Monday, October 24, 2005

This is "empowerment"?

I've been having a discussion in an online forum with a woman who calmly insists that were she ever to become pregnant as a result of rape, she'd abort because she'd simply be unable to cope. The stress, she insists, could very well threaten her sanity and her life.

This isn't the first time I've heard this, nor is rape the only reason a woman's given, calmly and with foresight, that she'd abort because she'd just not be able to cope.

Is this why Susan B. Anthony went to prison? To bring forth a generation of women who plan in advance to be weak, pitiful, and unable to deal with a challenge?

Now, I can understand a woman, in the midst of a crisis -- be it rape or another stressful situation -- not being able to think clearly. I can understand a woman in the midst of a crisis, surrounded by people telling her it's the right thing to do, making an ill-considered decision to abort. But this planning in advance to be fragile, pitiful, weak, totally lacking in any kind of coping capacity, never fails to leave me stunned. This is feminism? This is empowerment?

I am woman, hear me snivel.

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