Interesting Read

This article was passed along to me today. I am sharing it with you and will try to write a post tomorrow on some of my thoughts around women bloggers and the challenges we face. more...

Another for the Bin

Good.

Not good:

AG was shown this t-shirt over the weekend.

Maybe I am a humorless Feminist, but it pissed me off.

I asked the owner whether he preferred it for the sexism or the misogyny.

Silence.

We did not make-out. more...

Sitting on a perch

Now that we have some background on politics in the US, abortion procedures, female genitalia, and pregnancy, it’s time to get down to the business of discussing Jill Stanek. This is the first of four planned posts:

On June 3, Stanek wrote something on her eponymous titled blog that would appear to leave her liable to claims of medical malpractice. She does this through her wonkery of claims that third trimester abortions are never medically necessary. Perhaps she was not taught in nursing school about placental abruption, ante partum hemorrhage, or death of a fetus with unknown etiology, to name but a few. I, on the other hand spent my day discussing these sorts of medical issues with a certain team of licensed medical physicians.

Fact #1: Third trimester abortions are medically necessary from time to time. See sampling of medical events above that pose a threat to the woman and may require an abortion.

Stanek goes on to claim that 90% of healthy babies are able to survive labor and beyond, post 28 weeks. Sure, healthy babies generally survive because um, well, they are healthy. Not a novel concept here. She also boasts to claim that it is ‘just as easy, if not easier and safe to deliver a late-term’ fetus. You’ll note she refers to them as “babies”, a derisive vehicle in the vilification of women who have abortions and abortions themselves. And yet, they are fetuses until they are out of the womb. While she can refer to them however she so desires, for the purposes of our intellectual and medically correct debate, they are fetuses.

Fact #2: The March of Dimes reports that approximately 96% of babies born post 28 weeks survive. If propaganda is going to be peddled here, I will correctly exert the effort to persecute others.

Fact #3: AGI reports that less than1% of women report complications from a medically safe abortion. The US average for complications from labor and delivery births is approximately 20%. Through said evidence, abortion is most certainly safer than childbirth.

Stanek goes on to show pictures of a clinic where former George Tiller’s medical colleague, LeRoy Carhart, practices. Apparently showing photos of someone’s workplace presents some sort of fun for her. Especially since she cares so deeply about woman and preserving our health, right?

Fact # 4: There is as much about Stanek on the internet like her home address, complete with a Google map to show her McMansion, her nursing license number, and her daughter's postings on YouTube. The difference is that I am not hostile or angry enough to post pictures of someone's workplace or intimate details in a vain attempt to feel good about myself. I get that at Ikea. I have to put it together myself, but it's less expensive.

Fact #5: Direct from the Stanek writings: “...the third trimester of pregnancy begins at 28 weeks.” Yet, at this point in her writing, she starts talking about abortions post 21 weeks as though they meet the criteria for third trimester. I am left wondering if we are talking about second trimester or third trimester abortions because week 21 is in the middle of the second.

Now that she has changed the rules of game, she claims it is unknown how many abortions are performed in the third trimester. She quotes Carhart, without any background or cited reference, as claiming to personally conduct 75-100 late-term abortions a year. Again, we need to define exactly how many weeks post last menstrual period that he is supposedly claiming to have conducted them. Since I have not personally spoken with Carhart or have reference to this quote, I am not going to spend time on it. Hearsay is neither academic or merit worthy in this argument.

Fact #6: AGI estimates that approximately 21,000 abortions in the US are performed during the third trimester. 1% of the total number of abortions performed annually. Given that the majority of third trimester abortions are medically necessary to the life of the pregnant woman, they are mainly performed in hospitals. As such, are there 100 women every year that travel to Kansas just to have an abortion that could be conducted closer to home in a hospital? It is possible that many women are unable to gain access to abortion services for reasons on their saving their own lives, but to surmise about this without speaking to Carhart is futile.

