Recently there have been many political candidates, (all middle-aged men), making excuses and expounding their reasons for opposing abortions, even in the case of rape. Not mentioned in conjunction with these subjects, they also espouse the closing of Planned Parenthood and outlawing contraceptives, both for which they look forward to the possibility of voting... These men need some education and are apparently incapable of understanding the information which is readily available.
When I was a child, rape was always considered to be the fault of the victim, and a woman who had been raped was ostracized as a "loose woman." No matter the circumstance, "she should have known better than to walk in that area," to wear that short skirt, or stop to speak to that neighbor. Even worse was the treatment if she became pregnant from the encounter. The child was always referred to as "her little bastard" aand no "decent woman" would be seen speaking to her in a civil manner. Rapes were rarely spoken of by the victim because of the shame that would be visited upon her. The prominent theory was -- "boys will be boys" -- and it was the responsibility of the females involved if they were victimized.
Over the years, enough people became enlightened and laws began to be passed against this heinous crime. But the weight of proof remains to this day upon the shoulders of the victim who must relive the event over and over as the criminal process drags on and she rarely escapes without much of that same attitude imposed on her by the public.
Everybody needs to realize that rape is rape. Not
"legitimate rape" or even "forcible rape." All rape is forced, whether it be
accomplished by threat of other bodily injury or not. From the high school kid
who will invite a girl to go for a ride, take her a distance away, and the tell
her to "Put out or walk home"; the date who refuses to take no for an answer
and simply overpowers a girl in spite of her pleas and objections; the street
lurker in alleys, doorways, along sidewalks, walking trails, and jogging paths -- they are all wrong and they are all criminal! And, by the way, so are the
husbands who insist on their marital "rights" by overpowering their wives.
Despite the gains that women have made under the law to be given equal rights as a human being, our sex education has not kept up with the times. Too many women leave the sex education of sons up to the father. Men are not traditionally prepared for this and are shockingly inadequate to the task. Young boys view little girls as "other" and are bewildered by their actions and so do not intermingle with them during their early years. They must be taught from the beginning that "girls are people, too," and their mothers should drill them on that concept. Their future daughters-in-law will thank them for it.
Sexual coercion begins in kindergarten with the emergence of the knowledge that "girls are different." Following this is a surge of curiosity about just what those differences are and they attempt to pull up girls' skirts to solve the mystery. During puberty, these urges change and their curiosity deepens. This is where their "man training" begins, sometimes at an age as early as nine years old. If a mother doesn't believe her husband or other male family member is up to the job, she must do it herself. At the same time, girls must understand that they are not responsible for satisfying either the early curiosity or the blossoming sexual urges of the boys, and they should firmly reject them.
The opposition to abortion under any circumstances is despicable under any standards. Rape victims should have the right to choose whether to expose themselves to the burden of rearing a child alone and, often, at an early age. A girl who becomes pregnant in her early teens will almost surely not complete her education and will be forever handicapped financially as she and the child both suffer the privations of poverty while trying to maintain life and earn a living much poorer than it could have been...The ability to fortify daughters against this fate would disappear with the elimination of birth control methods. Further, without contraception, family size would become incredibly larger and their existence would be even more difficult.
But that is for a truly enlightened populace which status, it seems, we have not yet attained. Those politicians who expound about girls who are "easy to rape" or the consequences of "legitimate rape" should be jailed for incitement to law-breaking rather than be elected to any professional office. Incidentally, these are apparently the same ones who declare their opposition to "Sharia law" while trying to push modern American women into the same regimen of utter control by men, "barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen."
Our modern right-wing politicians rave about establishing "real freedom" for themselves and "smaller government" by "getting the government out of their pockets" while simultaneously trying to destroy the freedom of the female half of the population by putting government through their vaginas, examining their uteruses, and into their medicine cabinets.
No woman should vote for any of them or for those who support them. This is more important than politics.
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