Tiger Beatdown

A lot of misleading language surrounds health insurance reform—and yes, it is health insurance reform, not health care reform, because the focus is on the insurance industry—in the United States, along with considerable mixed feelings. It’s far from a simplistic good or bad issue, and this post isn’t about debating the nuances of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and what it means for the country as a whole. Suffice it to say that it doesn’t, contrary to popular rhetoric, mean that the United States now has universal health care, and many of its ‘benefits’ are targeted at insurance companies, not patients or people who may someday need medical care.

But one thing has had me really steamed up over the last week, and that’s the language flying around over ‘free birth control.’ I expect that from conservatives and people opposed to reproductive health services who want to make it sound like ACA is bringing in the end of the world, encouraging sluts and slatterns everywhere to make free with their virtue. I would like to think the left is better than that, though, and it’s been extremely disappointing and frustrating to me to see even policy wonks and people who are far more educated about the details of ACA than I am referring to ‘free birth control day.’

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Content note: This post contains graphic discussions of suicidal ideation, and anxiety. 

There are the things we don’t tell each other, the things that skulk inside of us, the monsters that threaten to devour us. They are the things we sometimes cannot even put into words, though we see other people who struggle with them and whisper yes, I know, yes, and reach out our hands to brush them, to confirm that they are real, to know that we are not alone. These are the things that frighten us, that stalk us in the dead of night, that push and pull our bodies when we try to sink into sleep.

These things are not ordered, they cannot be carried; they are at best dragged behind us, where they leave a slithering, slimy trail that is both sticky and glossy in the dull light of reality. We feel the need to brush the trail behind ourselves so no one sees it or steps in it, to leave no trace, to become smaller and smaller and smaller so we cannot be seen.

They are not to be spoken of. Not ever, anywhere. They are wrong and disturbing and to expose yourself is to be vulnerable. You must put on a strong and bold face even when things are nipping at your ankles. At times, it seems pointless to try having any emotions at all, because they’re all wrong.

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Worker rights are a feminist issue and should be considered as such, but often they get short shrift in feminist spaces. Let’s not forget that International Women’s Day started as International Working Women’s Day, and that some of the earliest feminist agitators were fighting in the front lines of factory strikes during the Industrial Revolution. Fierce seamstresses and other workers striking for better working conditions inspired wealthier women, some of whom decided to take up their cause after being inspired by seeing them hold their ground for days and weeks, even in the face of intimidation from police as well as thugs hired to break their strikes. Women involved in the fight for suffrage also helped organise women’s unions, and played an active role in labour advocacy.

The connections between labour and feminism should be obvious; many workers are women, women are often mistreated in the workplace, and fighting for not just fair wages but fair conditions should be an obvious extension of feminist ethics. This holds especially true in the case of low-wage workers, who are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Low-wage workers in agriculture, the hospitality industry, health care, and among household staffs tend to be immigrant women, some of whom are making less than minimum wage, many of whom are afraid to report any abuses they experience in the workplace because they need to retain their jobs and are terrified of harassment or deportation.

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Content note: This post discusses rape jokes and rape culture.

A woman walks down the street and overhears two men making rape jokes about an obviously drunk girl across the street. She whirls around and punches one of them in the face, and writes about it on Tumblr, with a picture of her taped-up hand. The story circulates like wildfire, and everyone feels a need to weigh in; she was out of line, she’s a hero, she committed assault, she challenged rape culture, she responded to a legitimate threat.

There is much discussion, in particular, about how her act of violence was wrong because violence does not solve violence.

A comedian responds to a challenger in the audience with a threatening comment about how it would be hilarious if five men raped a girl ‘right now‘ and a friend writes about it on Tumblr. The story circulates like wildfire, and everyone feels a need to weigh in; she was too sensitive, rape jokes are never funny, she’s lying about what happened, she’s sparked a conversation about misogyny and comedy.

Some people respond to the comedian’s ‘joke’ with a suggestion that it would be funny to see him beaten, making an analogy with his threat of violence.

Rape is about more than violence, though. It can be violent, but at its core, it is about an exertion of power and control.  (Continued)