Backlash, abortion, & sexism vs. socialism
Topics: Sexism
02 Mar 1994
From: ervan
Hildegard,
I thought we might have a chance for a better forum, but it does not
seem to present itself. So, while this is still on my mind, I wanted to
cover one other topic in Backlash that we did not address: abortion. I was
going to save this for entirely separate treatment, but at this late date I
think that I will simply subsume it under my point that opposing feminism is
not the same thing as sexism. I'm also cc'ing Paul on this since he has
read Backlash and we have discussed abortion at length before.
In the case of being opposed to comparable worth, family leave, pay
equity, and AFDC, you seemed somewhat equivocal on whether or not that
constitutes sexism. I'd still like a clarification. While some people may
oppose those things because of sexism mere opposition does not demonstrate
sexism. I think abortion makes this distinction even clearer.
I do remember your specifically mentioning Faludi's point about
restrictions on abortion as proving that backlash was occurring. Do you
hold to that? I think I have previously said that I am pro-choice on
abortion and always have been. I was even part of the clinic defense during
the '92 Republican convention. However, I have changed my mind two or three
times about what the most important reason for being pro-choice is (not that
any of the old reasons became invalid but only that first principles got
reorganized--in particular, I have changed my mind about rape being a
special case).
So, I can at least see the objection of the anti-choice forces. It
is simply that a fetus is a person. Mere convenience of the mother, no
matter how great, until the point of her own life being threatened, does not
justify murder. I think the facts and reasoning are both very slippery here
and they obviously do not convince me. But, they are not obviously wrong
either. The point is that this debate rages completely outside of any
question of sexism. Surely someone can sincerely believe that a fetus is a
person without being sexist. Also, surely someone can be horrified at the
thought of 'murdering a baby' on its own merits without any concern for
being sexist or feminist. So, Faludi's claim that restrictions on abortion
demonstrate increasing backlash just does not hold up. In particular, women
are as in favor of restrictions as men are (within a couple of percentage
points, depending on the particular question). Similarly, there are
principled reasons for being opposed to the socialist agenda of feminism
without being sexist.
Try this thought experiment, though it is something of a stretch:
The government decides to end black versus Hispanic bickering over who gets
the handouts. It is going to tax one group for money to educate the other
group in the hopes of pushing them into clearly distinct social classes.
Tomorrow Clinton will flip a coin. Heads, blacks are taxed $x each and the
money distributed to Hispanics. Tails, just the converse. Now, whichever
way it falls, one race will be unfairly burdened. You don't get to do
anything about the coin toss; it's beyond your control. You don't get to
object that it's a really stupid idea; it's the government after all.
However, you do get to decide how much x should be. But, you have to decide
tonight, not tomorrow! If the coin were to land heads and Henry Cisneros
then came out with a study showing that optimal x is $2K/year to elevate
Hispanics, blacks would instantly reject it as prejudicial, no matter its
content or clarity of analysis.
---Ervan
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