Mollywogger

OK, it's time to blog.

Recently, Donna posted a transcript of a diatribe on Hurricane Katrina found on a popular religious website (basically, that it is God's punishment for the U.S. support of the displacement of thousands of Jews from the West Bank -- with a little bit of gay marriage and abortion thrown in for good measure). 

I'm always amazed by the disgusting lengths people will go to in order to blame a natural disaster on its victims.  It's always seemed a bit like blaming a brutal rape on its victim.

However, I usually react to this type of rhetoric with a weary shake of the head, knowing that there will always be alarmists who believe that the best way of leading "the lost" to God is to scare them all the way to church.  However, one of the recent "theories" on Hurricane Katrina's arrival had me nearly blowing steam out of every orifice.

Salon.com noted recently that a group calling themselves Columbia Christians (uh huh . . . ) for Life has noted what it considers an eerie resemblance between a satellite image of Hurricane Katrina and that of a developing fetus.  An email with the pictures side-by-side has started circulation.  It seems that, to these "Christians," the massive amount of destruction and death on the Gulf Coast is a small price to pay for the destruction of 5 "child-murder-by-abortion" clinics in New Orleans.

Perhaps if we stopped blaming natural disasters on questions of "morals" and started looking at their real causes (global weather changes due to dependence on fossil fuels, etc.), we could come closer to preventing storms of this magnitude in the future.  But, evidently, it's easier to judge others and assign blame than to do what we can to protect the earth from legislators that favor the oil company that gives the most in campaign contributions over the health of our planet.

**Edited: I have removed the quote from Jerry Falwell, since I realized that he had been referring to September 11, not Hurricane Katrina.  Fact checking = important.  Oops.  My apologies to the good reverend.

Caution: Long, Ranty Post Ahead

Yesterday I watched 2 movies – Vera Drake and The Magdalene Sisters. Since then, I’ve been turning the movies over in my head, making connections and drawing morals and comparing characters, like the good little English major I am.

In case you haven’t seen the movies (and I highly recommend both, if you don’t mind a day that’s relatively depressing), Vera Drake is the story of the title character, a woman with “a heart of gold” who lives in London in 1950. Her life is spent in helping others, including her husband and two children, her ailing mother, a family that lives nearby, and young man who lives alone and has no family to share meals with. During the day, Vera cleans beautiful, opulent houses full of objects she’d never be able to afford.

And, about once a week, Vera “helps young girls out” by performing abortions, which were illegal in Britain at that time. Most of the women are destitute, and Vera’s associate Lillian charged the women 2 pounds for the procedure (without Vera knowing that money was being exchanged). There are hints in the movie that Vera underwent a similar procedure herself before she was married. She is horrified when she learns that one of her patients nearly died after her procedure, and promptly arrested. We observe as her family members are informed, one by one, of her secret illegal activities, and watch the subsequent trial.

Vera’s story runs in counterpart to the story of a young woman who lives in one of the houses she cleans. One night she is raped by an acquaintance (in what was to be the first of two filmed rape scenes I was to watch yesterday), and of course found herself pregnant. Being the daughter of a government official with ample financial means, she goes to a doctor who is able to provide her with a hospital abortion, with inpatient care, that legal authorities will conveniently ignore. This procedure, however, costs 150 pounds, an exorbitant and prohibitive fee at a time when a washing machine cost 35 pounds.

The Magdalene Sisters is based on true stories and takes place in rural Ireland about 15 years later. We are introduced to three teenagers: Margaret, who is raped by her cousin at a wedding; Bernadette, a beautiful girl who was raised in an orphanage and has been attracting the eye of local boys; and Rose, who has born a child out of wedlock. All three girls are sent to a Magdalene Asylum, where “fallen women” were sent when abandoned by their families. There the girls are forced to work in the Magdalene laundries from early morning to late night, in the symbolic attempt to “purify” themselves and cleanse themselves of their sins, ostensibly in the same way Mary Magdalene purified herself after renouncing prostitution to follow Jesus.*

The movie follows 4 years in the lives of these 3 women in the laundries. The women are abused physically, derided sexually, and punished severely for any attempts to escape. At the end of the movie, we learn what actually happened to the women that this film was based on. Shockingly, the last of the Magdalene Laundries was not closed until 1996.

