Things have been just dandy for women in the last forty eight hours, with broadcaster Alan Jones declaring that Prime Minister Scott Morrison should give New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern a few backhands to shut her up, and then stuff a sock down her throat.
Jones was supported by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who mildly reprimanded him for his boy talk, before going on to declare that Jones is a “mainstay of our media.”
Then yesterday evening many of us in NSW received a robot call from Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce. Joyce stated that he was calling on behalf of the Foundation for Human Development on the matter of the NSW Abortion Bill.
The Foundation’s contact point is the NSW branch of Right to Life, and we can presume that the robocalls were paid for by this anti choice organisation.
I will transcribe Joyce’s message:
[The NSW Abortion Bill] prohibits giving critical care to babies born alive following abortion and this will be given to any other baby born alive prematurely.
In other words, every other premature baby will be given critical care, except those born alive following an abortion who will be either left to die, or slaughtered by the medical professionals in attendance.
[The Bill] allows sex selective abortions. It legalises abortion for any reason up until the day of birth.
No, the Bill does not “allow sex selective abortions.” No, the Bill does not legalise abortion for any reason up to the day of birth.
Barnaby Joyce is a liar.
We have now heard that the Shooters Fishers & Farmers Party will refuse to work with the NSW government “ever again,” according to its leader Robert Borsak, if the Abortion Bill is passed.
Given the events of the last twenty four hours, a woman could be forgiven for thinking she’s been teleported to a southern state in the USA, where governments and their evangelical supporters routinely use our bodies as battlegrounds.
There is little more dangerous to women than a cabal of white, privileged, powerful men in politics and media who believe they have the right to control our bodies. What is needed is an equally powerful cabal of white, privileged, powerful men in politics and media who will vocally support us in our fight for bodily autonomy. So far, I hear very few men of influence doing that.
When the Treasurer of Australia describes a misogynist, violent scroat as a “media mainstay,” I have little hope.
No Place For Sheep 
Funny how—when pontificating about “their” bodies—sanctimonious, victim card-playing women’s rights fanatics always conveniently avoid talking about MEN’s rights when it comes unborn children. It’s as though the baby growing inside of them was somehow (ha, like the “Virgin Mary!”) miraculously conceived and has NOTHING to do with … [wait for it] … a “man.”
That’s right. No man, no zygote. Guess a lot of women flunked A&P in High School.
Except in cases of non-consensual sex, only a self-absorbed, narcissistic and sociopathic female would NOT consider the rights of the father.
But, well, “equal” doesn’t always mean equal in the world of feminazis and hypocrites.
Suggested slogan: “If you didn’t supply the semen, then it’s not just YOUR baby.”
Cue the angry, histrionics-ladened rants of Feminazis and self-righteous hypocrites for my having contributed my $.02 worth.
I’m sure you’ll contribute that much, and then some.
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Yeah, nah.
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Well said Dr! What is it with all these angry crusty old white men? Anyone would think they want to pay child support or change a nappy or even have meaningful relationships with their own children – which they don’t (let alone someone else’s!). Good old Barn-a-baby claims he can’t afford his two families on 200k. Now he’s off wanking all over NSW like some pro-life martyr when he can’t even get it right himself. They love pulling out the DSM IV (or rather Dr Google) to describe women’s desire for bodily autonomy free from Gilead-like commanders and then aptly described themselves to project vast Freudian insecurities about penis size (or lack thereof) – ranting like the hysterical shrill they say women are. It’s all rather boring and we’ve been pissing ourselves laughing at them for sometime now. Oh! Their little withered McShouty moonfaces as they reduce their own worth down to a race between sperm. It’s all Monty Phythonesque. Every sperm is sacred, except children abused by the church and the battling families who don’t live in liberal electorates or who have brown skin. Such unoriginal little blossoms, poor pets. I’m wondering when they’ll all take a Beck’s and nice lie down, pat a puppy or watch a cat video. Cause honestly, while mildly entertaining…yawn. Our bodies are not their incubators for their own inadequacies and the days of coat hangers killing the women they claim to love – should be well and truly over.
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Yep, totally agree Jacci that insecurity is the driving force behind this apparent resurgence (that’s if they ever went away?) in these white old-enough-to-know-better men asserting their diminished world view. My overwhelming impression is that these men are simply terrified of honestly confronting the reality that they’re actually not in control of their lives, they don’t have all the answers and they’re not responsible for most of the damage and dysfunctionality that is obvious to anyone who cares to notice – and so they spend their precious energy trying to kid themselves and everyone else that everything is fine … even though they may be quietly dying inside for all we know (maybe these are the mythical “Quiet Australians”?).
One recent example I came across that absolutely floored me is this newsletter from a group called Dads4Kids, which ostensibly seeks to improve fathers’ parenting skills and emotional well-being. Check this out – https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Safe-Place-for-the-Masculine-Soul.html?soid=1101938345415&aid=RO992jcBZhU Founder Warwick Marsh charmingly begins with “There is a lot of talk these days about creating safe spaces. Mostly for minority groups who feel victimised. A lot of this discussion is dribble but at times there is a case for such a cause.”, and then goes on to suggest that men are a repressed minority in need of a safe space. He seems to be arguing from the position that we are all dependent on the efforts of “strong men” to hold things together and set the direction for us all, and rants at “feminists” and “the halls of academic power” for undermining what he sees as “manhood” – apparently oblivious to the notion that it’s precisely this “manhood” which is the cause of so much devastation, to their own lives as well as everybody else’s.
Men’s emotional well-being is a legitimate concern of course, but it does genuinely surprise me that the idea persists that supporting “manhood”, and the tokenistic, dishonest expressions of emotion that this framework allows is the right way to address it – but this is precisely what we are seeing in Alan Jones’ comments, Joshy’s obsequiousness and Barnaby’s catastrophising. You could say it’s a generational thing… but that doesn’t help those of us who are alive at the moment/-;
Hope all’s well with you otherwise Jennifer!
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Oh my! That newsletter! Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been involved in some great projects support a balanced form of masculinity and proud to say that I have some wonderful men in my life – who are just as horrified by the Barnaby/Bolt/Jones et al. Yes, times are a changing and thank goodness.
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I really like the idea of “rights of the father”, like the right SuMo thinks we should all exercise “the right to shut up” and perhaps a bit of the “right to do what you’re told”.
But yeah, by all means, men like me should have the right to collect the unwated fetus and raise it ourselves. But mostly the right to step back, take a deep breath, and accept that rights are a balance and that balance doesn’t always have to be weighted so heavily towards us.
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The emotive crap about this Bill is (almost) beyond belief. NSW is finally catching up with the rest of Australia and the western world in removing abortion from the list of crimes.
Section 83 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) says:
“Whosoever:unlawfully administers to, or causes to be taken by, any woman,whether with child or not, any drug or noxious thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument or other means,with intent in any such case to procure her miscarriage,shall be liable to imprisonment for ten years.”
No ifs, no buts, no exceptions – save what sensible judges have interpreted over the last 50 years.
It is long overdue for removal from the Crimes Act.
The new Bill requires that an abortion be done by a “medical practitioner”, and on demand only up to 22 weeks gestation. After 22 weeks, the procedure is hedged about with safeguards.
(It is well accepted medical fact that no foetus is viable if “born” before 24 weeks gestation, hence the cut-off at 22 weeks.)
The Act attempts to codify what has in actuality been the law in NSW for 50 years.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
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