Comments on: Clinton Fights On

By: Charity

Charity — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:36:57 +0000

OK, just have to say…reproductive rights =/ “family planning.”

“Women do not own reproductive rights.”

Exactly the problem! ba-dum-dum.

By: Feministe » I Met Hillary Clinton

Feministe » I Met Hillary Clinton — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:55:15 +0000

[...] your issue at all. They were very proud to tell us that Senator Clinton had taken the lead in combating the Bush HHS proposal to restrict women’s access to reproductive health [...]

By: I Met Hillary Clinton : The Curvature

I Met Hillary Clinton : The Curvature — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:49:53 +0000

[...] your issue at all. They were very proud to tell us that Senator Clinton had taken the lead in combating the Bush HHS proposal to restrict women’s access to reproductive health [...]

By: Aura KitKatting

Aura KitKatting — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:52:38 +0000

Damn WHY is everyone so snarky at Feministe these days ~ ???

I’m glad that Clinton is taking a stand on this, but I would expect her to. The obvious question comes to mind, is Obama? And if not WHY NOT?

By: charlotte

charlotte — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:34:18 +0000

That cat litter thing? So not true. See http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/pregnancy_and_toxoplasmosis.html

And yeah, I voted for Clinton after I voted for Edwards and before I’m going to vote for Obama. Why did I pick Clinton before Obama? Because I liked her better on women’s rights and gay rights.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:57:11 +0000

I’m a bit late here, but…

Peter: Stop asking about “the rules” as if Feministe censors legitimate discussion. You know there are no rules about who can post where. Trying to paint the commenters who are railing on you as authoritarian jerks isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Also, if you want to comment under a masculine handle, be prepared to catch some flak. You can have the best intentions in the world when you write a post and someone might still take offense at it. That’s life. It’s worth it to take a step back and think about what others are taking offense at.

RKMK, Charity, others: Women do not own reproductive rights. Just because women bear the brunt of policy decisions regarding reproductive rights does not mean men can only understand the issue at hand “in abstract.” Family planning doesn’t not end with the woman. All children have fathers, and though not all fathers share the responsibility of a child, some *do*. I’d say those men have more then an abstract appreciation of reproductive rights.

By: Charity

Charity — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:41:01 +0000

I know I am abrasive…and that has a lot of costs as far as how I’m understood. I guess though, I am frustrated that feminist blogs often get treated like just another liberal news blog, or something, and women’s voices are just some among many. Maybe it’s unfair to ask, but I do desperately want women’s voices to be privileged, for a change. There are simply so many areas of life where they are not, and that includes areas where our voices are not privileged in *speaking about our own experience*. That’s a hard thing for a lot of men to get their heads around, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask, on a feminist blog, that you try. And this is just the gender binary – I am aware this dynamic plays out in every other domain of culture, identity, and oppression, and is equally important to address on those grounds too.

By: Charity

Charity — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:29:09 +0000

Yes, j-hoo (who may be a man or a woman), go ahead and point to me, since I was not even the first to have a certain perception of Peter’s comments, and was certainly not the last. Fascinating. I wasn’t asking for an apology, if you’ll notice. I find it striking that when a woman says something to a man about the way he’s speaking about reproductive rights and the trend that grates on her, it becomes all about injustice toward the man, and somehow it’s completely inconceivable for him to say, “I didn’t think of how that sounds” or “I agree there is a difference in our lived experience on this issue”. No, that’s too much to ask for. It’s all about your rights, all of a sudden.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:25:29 +0000

“* To be fair, Clinton’s record on reproductive rights is as good as, if not better than, Obama’s, but I can’t recall her being this outspoken on the issues in recent history.”

Clinton led the fight (with Murray) on EC a few years back. At that time, she was quite outspoken.

By: Lalaroo

Lalaroo — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:46:05 +0000

Peter, I’ll bite.
I don’t know if you’re completely unaware of this (and if you are, you’re probably a hermit who just now got internet access), but there’s been a pretty big movement to try and bully Clinton’s supporters into line by threatening them with the repeal of Roe. Some of Obama’s more fanatical supporters are really making pains of themselves by shouting about how those bitter, nasty hags who can’t just grow up and recognize that Clinton lost (because she’s worse, and absolutely not because of any sexism – in fact, there was no sexism during the primary!) should shut up and start supporting Obama wholeheartedly because even though he’s not as staunchly pro-choice as they’d like, McCain is SO MUCH WORSE!!!!
So, viewed in that context, can you see why your last sentence would rub some of the commenters here the wrong way?