The Thin Red Line by Wendy Taylor

No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother. ~ Margaret Sanger

By Wendy Taylor, Vermillion South Dakota

There is a difference between birth control and contraceptives. Maybe it’s a fine line, but that line could be where the whole political issue lies. My opinion is that birth control is sort of a misnomer. The definition of “birth” as a verb is simply “to bring forth.” I think the majority of us can see for ourselves what the definition of “control” is.

Once a woman is pregnant (no matter when you define life as beginning), the fetus or baby is ‘brought forth.’ There are only a few differences in how: spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), medical abortion, vaginal birth, or Caesarean birth. Of these, only one is really in the woman’s control. I have given birth to three beautiful children and had two spontaneous abortions. In each case, I technically “birthed.” What I lacked was “control.” There’s not much control to birth—no matter what those birthing classes say. I breathed and pushed and so on. Guess what? It still hurt. It still followed the course Mother Nature has dictated for millennia. And I was lucky enough that it still had my desired result—a living baby for me to raise and love. The two miscarriages? There was nothing I could have done differently. Nothing I did brought them on. Nothing I, or my doctor did prevented or stopped them.

The only thing I might have done differently was to prevent the pregnancies in the first place. Which is all about “contraceptives” and “contraception.” The origin of “contraception” is simply “contra” (against) & “conception” (impregnation) merged. The definition is merely “the deliberate prevention of impregnation or conception.” The simplest purpose of contraception is to get the control prior to birth becoming an issue.

I am aware it is a fine line. In fact, it’s valid to point out how closely the two are related. I know the argument for contraception is all about controlling when birth takes place in a woman’s life. I do understand that. I know I’m being nitpicky about my definitions and calling contraceptives ‘birth control.’ However, I honestly think that is part of the problem in this war against women (and it is a war). Many contraceptives do far more for women than simply allow her some freedom to choose when or if she becomes pregnant and births a child.

Many options for contraception also alleviate symptoms of PMS and cramps as well as regulating a woman’s cycle. Men simply do not understand these things. Men do not understand how debilitating menstrual cramps can sometimes be. Men do not truly suffer from PMS—though I freely admit I did my best to make every man in my life suffer whenever I was dealing with it. It is also worth noting that contraceptive options such as low-estrogen pills are sometimes prescribed to women who are in menopause to help alleviate some of their suffering.

Contraceptives are preventative medications and preventative health care for women. They are more than simply “birth control.” The fact that so many want to refer to it as birth control and spout off about it being a license to ‘do things’ are doing so because of the fine line I mentioned earlier. They focus on the ‘birth’ aspect for many reasons, but one of them is because they know what I have already said: once a woman is pregnant, very little about the birth is in her control. And if that is naturally not really in her control, then she shouldn’t have any control at all. Why? Because even nature doesn’t put a woman in control of her own body. Nature decides when or if she ovulates, menstruates, gives birth, and goes through menopause. If that is how women are created, then it must be meant for them to not have any control over their bodies except for what they can exert with their minds and strength of will.

This is why I think “birth control” is a misnomer and part of the problem. I don’t disagree with the fact that contraceptives should be able to be called by the name and not have any problems. However, I have learned over the years that I have to think like my enemy in order to get ahead sometimes. In the case of birth control options, I really do think it all boils down to this fine line. Which is really just a bunch of drowning politicians and regressives grasping at straws to try to keep long-dead problems alive.

Shame: Guest Post by "Vagina"

RTSV loves when you guys submit guest posts. This latest one was submitted by a woman who wishes to be known as "Vagina." She is from Huron Ohio.

Shame is something I personally know a lot about. Not because I feel shameful but because others view me as shameful. I was attacked this weekend by a man who felt that because I am a strong, confident, and independent woman that I should be ashamed of myself because of my job. That shame he was talking about is informed to him by the moral teachings of culture. Through our inherited cultures and religions, we are taught rules of female sexual conduct. Our learned morals act as a regulator upon our sexual behavior, and some people in our society believe it is their duty to regulate it.  It’s a script that every culture and religion has - especially around women, sex, and feminine sexual power.

Divinely inspired religions are the backbone of America, and nearly all of them deny female sexual access and unbridled female sexual pleasure in some form or another. Many exert an extreme control over female sexual conduct. It is inevitable however, that the pursuit of sexual liberation will eventually lead us to question our beliefs, and I assert that is exactly the reason why religion is obsessed with thwarting our pleasure, and suppressing female sexuality. When we realize that religion is wrong about female pleasure, feminine power, and sex, then it could be wrong about a lot of other things as well.

