[lbo-talk] Neo-Realism: Chapter 2

Dwayne Monroe dwayne.monroe at gmail.com
Sun Feb 3 18:13:31 PST 2008


Joanna:

I know what you're saying, but think about it. Having sex without pregnancy is extremely unthreatening for men. They've kept us in such a buzz about abortion that we have completely forgotten the other argument we should be having: about one's rights after birth.

.........................

Have "we" really forgotten?

Is no one working on behalf of women with children? Are there no people working to improve sex education? Is no one trying to improve access to and understanding of contraception?

Aren't there people tirelessly laboring to reduce abortion by focusing on the above and who, while believing in the idea that women have a right to terminate pregnancy, see it as a last resort, as a failure of what should be an informed use of planning, as a consequence of the lack of information and freedom?

Very often, I'm frustrated by your responses on gender-related topics.

You seem to be unaware of the variety of work going on and the history and current state of thinking. Also, there's a huge boys against girls against boys subtext which I find off putting.

If you review the back and forth arguments re: abortion - the ones happening out there in the wider world - you'll note that men on the con side (of whom there are many) aren't seeking to escape parenthood via abortion like heavies in a 1950s melodrama but, on the contrary, elevate motherhood to a status only a hair's breadth shy of hagiography but at the expense of practically any other thing a woman might do.

.d.



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