What Others Did A Much Better Job On
January 24th, 2007 by Sherrie
Sorry for the rather incoherent blog for choice day. I debated it, and decided that an incoherent post was better than no post at all. That decision was largely made due to the fact that while waiting for the only computer available the people on it ahead of me (who seem to be lovely people otherwise) had spent about 35 minutes going through profiles on a “friend site” (something like myspace) saying shes hot, shes beautiful, shes a dog. It broke my heart. When I commented on it I was of course over reacting. It did free the computer however. And I knew then I had to write something. How could I not after seeing the way women’s bodies are commodified. All our bodies really. Men as well. “How did he get her” or “What do you see in him/her” in terms of their appearance are comments still alive and well today. Despite the fact that he is a wonderful person who makes you laugh and treats you with respect. Fuck that. Get a “hot” guy or woman who treats you like shit. But hey as long as the world can look and say “they make a beautiful couple” who cares what happens behind closed doors. So because the world is still populated by idiots who care more about appearance than substance, or how sexy someone who makes you laugh becomes, I wanted to write that post. And also because people feel that a women should “pay for her mistakes” if she is going to have sex. A human life is not paying for your mistakes.
I thought about rewriting the post. But Ive decided to let it stand. I elaborated on one sentence and changed interrupted because it was suppose to be interprets but because (literally) a guy was behind me saying “hurry up your taking too long” every 10 seconds (I think he thought he was being funny), spell check changed it to the wrong word. I am letting it stand for two reasons. The first is that I think it shows how important the ability to make a choice is. I still managed to post, even if I never emailed my mother to say all is ok. (sorry mom, I assumed you’d know when you saw the post). The other reason is because I would much rather you read the following posts, whose authors did do a fantastic job. And please note that not a single one of them talk of being pro death. Rather it is about the choice, and a difficult one that no one ever wants to make. But we deserve that option to make it.
Postcards From Guyville A post that put into words what I could not about forcing women into carrying their unwanted pregnancies to term, among other great points.
Kelly Bell (Which is a fantastic summary of what other women wrote as well. Many of them are very personal, but also very humorous. Reading how women can be so strong and yet see the humor in everything makes me so proud to be a woman). And yes I know there are men out there that are the same. So today I hate the world a little less. 
Thanks for the shout-out. Love ya lots for that!
Last night I went to a Roe v. Wade anniversary banquet and chatted up the issues with legislators, lobbiests and activists.
I mentioned the blog for choice day. “on one blog, a woman suggested that since Plan B is over the counter, why cant anyone in the store who is over 18 sell it, like they sell ciggarettes or beer…”
The director of Planned Parenthhod of Ohio liked that idea so much he got paper and pencil to write it down.
I need to read back through the posts and find the woman who suggested the idea. I want her to know, her voice is making a difference.
-and yours is too.
Thank you for the comment. I have been thinking about my life now and my life back in my early years as an undergrad. I was heavily involved in the feminist activist community, and I just got so burned out. So now I try to balance me (as in protecting myself from the hate of the world that I can not help but swallow) with trying to find a voice that speaks out and tries to change things. Comments (and blogs) like yours help me realize we do what we can when we can, sometimes we do more and sometimes we do less. The important thing is to never give up.