In both of these movies, I saw a running theme: these stories show what evils can occur when women are not allowed to control or be properly informed of their own sexuality.

Vera Drake occurs during the time when birth control pills had not yet been released, and only condoms, early diaphragms (available in Europe), and some intrauterine devices, along with withdrawal and the rhythm method, were available. Without reliable birth control and with limited sex education mandated in only some areas, women were frequently left with unwanted pregnancies. Only women with substantial amounts of money were able to obtain safe, semi-legal abortions. The law under which Vera is arrested was written in the 1800s, presumably by men, and the court at which she undergoes trial is, once again, run by only men.

According to the original documentary that is included on that DVD on the history of the laundries, “Sex in a Cold Climate,” birth control was illegal at the time in Ireland, sex education was basically nonexistent, and the Catholic Church disapproved of women even looking at their bodies, not to mention having sex. The Catholic Church, in essence, held all moral control over the country. In rural Ireland, sexuality out of marriage was heavily stigmatized, and families were very likely to abandon daughters who may bring scandal to the family.

When I see movies that show the tragedies that have befallen women who did not have accurate information about their bodies or control over what happened to their bodies, I, of course, am reminded of what is happening in America right now. If you ask me, one of the greatest disservices we can provide to the youth of America is a lack of comprehensive sexual education. I am horrified by the abstinence-only sexual education programs that the Bush administration is touting. I mean, hey, abstinence is great, but it just isn’t an option that the majority of American teens are choosing.

As a nation, if we believe that teaching abstinence-only sexual education is helpful to students, we are fooling ourselves. 88% of students who pledged virginity in middle school and high school still engage in premarital sex. Students who break the pledge are less likely to use contraception when they do have intercourse. Meanwhile, students who receive comprehensive sex education do not engage in more frequent or earlier intercourse, but do use contraceptives and practice safe sex more frequently.**

The more we know, the more power we have. And the more likely we are to prevent the type of moral policing that we are seeing in America today.


*It was generally believed at that time that Mary Magdalene was, in fact, a prostitute. However, there is no biblical or other textual evidence that would indicate that. The leading theory as to how she was assigned this questionable occupation is that Pope Gregory the Great in 591 C.E. declared her as having been a prostitute, perhaps to mirror public opinion. She is frequently confused with Mary of Bethany, the anonymous sinner who anointed Jesus’ feet with costly oils. In truth, she is mentioned in the Bible as: 1) a woman from whom Jesus cast 7 demons, 2) attending Jesus’ crucifixion, 3) witnessing Jesus’ burial, 4) with the group of women who went to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body after burial, and 5) the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. She is frequently referred to as “The Apostle of the Apostles,” as she informed the 12 disciples of Jesus’ resurrection. Perhaps she was later identified as a prostitute due to the Church’s dread of women in places of authority. In 1969, the Catholic Church officially vindicated Mary Magdalene by separating the identities of Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene in print.

**References for all of these are listed here. Yes, I realize it’s Planned Parenthood, but there are studies listed for each statement. I’d find and link to the studies separately, but I’m too lazy busy.

After becoming sick with jealousy upon reading about the healthcare that some of my non-American friends are enjoying, I'd say it's about time someone informed the country that what we've got isn't necessarily the best:

Paul Krugman on Healthcare

Goddamn it, Paul Krugman. You fucking rock my world.

As a University employee, I am glad to see this column.

Me? I'm a member:

Then Paul Krugman goes and says exactly what needs to be said.*

Kudos, P.K.

*NY Times site, so you will need to register to read.