Stanek cites that while the number of physicians who are willing to perform an abortion post 28 weeks is dwindling, by stating that “no self respecting” physician would do so, she makes no reference to whose these individuals are. Another unfounded claim that suggests Tiller, Carhart, and others do not respect themselves. Without personal statements from every physician who performs abortion, she’s got little to hang her hat on.

She bleats about Carnhart in an LA Times article. Given that the LA Times is not Carhart's personal blog where I am assured what he did or did not say, we are not going to take this to SCOTUS or hold him on the hook for the Times. She doesn't miss a beat by then knocking him down over an arson fire at his home and takes offense that he claims it was apparently set to blaze by anti-abortion individuals.

Fact #7: A letter was received at the Omaha clinic where he practiced suggesting that there was a link between his medical activities and the deeds of arsons at his home in 1992. Thus, apparent seems apropos given the letter. (From my understanding, Carhart was made aware that this book would be published and has been given ample time to reply to any fallacies contained within. This is rarely how popular press operates or books published by Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Beck.)

Stanek ends her poorly constructed series of paragraphs with an incredible display of insensitivity to the Tiller family and friends by asking her readers to get out their violins. She tops it off with a quote by Amie Newman of Reality Check on the loss of Tiller and precedes to makes accusations that pro-lifers love children and women. But pro-aborts can’t.

Fact #8: My mother taught me two things in life: if I have nothing nice to say that I should learn to say it out of her earshot and no matter how much I dislike someone, taking shots at the deceased is heinous and an indication of your lack of self worth.

Fact #9: There is no such thing as a pro-lifer and pro-abort. Either you are pro-abortion or anti-abortion. Life has nothing to do with the issue. It has to do with a woman’s right to control her own fertility and a physician’s right to practice medicine in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath and his or her training.

Fact #10: If the anti-abortion crowd cared about women AND fetuses, it would not have Stanek front lining for them. I make this claim because from where I sit, she speaks out of incorrect or lack of education, self-hate of her own genitals, and a mouth piece for the religious right, wherein the patriarchy reigns unfettered. more...

Someone Gets It with Updates

It's so rare that I find someone who writes what I think and says it nearly as closely as I would say it.

While I can respect that others are different than me and that includes their sense of humor, I am still unclear on the true definition of humor. I find so little funny about female sexuality because for as far as we have come, we've only scratched the surface. I do respect that others will disagree and I appreciate that. I struggle with it, but I know that opposing points, angles and approaches of views are so relevant and I can benefit from taking two giant steps back more often than I do before I fire up my angry AG mobile. (I am sorry, Billy. I totally attacked you in the last thread because I was pissed about the events that surrounded this post. It was unfair to you and our readers. I am a work in progress. I will try harder in the future.) Nevertheless, I still have to wonder why some go for low hanging fruits. I mean, didn't Natalie Wood death jokes and Michael Jackson pedophile go out a long time ago? Two giant steps back. Hmmm. Still very little humor in it for me.

h/t to my Facebook Buddy.


Update: ALBT sent me this. I am in meetings and have the firing squad of the Dissertation Cmtee later today. I will respond later, but go ahead and get started on this. more...

H9!

AG H8s the misogynistic bastard who created oral birth control. I am firing up the ovens as we speak exclusively for him.

That's all. As you were. I am buried too deep right now to talk about anything. Such is the life of a Prom Queen and Movie Star...

*That photo may be AG. It's amazing what getting your mouth wired shut and cutting pork out of your life will do! more...

Another for the Patriarchy Bin

DNA studies are proving to be more effective than pap smears at preventing cervical cancer in women. Nothing novel to those in the medical and science field. Nope. And yet, putting women in stirrups vis-a-vis a means by which we are humiliated and ostracized shall continue.

You don't believe me? Take a little peek at these results that would save millions in insurance and public health resources. Published more than four years ago. How many of you knew about this research before today?

