Blog for Choice Day

Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and I’m joining many others who are blogging about why they are pro-choice. Click for background on Roe v. Wade.

As a lesbian with many lesbian friends, there aren't many times in my life in which I've been directly affected by the right to choose. But if anything, that makes it more important for me to be pro-choice — just like gays need support from straights to advance our rights, women need the help of more than just other straight women in order to have access to abortions or obtain contraceptives.

It blows my mind that lawmakers believe they have the right to limit what we do to our own bodies. And that some anti-pro-choicers try to teach abstinence-only sexual education in schools — something that will lead to additional abortions when teenagers have sex without realizing the consequences because they are taught only to never have sex, not what to do when they do have it.

I worry about the women who are unable to have the abortions that they desire due to lack of education, or access to Planned Parenthood. Reproductive freedom is hardly widespread, even in the United States, and the absence of available resources means that some women do not even have the option of terminating or preventing pregnancies. This leads to children born into less than desirable circumstances (born from rape, into a family with limited resources and too many children, etc.) or to women attempting abortions themselves, which is unfair and unsafe.

I also believe that women cannot be fully equal to men when men have reproductive freedom and women do not. And that women should be mothers because they choose to be, not because they are forced to be. And as a lesbian who occasionally dabbles with men, I never know when something might happen, and I may need to terminate a pregnancy. If I ever end up in that situation, I don’t ever want someone telling me that I’m stuck having a baby I don’t want to have.

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Blog for Choice Day 2008

January 22 is Blog for Choice Day (and the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade), when bloggers across the country are encouraged to write about why they are pro-choice. I'm going to be posting, but it would be nice if readers sent in their opinions as well. If you have something to say, drop me an email at amy@thenewgay.net, and I'll put it up on the 22nd.

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From "Girl Power" To "Bra-Burning Lesbianism"

I recently added the blog Feministing to my rss reader, and every time I look at it, something I see there makes me angry. Between anti-choice politicians and domestic violence, there are a hundred reasons for women to be upset every single day. A fair number of the posts deal with sexuality, and Feministing mentioned this quote from Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, which appeared in The Guardian yesterday:

Halliwell spoke about how the Spice Girls embraced “girl power,” and that through her work in Zambia, she learned that western women are starting to realize that they need to help out women around the world who live in more oppressed societies. Then she said she has some qualms about the term “feminism”:

"It's about labelling. For me feminism is bra-burning lesbianism. It's very unglamorous. I'd like to see it rebranded. We need to see a celebration of our femininity and softness."

The interviewer pulls this quote somewhat out of context, as the article continues:

“There are murmurs from her entourage, and Halliwell shoots them a glance. ‘There you go,’ she tells me, in the manner of one who has given a bit too much away. ‘That's your headline. ‘Geri Halliwell says feminists are all bra-burners’.”

Out of context or not, there are some obvious problems with Halliwell’s statement. I see nothing wrong with rejecting a label and the stereotypes that go with it, but the suggestion that supporting women’s rights and fighting for equality is “unglamorous” and should therefore be “rebranded” is ridiculous. Wearing dresses and high heels is wonderful (for some), but so is fighting against female genital mutilation in Africa.

It’s also unfortunate that Halliwell calls feminism “bra-burning lesbianism.” Strong women everywhere (Hillary Clinton comes to mind first) face lesbian rumors, and it’s upsetting that someone would call someone a lesbian simply because they support women’s rights. I know lesbians who are definitely not feminists, and plenty of feminists who aren’t lesbians.

In short, it’s sad to see someone who was all about “girl power” calling women who stand up for their rights “unglamorous.” Frankly, if I see a woman going out and fighting for women’s rights, she’s hot, regardless of whether she fits Ms. Halliwell’s definition or not.

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