandagonistas are up to their old tricks, mainly stating that anyone who doesn't think sticking a fork in a baby's head on his/her way to birth is a good idea can't be a feminist.
I always enjoy the comments on a Pandagon thread, especially when someone has the audacity to disagree with the regulars. Usually, it only takes two comments before they want the interloper to leave, given that the Pandagonistas use circular logic and strawmen arguments in support of most of their points. Anyone who questions this "logic" is liable to be ridiculed in the most scathing way they know how: to be labelled as favoring the patriarchy! (big gasp)
I had to laugh at the exchange Jes had with commenter Robert. Robert gave up in disgust after Jes repeatedly refused to actually read and comprehend his points before commenting on them. Of course, I've had lots of experience with that, as well.
But the most intriguing part of the exchange was the quote I used as a headline for this post:
There are no feminists who think it’s wrong and immoral for a womam [sic] to make her own decisions about her own body and to have control over her own fertility. That’s bedrock feminism, and anyone who claims that they’re a feminist but women mustn’t be allowed to make decisions is, as Amanda has been carefully explaining, lying through their rotten teeth.
The link she uses takes you back to Amanda's various disengenuous posts about Feminists for Life and what their "real" agenda is. I have no problem with Amanda arguing for abortion or why it is part of the feminist agenda. But most of the posts Jes linked to are chock-full of hyperbole and extremely low on logic or real points.
What was truly bizarre in this statement is the idea that abortion is THE defining issue of feminism. That would come as a big surprise to a lot of pro-life feminists, not just Feminists for Life, but this site, or this site, or this one.
It comes as quite a surprise to me, as well. I consider myself a feminist. I'm all for equal wages, opportunities, education, and protection under the law. I don't think women who get raped are asking for it or that women are the property of their husbands or fathers. I'm all for women having the same rights and responsibilities under the law that men do.
It sounds silly to have to articulate those things as feminist positions, but, according to the Pandagonistas, those things don't matter. Abortion is the only issue that defines feminism. If you think motherhood is good and children are a blessing, that raising one's children is the most important task you'll be given in life, then you must want a return to 1950's patriarchy. Only if you agree that a woman's "right to choose" to kill her fetus is the most fundamental right there is can one be a feminist.
Of course, this extreme position doesn't take into account the pro-life feminists who favor contraception but don't think a 12-year-old should get an abortion without either parental notification or consent. Or the pro-lifers who think adoption is good, but don't want abortion illegal just so there will be more white babies for adoption (I can't make this stuff up).
It's sad, really that so many so-called feminists are so obsessed with keeping abortion legal for any and every reason that they can't find issues with which they can agree with pro-life feminists. It isn't that both sides don't deserve to be called feminists. It's that there seems to be only one issue that can define feminism for some people.
UPDATE: I just discovered that Jes has a blog! And for someone who spends a great deal of time in her comments talking about me (see here, here, and here), her site is just more of the same creepy stuff only worse. What's most interesting is the amount of time she spent (say, here, here, and even here) replaying arguments from my blog, not unlike a teenager thinking up zingers long after her boyfriend broke up with her. I really do feel sorry for Jes. If she'd only stop lying about what other people post and stop repeating herself, she just might write something interesting some day. But I really doubt it.
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