That my friends is the patriarchy. Nobody truly cares about women's risk for cancer. They care about dollars and humiliation. In the former days, it was about looking at women's private parts and humilitation. That is a story in and of itself that I can post about some other time. We've graduated up and put a dollar amount on the cost of women's dignity.

Fuck the patriarchy and anything that looks like it. I got matzoh to eat! more...

Sketch-Up = Throw Up

I'd like to think I've seen it all. I really really would. Afterall, I read Ms Magazine for the ads. Sadly, I live in a state of constant delusion. The trees are nice there though, unlike spikey Billy trees. I was stunned today when I sat down with Metropolitan Home and found an ad for Artistic Tile. It is a woman in a clad bikini with tile polka dots. So, now architects can get in on the fun of objectifying women thru advertising. Oy, we are just so lucky in 2009!

This was last month's ad. (I cannot find the ad I am looking for on the Internets.) Pay special attention to the caption next to the model:




What gets me about all of this is that women are now part of this pervasive sexist skank culture. In her book entitled Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Ariel Levy makes the argument that women are actually furthering the patriarchy for men today much more than in previous generations of women. That is to say that they now define sexy in terms that are pleasing to menm but under the guise of choice. In doing so, they give men what they want more easily and freely. Proof in the pudding? Take a look at the CEO of the organization of Artistic Tile: Jewish in last name and female. Wow. I weep for Sarah, Leah, and Rebekkah. Objectifying herself and me, in addition to all other women is how she plays it for pay? Wow. Just wow.

I encourage you in writing both Artistic Tile and Met Home with threats of taking your business elsewhere and exposing their actions. We, as feminists, no longer have to stomach this kind of sexism. more...

Bristol Palin Lives On...

Read this here, first.

_____________________________________________

The first point I wish to make is that she is not pro-choice. She is anti-abortion. Anti-abortion means that you do not believe in abortion. If you think every child is a wanted child without regard to a woman's right and her simply being a means to an end for life; a mere vessel or something, even though a fetus is not a child by the way, then you are anti-abortion based upon your belief that abortion takes wanted and unwanted fetuses. Abortion is a means of birth control. Women are not cargo space for babies. The tone of such is repugnant and all that is wrong with the anti-abortion crowd. Conversely, I am pro-abortion meaning that I believe in the procedure for anyone and everyone who wants it available to them, even if they chose not to obtain the procedure. I am also pro-life because WE ARE ALL for life. It's not about life and it's not about a choice. It's about either saying I believe in abortion or not. Plain and simple. Preaching to the choir, again, I know...

Moving on. I think it is imperative to first begin this discussion over what abortion is and what it is not. Abortion is a medical procedure and it needs to be treated like such. If you disagree than vasectomies, tubal ligations, and everything in between should be offensive too if we go on the terms that it's more than a medical procedure and its the stop of life. The personal is not political and whatever you decide to do is your business. It's your medical decision that occurs between you and your physician. The author would like it to be something more, something moral, something offensive. It is not. It is a medical procedure that some couples and women elect to undergo and some do not.

This kind of journalism is often judgemental without facts. It seeks to pit women against women so as to subvert the patriarchial underpinnings of the issue. For example, the Bristol Palin and Jessica Simpsons of the world who decide to elect to have their children are touted as role models and heroes in the public arena. Heroes for being mothers. Yet there is little discussion that in doing so they are not living up to their potential, become a government statistic, are more likely to live in poverty for their remaining days, etc., etc. There is a general disconnect between facts and reality and the notion that motherhood is far more superior to the social ills that teenage pregnancy carries with it. As such there is no mention of teen mommies being whores and there is infrequently a discussion of the method of contraception that was used, if any at all. Discussions on sexuality before marriage or being too young also do not seem to apply. However, this lot of judgment on women who elect to abort their pregnancies usually applies. You know because only the poor and whores abort fetuses. Thus, motherhood subverts the Mary Magdalene connotations because afterall, a baby Jesus saves!

