Now we have Michelle Obama, who is great. But it is sad that we are seeing countless stories about the way the woman in the White House dresses instead of her policy. I think the way Obama is being treated as this reincarnation of Jackie, and the way her press office is gladly engaging this coverage, is pretty fucking sad. Why can’t she be the tough, smart woman she is without having to go on Oprah and say inane things like, “My happiness is tied to how I feel about myself.”

I guess the White House is convinced that she’ll come off threatening if she acts like the professional, policy-oriented person she has been. Like a Hillary Clinton II. And it seems like mainstream feminists have all agreed, the only thing worse than that would be to appear as a complete idiot, buxom lady like Sarah Palin.

When they want to make the choice for all women (and only for women), I start to wonder if they really believe other women are full human beings with full human rights. And if they don’t, as far as I’m concerned, they’re not feminists.

Other people may have a different definition of feminist, that leads to having a different checklist (to the extent that one item is a checklist), or no checklist at all, but that’s how I see the intersection of feminism, choice, human rights, and checklists.

That’s all.

Could you please explain to me why you think there is a “human right” to draw your nutrients from, and deposit your wastes into, someone else’s bloodstream without her consent?

I’m happy to give a fetus all the rights we would give a born person with similar capabilities. That just doesn’t include the right to enslave someone to hijack her metabolism.

I am way too talky today, sorry

Cat and Hannah, I find this conversation very difficult as well. But I don’t think that discussing the range of women’s feelings and responses to abortion dictates that those of us who are committed to protecting choice will lose ground. For me it means listening a bit to people I am used to shouting at and shouting about. I don’t know who decides the answer to this.

Lisa said that it is the extremes of any movement who end up becoming its public face, which I think it so important. I remember doing a story back in the 80s (I am old!) when Operation Rescue was trying to shut down clinics in Los Angeles and both sides were equally paranoid, angry, and scary.

I appreciate that pro-voice is suggesting to me that maybe sometimes I should check my knee-jerk response and support a framework that is open to supporting a more complex approach. <–was that gobbeledygook? I think it makes sense.

Jenny wrote a great story that might be of interest:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/22112/

Jill, thanks for blogging this. I notice you took out all my swear words!

This becomes complicated because if you believe that a fetus should have human rights, you come down in one place on the “enslavement” question, and if you believe that a fetus should NOT have those rights, you come down somewhere else. But feminism qua feminism doesn’t really answer that question – other ideologies, moralities, experiences, do. Feminism tells us that human beings shouldn’t be oppressed, but doesn’t define human being.