It seems to me that culture and religion are the origins of sexual shame. All cultures, religious or otherwise, are made up of behaviors, symbols, and ideals that, when fully wired into our brains, are taken to be universal truths - things we believe in absolutely. When it comes to female sexuality, we believe in absolutes. Everyday, around the world, people fight, live, and die for the symbols and ideals they believe in. Simply put, a symbol is something that stands for something else, condensing emotion and meaning into a very potent form. Female sexuality is potently symbolic - representing far more than genitalia, orientation, or sex. On one hand, female sexuality represents the continuation of life, maternal certainty, the passing on of specific genes, and possibility of controlled blood lines. On the other hand, it represents the call to life, power, passion, and total freedom.

Our culture, regarding female sexual conduct, continues to grab a fierce hold onto the female mind - in the form of sexual shame. For most people, a woman who is in touch with her feminine sexual self  is alarming and people tend to be afraid of her. In our culture it seems to me that whenever a woman expresses herself in a confident sexual way she is then labeled a whore. What that sexual shame, guilt, and ignorance actually creates is tremendous amounts of cultural, ritualized sexual abuse, and depression. The more we shame and repress our own and others sexuality, the more bizarre the acting out of sexuality that occurs in real life. Growing up in a home where religion played a huge role in my sexuality and how I was raised it occurred to me that body shame began at birth. I exited the womb out of “the dirty, place, down there.” It was literally a shame to be born. (At least my mother viewed it that way.) In my household these religious beliefs can be boiled down to this; women are evil, sex is bad, and the body is naturally dirty. I was able to break free from the hold religion played on my sexuality. My sisters however were not able to.

Personally, I find that sexuality brings us closer to our mortality and nature than anything else. I think religion keeps people from accepting the fact that humans are not really as exalted and above nature as we've been led to believe by religion. Sexuality, if allowed to run freely, has the power to challenge that. This is also the reason why it's so dangerous for those that believe in the idea that religion is what defines you sexually.

Sex, science, and the Internet are continuing to dramatically change and challenge our cultural landscape. In spite of the best attempts by fanatics to constrict culture and move it back to “the good old days” - the reality is that culture is in a constant state of flux, and so is female sexuality.


Though our brains are slow to adapt to the sweeping cultural changes occurring right now, I assert it is our duty to update our own beliefs around female sexual conduct. We have to free ourselves of cultural and religious sexual shame - and stop the suppression of female sexuality within our own psychology, and bring that change into our society at large.

Vagina Schmagina

On June 13, Lisa Brown stood on the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives and argued that her Jewish faith rules in favor of the mother if her life is at risk while pregnant. She pointed out that she does not ask anyone to adopt her religious beliefs, so why would she have to adopt someone else’s. She ended  with:

“And finally Mr. Speaker, I am flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but no means no.”

As a result, Brown was banned from speaking on the House floor. Women and men all over the country are angry about this blatant, sexist event. You can read the full story here.

One funny thing happened though. Twitter blew up with #VaginaMovieLines in support of Brown and women’s rights in general. Seems like everyone chimed in (and frankly, once you start, it’s hard to stop). So I collected some of the best #VaginaMovieLines for you to read. This is just a small sampling of thousands.

What happened to Lisa Brown is serious and wrong but it’s important to always see the humor.

Enjoy!

Houston, we have a vagina!

Luke…..I am your vagina.

The first rule of vagina club is you do not talk about VAGINA CLUB!

Second rule is You DO NOT talk about VAGINA CLUB!

There’s no crying in vagina!

Ever dance with the vagina in the pale moonlight?

What happens in vagina...stays in vagina.

Here’s looking at you, Vagina.

It rubs the vagina on the skin or else it gets the hose again.

Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Vagina!

I love the smell of vagina in the morning.

A census taker once tried to test me, I ate his vagina with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

A vagina by any other name would smell as sweet.

Frankly my Dear, I don’t give a vagina.

You had me at vagina.

Vagina, for lack of a better word, is good.

You want the vagina? You can’t HANDLE the vagina!

Go ahead…..Make my vagina!

May the vagina be with you.

We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of vaginas.

C’mon! Let’s win one for the vagina!

We’re gonna need a bigger vagina.

 Somewhere over the vagina.

 Of all the vaginas in the world….she had to walk into mine.

And Finally…NOBODY PUTS VAGINA IN THE CORNER!


Vaginas WILL remember in November!
Go Forth, Raise Hell and Rock The Vagina Vote in 2012!!!!!

