I'm Waiting...

For the usual things you guys know about--for my prince to come, spring break, the dissertation to write itself, and these extra pounds to magically disappear (though I have lost 13 lbs since January 27, thank you very much). But what I'm waiting on most is for people to get angry.

I mean, all the people I expect to be mad are. Quinn is. Angry Black Bitch stays that way. Bitch, PhD is peeved. Twisty Faster is in a lovely uproar. My best friend is caught somewhere between mad and profoundly sad. My sister has pronounced it a damned shame. These people I expect to be upset. I am familiar with their beliefs and politics on the subject.

But when does everyone else get mad that legislators are deciding that they have a right, based on their religious and/or misogynistic beliefs to control all women's reproductive systems? I get the e-mails from NARAL, see the coverage of South Dakota's "law" on the web, get the disgruntled calls from my friends. Again, all this is expected. What I'm waiting on is Ms. and Mr. Average America to stand up and say, "This goes too far. I'm tired of the conservative hypocrisy of claiming to want smaller government and less interference in our lives while agitating for control over people's bedrooms. I'm tired of them claiming to care about life of the 'unborn' but cutting and denigrating every social service they fear will help the already born. I'm tired of them insisting that every woman who has an abortion will be traumatized and psychologically damaged at some point. And I'm tired of them pretending that this is about protection when we all know this about punishing alleged sexual promiscuity and promoting the band-aid cure of heterosexual-marriage-and-nuclear-family for any problem that ails us."

Why isn't this happening, people? I do not believe the majority of Americans are anti-choice. Hell, I believe many in that camp are only anti-choice when it comes to other people's daughters, wives, nieces, etc. How far will they have to go before people are alarmed? Would we be more irate if they were threatening birth control--cuz they are you know? Would it be more offensive if they were telling us who to sleep with and when and under what circumstances to do so--cuz, yep, that's implied too. Would we be bothered a bit more if we knew that the only women they value are good Christians who "save" themselves for marriage--and that's a nice paraphrase.

So what is it going to take? What's going to make people realize that women's freedom is in jeopardy? When will we acknowledge that paying lip service to equality while doing everything to undermine it is wrong? When will people call the anti-choicers on their bluff.

Twisty, I'm with you on this one. I sooooo Blame the Patriarchy.