From: gypsy@alembic.acs.com (hippolyte)
Subject: Re: Thanks CJ
Organization: the church of the latter-day polish amazons
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 03:13:57 GMT

In article <BuH009.M1K@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> dodsodt2@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Don Dodson) writes:
>
>I would prefer to see women informed of how devastating abortion is,
>to the point where they would much prefer any of the alternatives.
>I have volunteered at a clinic which provides a free service of  
>assistance with alternatives to abortion as a free service. 

as long as it does not involve forcing women to
listen to propaganda when their minds are already
made up, i am all for this.  it's NOT the right
thing for everybody.  nobody is FOR abortion, you
moron.  NOBODY thinks it's a good idea.  however,
many of us feel it is the better choice in the
circumstances at hand, and only the woman can
know what those circumstances are.

incidentally, i do not think that showing women 
photographs of dismembered fetuses counts as
"counseling" or "assistance with alternatives."
a woman who is even considering an abortion is
under enough strain as it is, and exerting 
emotional pressure is not an acceptable tactic.
present the facts in a straightforward manner,
and i'm all for it.

>that feminists do not represent all women.  While the feminist
>movement started out with honorable goals which I support, such
>as equality in the workplace, freedom from violence, equal rights,
>and respect towards women in general, they have long since turned
>from these goals to support abortion, lesbianism, hatred of men,
>and the destruction of the family.  I find the change to be a

you really are unbelievably paranoid, aren't you?
i have been a feminist for a very long time, and i
have NEVER, i repeat, NEVER met a woman who supports
any of the above tactics.  until my husband bought
a book by camille paglia, i had not ever actually
heard a feminist say anything even remotely indicating
that men were responsible for the world's ills, or
that women were superior.  in fact, the only people
i had ever heard make these claims about feminism
were men who seemed to fear feminists.  it seems
odd to me that i, a feminist, have never encountered
any of these supposed rabid feminista terrorists
myself; i suspect one would have to be looking really
hard to find them.  if you look hard enough for a
reason to disagree with someone, you will probably
find it.

you might consider not worrying about those psycho
feminists that have you in a panic and consider that
many ardent REAL feminists have a) never heard of
those other feminists, b) think they are total 
lunatics, and c) do not want to kill men.

some of us are undoubtedly lesbians, and most of us
are very angry at certain TYPES of men, but as far
as i can tell, most of us don't even blame men as
a group for the patriarchal society we live in.  we
blame the society itself for perpetuating an obsolete
social structure, and we resent the resistance of
people who refuse to accept change as a natural part
of the order of things.  women who continue to allow
men to treat them as inferiors are FAR more damaging
to us than the men responsible.  

i can tell you, though, why your stance on abortion
angers so many feminists -- you phrase your argument
in such a way that it is clear that you are against
abortion because you feel a desire to protect women
from pain and unhappiness.

trust me, we don't need your protection.  we will 
choose the lesser of two evils, we will make that
choice by ourselves, and if we need your help, we 
will ASK for it.

i.e. if a woman comes to you and ASKS you to talk to
her about abortion, go right ahead.  but PLEASE don't
go around spewing propaganda in every available forum.
believe me, i KNOW: it is damned near impossible for a
woman to obtain an abortion without being preached at
by a nurse at some point in the process.  there is 
NOBODY out there who doesn't know what abortion means.
and those of us who have chosen to have them at some
point might stand a considerably smaller chance of
experiencing emotional upset or your theoretical "post
abortion trauma" if there weren't someone screaming
"murderer!  murderer!" at us on every corner.

m

insert cliche regarding the inability to change the past here
-- 
"...at night they lurk outside the tall barrier staring with curious
 wild eyes into the flat field, feeling cheated." -- Beryl Markham
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre