Jessica Valenti (who is apparently pregnant - congratulations) writes,
Putting aside for a moment the fact that this line of reasoning is completely desperate, I have to say that part of the reason Palin and other “feminists” scare me so much is because I’m a happy woman with a family of my own, including a baby on the way. I want my daughter to grow up in a country that sees her as a full human being and has laws and policies that reflect as much – not one where politicians take her rights away and call it feminism.And seemingly in Jessica’s mind, the central way for her unborn daughter to be seen as full human being in our society is to make sure that the intentional killing of unborn human beings (like her daughter) is legal for mothers who don’t want them.
Would you like a side of french fries with that cognitive dissonance?
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Shouldn't "baby on the way" be replaced with "disposable, useless clump of cells"?
ReplyDeleteLOVE your rhetoric. I agree that pro-choice does not equal pro-woman. I actually recently blogged on the topic the other day in a political perspective...would love your feedback!
ReplyDeletehttp://vskultureshok.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-dont-trust-women-in-politics-at.html
What rationale do you have for claiming cognitive dissonance?
ReplyDeleteJessica has chosen to have her baby. She could have chosen not to.
She wants that baby to have free choice once it grows up, the same as she has.
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeleteQuick question - Do you typically refer to the unborn as babies (as you did above in reference to Jessica's child)? Do you do so when you're arguing about abortion?
To answer your question, Jessica typically dehumanizes unborn human beings in an attempt to strengthen her arguments in favor of abortion but she doesn't dehumanize her own unborn daughter. Her conflicting cognitions are 1.) The unborn aren't valuable human beings who deserve society's protection.
2.) My unborn daughter is a valuable human being and society should protect her rights, especially the right to abortion.
Can you really not see the conflict in the believing that an unborn child (in this case - Jessica's daughter) won't been seen as a full human being by society unless the society has laws and policies which allow the yet unborn child to have abortions.
In Jessica's mind, the only way our society will think of women as full human beings is if it is legal for them to kill other human beings, which can only be done by dehumanizing them.
JJ, my position is that it is a baby once it is born, until then it is a fetus.
ReplyDeleteJessica has chosen to have her/a baby - at the moment it is a fetus.
She wants it to have free choice after it is born. Nitpicking language I know but I don't want you to misconstrue my meaning.
Jessica didn't say 'my unborn daughter', she said 'a baby on the way' (meaning one is coming). And 'I want my daughter to grow up...(with rights)...', being after she is actually born. Language again.
So, no cognitive dissonance.
Hi Eric,
ReplyDeleteBut didn't you just call Jessica's unborn child a "baby?" Maybe you have your own issue with cognitive dissonance.
When you say born do you mean completely born? For example, is the child "born" when half of their body is outside the mother?
Do you think abortion should be legal until the child is completely born?
Do you recognize that the unborn are living human beings?
Well, she didn't say "future daughter" - now maybe that's what she meant - but that's not what she said. To me, she clearly seems to be thinking of her own unborn child as a valuable human being while having no problem dehumanizing other unborn human beings because their mothers don't want them.
No JJ, I said Jessica has 'chosen to have her baby', meaning she will proceed with carrying a fetus until a baby is born. No cognitive dissonance.
ReplyDeleteDoes she even know if she is having a boy or girl? Her reference to 'my daughter' most likely means any daughter she may happen to give birth to.
Born - once it is delivered, the cord is cut, and it is breathing with it's own lungs.
"JJ, my position is that it is a baby once it is born, until then it is a fetus."
ReplyDeleteWhatever you call her, she is a human being from the moment of fertilization.