There is also the notion of being less responsible if you terminate a pregnancy. As Merrill notes above, she already loves her unborn fetus more than anything else. As though those who decide to terminate unwanted pregnancies are incapable of love or that they didn’t love their fetuses enough to keep them because abortion does not equal love. Love has little do with a decision to have an abortion or not. People love their children and have vasectomies. Love is usually not something I discuss with patients when discussing oral surgery. Therefore, where does love fit into the equation of whether you terminate or continue and unwanted pregnancy.

Merrill further claims that she does not lead a dangerous lifestyle and is more than capable of taking care of herself. This would be news to a public health professional like AG, who not only can regale the dangers of unprotected sex, but the risks of teenage pregnancy and birthing both on the mother and unborn fetus. Sociologically, it is much more likely that society will financially care for this baby than she will. Especially since she is now no longer eligible for health insurance coverage via her parents policy and I doubt a part-time job at Barnes and Nobles funds Blue Cross and Blue Shield of PA. So, AG as a tax payer of the state will foot the $20,000 hospital bill.

Furthermore, being able to take care of yourself is having enough education, self esteem, and respect for yourself to require condom use each and every time you have sexual relations. (Now that, is a better definition of love!) It also means you understand that today you need to earn a real living beyond Barnes and Nobles Café at minimum wage. For goodness sake, she left Temple and returned to farm country so she wouldn’t be alone when the child is born. How noble of her to run back to Mommy and Daddy for comfort. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but don't act pious when you are crying it out under their free roof. That is maturity, not living with Mommy and Daddy because you couldn't tell some guy who you thought loved you to go fuck himself if he wasn't wrapping it up before moving in the troops.

The world has had enough of the Bristol Palin media queens who know very little about anything, let alone the women's movement and the work that women like our mothers and grandmothers did so these little Dixie Cups can even have a spot in a newspaper, let alone a fucking voice to undo everything that we've achieved thus far. How about we hear from women who made it out of a rough childhood, went on to graduate the Ivy Leagues, graduated Summa Cum Laude, makes more than all of her former boyfriends, owned a home before turning 30, and never has needed a man or seed to feel good about herself? Why not celebrate the women who had abortions (or did not need them) and how they succeeded because they did not take the more rocky path.

Don't get me wrong, being a mother is an honorable and very respectable job and one that I value deeply, but not all of us put fetuses before freedom and success. And you know what, we love ourselves and our putative children to wait and stand tall on abortion as a viable birth control option. If that makes us hate mongers and whores or whatever this little 18-year-old has painted out other women to be, well fuck her and the row boat she tided in on because at least we know how to get on oral birth control and demand a condom before coitus. more...

Cat Fight

Sarah Palin proves again why she is bad for America and bad for feminism. She wants to pay it forward to Caroline Kennedy? Really?

I have said it before, does Ms. Palin not get that she was not the first female Vice President candidate in the US? I am thinking she doesn't because AG seems to remember the Fritz and Tits pins that were available outside of the DNC the night that Ms. Ferraro was announced. Yes, the night that the announcement came in. While women have a long way to go before we actually break the glass ceiling, the fact that tits were not mentioned was a step-up in 2008. Then again, Ms. Palin and the Republicans would have you think otherwise being a former beauty queen, her lipstick, comparing me to a pit bull, and wearing Saks clothing.

And media doesn't help. Why I have to hear about Hillary's plaid and Michelle's fashion faux pas on 04 November 08 is beyond me. Would anyone like to discuss that Chelsea graduated Stanford with honors? And now sits in my seat Columbia Medical? (Funny story behind that is I think she is following MKK who went to Stanford and then Columbia with me!)

I am sorry but feminism is not about turning around and telling your sister that since you got treated poorly, she better too. Though, we might disagree whether she's a feminist, she is the one who went around town spouting about breaking the glass ceiling. An argument that we all know is false. It's actually about women sticking together and saying that we no longer wish to live in a man's world and that collectively we have power together as women because divided we are sure to fall. Seriously, Sarah! Grow up, teach your children about condoms, and get over yourself. more...