Penile Implants COVERED By Medicare

So ladies, a man who wishes to make his penis firmer can do so and have it covered by Medicare or his insurance plan. Hmmm…what are the health benefits? A firmer penis! That’s not a “health” benefit. It’s yet another way for men to obsess about what’s really important to them. It's all about sex. Recreational sex. Not procreation.

Now, before you start criticizing me for male bashing, please understand I don’t hate men. Not at all, but it is annoying how their John Thomas seems to rule almost everything they say and do. They want to legislate our reproductive rights and de-fund Planned Parenthood but they are allowed to enjoy medically enhanced sexual pleasure funded by John and Jane Q. Taxpayer.

Women’s rights are under attack. The GOP is frothing at the mouth while they think up new ways to destroy the quality of women’s lives in America. They want to take away the availability of birth control. One way they are doing this is giving permission to pharmacists to deny a woman birth control if it goes against the religious beliefs of the pharmacist. Seriously. They want to make it impossible to sue an employer if we find out a male counterpart makes more money for doing the same job. They want to eradicate abortions. The list goes on and on and on and on. They want to strip us of our rights and our dignity and have succeeded in convincing the majority of women in their own party to believe this war is simply a liberal distraction.

Frankly, I don’t care if a man feels the need to firm up his penis with rods and cylinders so that he can enjoy sex. I also don’t care if it’s covered by insurance. Insurance coverage does not use my tax dollars to fund procedures. You must ask yourself why they care so much about our contraception when they don't have to pay for it? The individual pays into to their own benefits but somehow the GOP has convinced its own that by having birth control covered, taxpayers are footing the bill. “I just don’t want to have to pay for YOUR choice,” is their repeated lament. Over and over to the point where it’s obvious that once again a lie that is repeated enough is perceived as truth. Medicare is funded by you, the taxpayer. You are funding these procedures so that elderly men who are getting implants can enjoy intercourse!

Birth control does in fact have health benefits. It can reduce severe menstrual cramps (I know this to be true from experience), it can help with endometriosis, it's used to fight against ovarian cysts and MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT REDUCES ABORTIONS!

Can you IMAGINE how men would react if Liberals decided to take away penile implants and Viagra?  

So what are you going to do about this? Accept it? Throw your hands in the air and say “Oh well, you can’t fix stupid.” Or are you going to get up off your arse and DO something about it. The clock is ticking. Your support is needed. We have the numbers but we don’t have the Koch Brothers funding a billion dollars to our cause. No, they are spending a billion dollars (literally) to get Mitt Romney elected—you know, that guy who wears magic underwear, isn't worried about the poor and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fun Fact: He also impersonated a police officer more than once and that is a felony. He just wasn't caught.

I write a lot of political articles. I have to read all the latest headlines and I have a decent understanding of what is REALLY happening with this country and let me tell you, we are in a SERIOUS CRISIS. It’s still possible to stand up and say HELL NO! We have five months to unite, to inform and to VOTE!

So before I end this, I remind you again. Penile implants are covered by most insurance companies. Birth control is at risk . WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?????

What WE Can Learn From 'The Battle At Kruger' (VIDEO)

A Message From RTSV Spokeswoman Kimberley Johnson:

I write for the liberal site Addicting Info. I like to read the comments people make on my articles as well as my colleagues. For the most part, people are fired up. They understand the importance of voting and being informed.

 Sometimes, I see that people say things like:

“Big money will win.”

“What's the point of voting when they fix the elections anyway?"

“You can’t fix stupid.”

And then I saw this one:

“10) This election will not be about facts.
  9) This election will not be about personalities.
  8) This election will not be about two opposing stories.
  6) This election will not be about the 1%.

  7) This election will not be about Wall St.
  5) This election will be about the 50.01+% (or at least an image of the 50.01+%).
  4) This election will be about Main St. (and to which side Main St. “belongs”).
  3) This election will be about the size and number of red vs. blue states.
  2) This election will be about whether red or blue voters are “more” American.

1) This election will be about who votes and who stays home.”

For those of you who feel like the other side has too much money, power and corruption and that we don’t have a chance, take a few minutes to watch this video, even if you’ve seen it before. It has over 67 million views and it’s absolutely fascinating!!! TAKE NOTE what happens 4 minutes and 44 seconds into this. HOPE! COURAGE! POWER IN NUMBERS! The lions are the Republicans waging the War On Women. We are the Buffalo. When we make up our minds, we can overcome! And we can do so peacefully and in solidarity.