I've been speechless for the past couple of days.
I've been thinking quite a lot about the words Todd Akin used to describe rape. I've been thinking and reading the words of others in their responses to him.
On religious websites, the comments devolve immediately into an argument over a woman's right to choose. I recognize that I know a lot of people, some of them reading this perhaps, who would disagree with my pro-choice position and others who would not share my philosophy that abortion should be safe, legal and rare.
But we get distracted at our peril, because no matter where you stand on abortion, Akin is spouting "Old Husband's Tales" as fact, showing an ignorance about and disdain for women that is appalling.
Women form more than half the population. We are not children. We are equally created human beings. Unfortunately we are also sexually vulnerable.
Men are, too, of course. They can be assaulted and invaded, and it's happened historically and it happens all the time.
But women can be willfully entered and impregnated, an act that has lifelong consequences for the woman and also for a potential child. To suggest that some sort of voodoo hormones will protect women from conception is absurd, so ridiculous that I can't believe I'm having to write it down or think about it.
Old Husbands' Tales are based in a belief that women are unequal to men, that they are in effect property to be used at will. What's a "legitimate" rape? An attack by a stranger on an innocent virgin? It's an Old Husbands' Tale that there can be no rape in marriage, because a man has the right to do what he wants with his wife. It's an Old Husbands' Tale that a woman can run faster with her skirt up than a man with his pants down. (Yes, some people call that a joke.) It's an Old Husbands' Tale that "men have needs," and that takes us down other roads that show a disregard for women as a class. It's an Old Husbands' Tale that women don't even know if they've been raped.
The violent attack of a stranger is a terrible thing. The intentional and non-consensual act of a partner you have trusted is also a terrible thing. Neither one comes with a Magic Diaphragm of Holy Conception Preventing Power.
Some women who are raped by strangers and impregnated carry the children and even raise them.
But I don't need a survey to tell me that more women are impregnated by spouses and partners who did not bother to be sure "the female body," as Akin calls us, was actually willing.
I'm the mother of three, two sons and a daughter. I've been teaching all of them, for years, to practice a Love Ethic where sex is concerned. When the time comes, I said, remember what Jesus wanted from us, to love God and love others as ourselves. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Please. Remember that the other person is also a human being, created by God and loved by God.
I don't hear that from the Christian right. I hear a fear that men will lose the power to put their seed wherever they want it to go. I hear a fear that some people, men and women, will honor women's experience and value them equally. I hear a fear that Old Husbands' Tales will be dismissed for the ignorant prattle they are.
The fear of people who are losing their power is dangerous.
So please, don't let us be distracted by arguments over abortion. The issue is half the human race. The issue is the value of living women. We are being called liars and fools, told we are weak and need everything clarified for us. I'll tell you, if I had that Magic Diaphragm, I would use it like a shield to hold off the violation by words that goes on every day in our public discourse, where people are free to say anything they like and no one has to accept that facts contradict opinion and people believe the loudest voice wins.
My voice is soft, but I am ready to speak now.
I have had my own moments in which trust was broken. I have been violated, but the details matter less than the larger, sadder truth. There are men and some women, too, who will continue to defend hetero-normative patriarchy by any means necessary. They will wrap it in Jesus, or the Trinity, or the American flag. They would wrap it in Zeus if anyone still worshiped him. They will make a mockery of my faith in a loving God and my belief in a nation where freedom and equality matter. They will do their best to break my heart.
I believe their numbers are in decline, but I can also see that they will fight to the end, ruthlessly. We who are gentle must find our strength. We who speak softly must raise our voices. We who know better must give the lie to Old Husbands' Tales.
Rev. Joanna Harader: On Abortion, Rape and Speaking for God
Rabbi David Wolpe: The Talmud vs. Todd Akin
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." -Genesis 3:16
A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 1 Corinthians 11:7
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
-1 Corinthians 14:34
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
-1 Timothy 2:11
This idea does not just denigrate women. It is also insulting to men, it insinuates that they do not have control over their own actions.
Fortunately, the sane people are in the majority. That's why it takes 70 years for guys like you and me to hear such nonsense.
Sadly,now apparently people think all men think this way.
The saddest part, I think, is the large number of women who are willing to buy in to the "men are superior and I must obey my man" school of thought. My sister and nieces are three of these. There will be four straight Republican ballots coming from that family. And I don't even know if they understand that they are hurting themselves.
He was correct. This is because any single sex act has a low chance of conception and people in relationships engage in many individual acts.
I have no idea if Akin thought there were magic rape hormones. If he did he was likely correct though they seem to work to make women slightly more likely to get pregnant (but not by much).
I also don't know what he meant by "legitimate" rape, but I suspect he meant violent rape. Other types of rape do exist, but so do false accusations. The married woman having an affair can be very tempted to cry rape if she gets pregnant. In one study over 40% of police filed rape accusations were later retracted as untrue. I would not call these false accusations "legitimate".
Please don't cite numbers without a link, because without backup, it's just you saying numbers, and is meaningless.
From what Akin said, it is very hard to interpret it as him thinking anything other than magic rape hormones, and there is absolutely no scientific basis for his claims.
The magic comes about when you take studies that note this and decide
The magic comes from taking that fact and somehow concluding that a woman who has already ovulated can avoid pregnancy after one stressful encounter ... Or if she was drugged a non-stressful encounter that she may not remember.
Are you aware you just made a (false) rape accusation? I don't rape.
"Men, who needs them?" by Greg Hampikian that should frighten EVERY MAN.
In my entire life on this planet, neither me, nor any of my friends, voiced this "shut down" or thise other "old husband" nonsense and I am insulted anyone would stereotypically infer we did.
Some people are iidiiots. Some of those people are men. But not all men are idtiots.
And you are a pastor?
Now every man in the pews knows what you really think of them. If I were a member I would leave immediately becuase who wants a pastor who thinks they can read one's "pig" mind? Mothers, this is what she thinks of your sons.
Perhaps, rather than getting personally offended by this article pointing out this fact, you (and all of your other friends who disagree with these misogynists) could consider becoming a bit more vocal in condemnation of the men to which this DOES apply. Just saying, that could be a lot more useful.
It is easy to name a few famous cases, like the Duke Lacrosse one. How many less well known cases of false reporting are there?
Get off you high horse and stop using a few poorly chosen words to beat up an entire segment of society that does not goose-step with you.
Whose studies? A question that needs to be answered before the results of such studies can be considered valid.
The fact that those of us paying attention have heard of many, many such cases of false accusations that do not rise to national prominence seems to outweight a dubious "study" from an unknwoned source.