Planned Parenthood

Today I'd like to talk about Planned Parenthood. I've done so a little before, mostly on Twitter. But there have recently been some false accusations leveled against them, through the use of heavily edited videos. Through these videos, the world was given a completely false impression of the organization. This makes me angry, so I'm going to write about it. Here we go.

The video in question is propaganda. There's no point in sugarcoating it. Social conservatives, in yet another of their despicable bids to regain the power they held in the fabled 'Good Old Days', essentially took an actual interview and contorted it into a lie. Their stated goal was to harm the reputation of Planned Parenthood, and it has unfortunately been rather successful. Through this, the world was given a completely false impression of the organization. I'm here to do my small part in rectifying that falsehood.

To begin, I'd like to look at the name. Planned Parenthood. When you plan something, it is a deliberate action, carried out with forethought. There is a process involved when you are planning or have planned something. Planning something ensures that you will accomplish your goal in the manner you want to, and the manner that makes the most sense. As opposed to, say, just doing it in the spur of the moment and hoping everything works out. I think we can all agree that, in most cases, planning something is a good thing.

Then, you have 'Parenthood.' The process of becoming a parent. If you have a planned parenthood, that means you intend to become a parent, as opposed to most people who end up as parents, who do so accidentally. It's fairly easy to end up a parent when you do not wish to. Put Tab A into Slot B and repeat as necessary. It's not rocket surgery, which is probably why it happens so often.

As I said, planning is a good thing. So it follows that if you plan you parenthood, things will go more smoothly than they would've otherwise. It means you're ready to take on that responsibility and you are doing so deliberately. That's what Planned Parenthood does. It makes sure that women have the ability to plan their pregnancy and decide to become pregnant when it suits them and fits into their lives. They do this through birth control and sex education.

Notice I didn't say abortion there. That's a part of it, sure, but it's a very small part. Not all Planned Parenthood facilities perform abortions. All of them provide birth control, they teach people about their bodies, and, hell, they even treat STDs and yeast infections. They do cancer screenings, for cervical cancer and breast cancer. I could go on, but the point is, they provide valuable resources for low-income women and middle class women. In some cases, they provide the only resources these women have available.

Abortions comprise only three percent of what Planned Parenthood does. And some branches that do perform them allow women to voluntarily donate their fetal tissue to things like stem cell research. The key word there is donate. These women are not making money off this practice. There is no incentive to get an abortion. Defunding Planned Parenthood is just another tactic in the GOPs war on women, and their war on the poor. They are vile, and disgusting, and the people who vote for them need to wake up.

Just something to think about.

What Exactly is Feminism?

Feminism is kind of a new movement, and its definition is rather nebulous. The way that I define feminism, and the definition that I think others agree on, is this. "Feminism aims to achieve equality for everyone by raising women to the standards that men have already achieved." That's a good starting place, but it raises a good number of questions. Namely, how the fuck do we do that? We know that women need to be elevated. The playing field needs to be evened out, but there's a lot of discussion, even in feminist circles, about how exactly that ought to be done.

Well, I figured I'd throw my hat into the ring. Here's a breakdown of what feminism means to me:

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, I'm trans-inclusionary. This is a point of contention among feminists, with one camp claiming that feminism is about protecting 'real women,' whatever the fuck that means. In my opinion, if you identify as a women, that's what you are. And, let's be frank with each other, trans people are still oppressed, as are women. That's a shame, but it is also true. Some would even argue that trans women are even more disadvantaged than cis women. I'm against turning oppression into a competition, of course, but I'm also inclined to agree. There are several states where employers can refuse to hire trans individuals simply because of their gender identity, and that needs to stop. Feminism has to be intersectional, and work to further the standing of all women.

I'm pro-choice. I think that most feminists agree on this point, but there are some people who believe that abortion is akin to murder. This is crap. That came out a little more bluntly than I intended, but I stand by the sentiment. Before viability, a fetus is nothing more than a collection of cells. So is hair, and no one gets lynched for exfoliating. Further, the fetus feeds off of nutrients that is gathered by the mother. Until viability, it is virtually indistinguishable from a tape-worm. But perhaps that's a flimsy argument. Most pro-life people claim that abortion robs the world of potential geniuses. 'What if we aborted the person who would eventually go on to cure cancer,' they say. I'd like to take a moment to correct this. Children who receive the sort of education and support required to cure cancer are not raised by parents who consider getting abortions. Abortion ought to be available for everyone, but only people who would be unable to provide for a child take advantage of it. It's as simple as that.

Finally, I'm sex-positive. This is an easy one, and it ties into an old pro-choice argument. What someone else does with their body is none of your fucking business, nor is it mine. It doesn't matter if people want to fuck, or get abortions, or get tattoos. Just back off, man. Be cool. Also, and this is the biggest reason, sex-negativity encourages the proliferation of abstinence-only sex education, which is provably ineffectual.

So, yeah. That's my personal brand of feminism, and it's the direction I think the movement as a whole ought to be going in. But I'm always open to hearing and discussing new opinions, so if you disagree, tell me.

Just something to think about.