bumper sticker madness

I saw a bumper sticker today that read "Real Men Love Jesus".

I'd like to design one that says "Real Men Love Consent". Because seriously--we women can march the streets day and night crying out to stop sexual assaults, but it is the men (who commit the majority of sexual assaults) who need to be taking more action.

Men--stop laughing at rape jokes*. Stop implying women are 'asking for it'. Start treating all females the way you would want any and all men to treat your girlfriend/wife/mother/sister/daughter (and if you're okay with any of these women in your life being attacked, you are in need of serious help).

Or let's broaden things more: "Real Men Are Respectful". There are plenty of ways to be disrespectful without being a sexual predator. You don't even need to be a feminist/egalitarian. I find nothing inherently disrespectful in complementarianism if it's entered into of one's own accord. Not my thing, but whatever.

Just be respectful of your fellow human beings. I don't need to be put on a pedestal for being female, but don't try to knock me off my feet either.




*unless, and I find it highly unlikely, you're using humor as a way of dealing with your own experiences as a rape victim. People use humor to deal with all sorts of trauma.

Where are the fathers?

I had the opportunity to break bread with a man of about 24, whose girlfriend had an abortion. He had begged her not to-he wanted to raise the child, to be a father...to take responsibility for his actions.

I hold this in contrast to another young man who identified as "pro-choice". When asked what he would do if he got a girl pregnant and she refused to abort, he said "I'd leave the country, change my name...anything to avoid having to pay for it!". When questioned about a vasectomy, he asked "why should I have to do all that?".

The first man is a MAN. The second will never be anything more than a boy.

On Facebook there is a group called "I bet I can find 1,000,000 men against abortion". The description is heartening:

GENTLEMEN: We must stand strong in the defense of innocent pre-born babies. Real men defend and protect their children- that is THE core of what it means to be a man.

Men do not need to be given the right to stand against abortion, because we already have a RESPONSIBILITY to do so. We have been oppressed for long enough as it pertains to asserting the our rights as fathers in protecting our children.

The time to act is NOW.

This will offend some pro-choice feminists, I'm sure--a common argument is that as men will never get pregnant, they shouldn't get a say in abortion rights. This argument completely and utterly discredits the feelings, emotions, and connections that men have to their offspring. Are these women all dating boys, I wonder?

In the next few days I'll be posting about how I went from being pro-choice to pro-life, and the mistakes I made myself.