Last month, the state of Alabama passed what is easily the most restrictive and regressive legislation related to abortion since Roe v. Wade, placing a possible felony charge on any doctor who performs abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. If other states follow in suit, that famous case—Roe v. Wade —could actually see a re-challenge in the supreme court. This is terrifying, not only for women seeking safe access to abortions, but for any doctor who performs them—a felony awaits anyone in Alabama who performs what is, in most states, a sterile, safe and medical procedure.
So, how did social media and the smug, semi-Hollywood talking heads react to a bill that affects mostly working-class women? Well, by hijacking the issue for their own bourgeois, leftist narrative, of course.
Particularly, C-level "celebrity" and semi-has-been "feminist," Alyssa Milano, took to Twitter and declared that, in order to draw attention to the need for abortion, women should "go on strike" by withholding sex. Apparently, she did this to get "national attention" on the abortion law, because god only knows that no one was talking about it and it was the Twitter account of a has-been actor that really broke the news. Take that, mainstream media!
!!!SHAWNA - INSERT ABORTION-1.JPG HERE, THE TWEET SCREENSHOT!!!!
Let’s ignore the fact that Milano’s not even being original. The idea itself (that women can use the power of pussy to fight gender inequality) is not a new one—Greek mythology and Aristophanes’ Lysistrata (made popular by Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq) tells this story. And, let’s ignore the fact that the time gap between Alyssa Milano’s last relevant role and her current age is wide enough to contain a legal-aged adult, who would probably do a much better job speaking on relevant topics that affect young women. Oh, and let’s totally forget that most pro-life men aren’t looking to aging, radical feminists for advice (or sex). Further, let’s ignore the fact that Alyssa has insinuated that only straight couples have sex and that all straight couples involve a pro-choice female who is sleeping with a pro-life male. Ignore all the nuance and boil this down to brass tacks.
Finally, let’s ignore any far-right or radical, left talking points about how long into a pregnancy abortion should be allowed, as well as any moral or ethical stance aside from the obvious, that being a strict anti-rape and pro-consent position—one that I honestly hope all of our readers agree with. Here’s the problem with the idea that a "sex strike" can cause pro-life women and men to reconsider their stance on abortion: the vast majority (if not every one) of the abortions undergone are as a result of (and are legislated to protect cases of) rape and incest. In other words, abortion is most commonly needed in cases where the victim is already momentarily on strike against sex that is being forced on (not offered to) them. Try saying, "Sorry, I’m on strike" to drunk Uncle Earl from the Alabama trailer park. I’m sure he’ll listen, stop doing what he was doing and then sit down for a long talk about consent, preferred pronouns and the importance of third-wave feminism in comic book movies.
How fucking ignorant and elitist do you have to be, to assume that a "sex strike" will prevent those exact cases of abortion, in which the majority of people on all sides of the political spectrum agree on? How wrapped up in your own, pre-programmed, narrative-driven agenda do you have to be, to see a threat toward women as an opportunity to attack men??? This is the equivalent of saying, "I won’t teach any more kids in my class, until they go on strike against adults who shoot up schools," or "I won’t treat any more cancer patients, until people without cancer go on strike against cigarettes." Forget victim-blaming—Alyssa Milano is straight-up victim ignoring. In her world, every sexual act involves a consensual act between two people. Rape? Incest? Those things must not exist—abortion is, after all, clearly reserved for those of us who forget to take Plan B and later on decide that the baby daddy isn’t really our type.
Seriously, go to hell, Alyssa. "Rape exists" or "women can just say ’no’ to sex." Choose one.
Breaking the issue down, this is not as simple as the usual "white cis hetero man bad, everyone else good" scenarios. The Governor of Alabama—a woman—signed the bill into law (her name is Kate Ivy, by the way and she can be contacted at 334-242-7100). Pat Robertson and Tomi Lahren—both extreme-right religious and political figures, respectively—publicly denounced the bill as disgusting and damaging to women. Meanwhile, neo-fauxmenist talking heads (who don’t deserve a mention here) used the bill’s newsworthiness to bash men, even though many doctors who will be facing felony charges for performing abortions are, well, men. To further complicate the issue, we live in the age of respecting non- traditional gender identities, which means that, technically, "men can’t get pregnant" is a transphobic statement—yet, it’s easily the best argument to be made for the autonomy of women’s bodies and self- ownership. Do we recognize that 45% of the population may lose their rights, while risking being offensive and non-inclusive to 5% or less of the population? What about "white privilege" and the fact that most pale women from Hollywood can access clean and safe abortion within two blocks? This is all going down in Alabama—a state so "progressive," that I’m pretty sure they outlawed slavery sometime around 1998. Why don’t the liberal elite travel below the bible belt and assist the women who need access to abortion? Well, the south is gross and country music sucks. But, ya know, that doesn’t stop us from weighing in on the issue from the comfort of our downtown Seattle loft.
At the end of the day, I remain a lowercase "L" libertarian. I am pro-choice for the same reason I am pro-gun and free speech: my body, my property. Your body, your property. But, when I suggest that women arm themselves and practice speaking in loud, assertive tones, I’m told that I’m verbally endorsing "hetero-normative standards" and that I shouldn’t be "encouraging violence." I’m sorry, but until we live in some Tele-Tubbian utopia where rapists are willing to listen and incest is outlawed in Alabama, I’m gonna side with reality here. Every woman should have handgun training and a pink .22 to go with it. And, until people stop assaulting each other, I think every woman out there should go "on strike" against the fifth-wave feminist nonsense that tells you not to have agency and self-ownership. Your body, your choice. But, once that choice is violated...your hands, your gun, his dick, possibly two rounds in the neck...you get my point. Especially if you live in Bumfuck, Alabama.
Back to Alyssa Milano and others who think that "sticking it to men" will help economically ravaged communities fight off decades of Bible-belt-area laws that govern women’s reproductive health...pull your head out of your ass and put the fringe identity politics down. We get it—you hate your ex, you’re an aging Hollywood has-been and your fifteen minutes of C-level fame has run out. That is no reason to use the most dangerous abortion law in decades as a platform for your strip mall brand of man-hating fauxmenism. Women’s lives are at risk.
And, I’ll repeat this until it sinks in: rape victims already tried saying "no" to sex. They don’t have security guards or thousands of Instagram followers. They’re real people, often without the resources to make the northbound-slave drive to a state where abortion is legal.
