Pay Attention To The Language Used

This is so freaky. I was just having this conversation with my students today but on a different topic. I told them to pay attention to what is being said, the words people choose to use, to understand what's really going on beneath the surface. We were discussing the Civil War and the following Reconstruction period.

So after class I come back to my office and am reading CNN while eating lunch and I come across this interview with, and article by, LZ Granderson on the issue of politicians, abortions and rape.

First, I love his opening statement in the interview that he is both pro-life and pro-choice. I've taken that position before and it confuses people, but you can be against abortion without telling other people what they can do with their bodies.

That said, Granderson wrote this article about the discourse in State and Federal Congresses about the issue of abortion. He rightly tells women, regardless of where you stand on the abortion issue, you need to pay attention to what these politicians are saying about "you," women as a whole. The paternalistic and misogynistic attitudes of our elected officials toward women are very scary. We've got to stop electing people who consider us less than men, incapable of making decisions for ourselves and our bodies, and legislating against us according to their religious beliefs.

Can you imagine the outcry if women tried to legislate men's bodies? Castration for all rapists, vasectomies for all the baby daddies, one or the other for all men who break the marital vow of monogamy, a ban on Viagra or at least prevent insurance companies from funding it. What would men do if women told them what they could do with their bodies?

Here's the story:

Abortion Debate Trivializes Rape