The First Feminist President, Barack Obama

[freshwest]

Last edited Sat Oct 18, 2014, 10:49 PM - Edit history (4)

by Mandy Van Deven

March 23, 2009

On January 20th the first self-identified feminist was named President of the United States of America. Just two days after taking office, Barack Obama performed his first presidential act of solidarity with women around the world by repealing the Global Gag Rule. Established in 1984 by President Reagan, the Global Gag Rule denies aid to international groups "which perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning."

The Global Gag Rule has come to be seen as a litmus test of the current US President's stance on women's rights, though it is just one aspect of the complicated story of the impact of American reproductive rights policy in countries around the globe. [17]



After witnessing the impact of President Bush's reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule, Michelle Goldberg, journalist, author, and long-time critic of the Bush Administration's policies on sexual and reproductive health, decided that a book about the global battle for reproductive justice was long overdue. So she wrote The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World. [17]

The cover art depicting a woman holding the Earth on her shoulders is more than appropriate for this deeply-researched, historically-informed examination: fifty years worth of research about four continents has convinced Goldberg that women's oppression is at the crux of many of the world's most intractable challenges. She illustrates how US policies act as a catalyst for or an impediment to women's rights worldwide, and puts forth a convincing argument that women's liberation worldwide is key to solving some of our most daunting problems.

"Underlying diverse conflicts - demography, natural resources, human rights, and religious mores - is the question of who controls the means of reproduction," she writes. "Women's intimate lives have become inextricably tied to global forces."

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2009/03/23/controlling-means-reproduction-an-interview-with-michelle-goldberg/

The war on women is not just a war on women, but on men, too. Men who don't support women's rights are sealing their own fate.

Not just an American problem. It is about global control and reducing all of mankind to commodities.

[Hekate]

1. 5th Rec, 1st Kick.

It's good to wake up in the morning and know that Barack Obama is still President.

Hekate

[sheshe2]

2. Kicked and Recommending!

It had everything to do with the rise of the Christian right and the transformation of the GOP into a populist, religiously conservative political party. Republicans used to champion family planning because they saw it as key to international security. In the 1960s, many hardcore Cold Warriors were in a panic that overpopulation was going to cause such misery worldwide that countries would succumb to communist revolution. George H.W. Bush was so obsessed with distributing contraception that he was nicknamed "rubbers!"

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2009/03/23/controlling-means-reproduction-an-interview-with-michelle-goldberg/

Excellent reading freshwest. I look forward to more.

[freshwest]

5. My problem is sourcing what I found on my records. On the same page above this interview, is a more

interesting group of paragraphs that say more of what this is about but I can't find a link to that part. If there was one.

It begins as if I was writing an OP and added this woman's writings at the end, those two paragraphs are part of a much larger and informative file I have. I'll keep trying to source. When I'm gathering data and reasoning things out, this seldom happens, so it's a bit odd.

Maybe the link is gone, but I can't find the text or anything remotely like it online. I don't know to post something like that. I could source it to 'Anon' but I suspect some of it is my writing, but I'm sure not all is.

And my hard drive is acting up. I'll get back to you guys, thanks for the replies. Anyone should feel free to add any information to this thread regarding our first feminist President.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Very interesting

subject matter. And a great way to look at President Obama.

[SunSeeker]

4. K & R

[Cha]

6. Thank you for putting this in the BOG,

fresh!

It's part of PBO's legacy that he's been an amazing advocate for women. It should be, "of course!".. but, into today's gop climate of their WAR ON WOMEN.. it is very much Appreciated!

President Obama is a champion of Equal Rights for ALL.

[freshwest]

8. There is a video to go with this, but I refused to be trolled in another forum. At least PBO cares.

So anything I post regarding women or children's rights, will be posted here with those who respect our first feminist POTUS.

As the song I posted on the thread here, when U2 said:

'And I miss you when you're not around...'

He won't always be around.

We better make hay for human rights while the sun is shining on us now.

This is serious, no joke.

[Cha]

9. Yes, it's serious, fresh.. that's why

we're all here.

BOG

[Whisp]

7. He sees everyone as equals.

First time for a President.

He has respect for everyone, first time for a President (Jimmy Carter would be close)

He really does care about the lives of ordinary people, he thinks about it every day. That is definitely a First time for a President (hmm, maybe the exception would be Carter again). Most of them are there just to protect their own junk when they leave office to rake in the cash.

There will never be another Obama. People are missing out on the best chance ever to help change the unequal system. If anyone thinks there can be a more 'progressive' (gawd I'm getting fucking sick of that word and how it's misused) President next term, or the term after - I say: HA! IN YOUR DREAMS. It's now or never. The time is now to back him up because time is running out.

[freshwest]

10. Please give this excellent OP by Stonepounder a read:

A Prosecutor weighs in on fetal personhood and criminalizing abortion

From the OP, please read the words of the prosecutor quoted below and more at the link that goes along with it:

...But I’ve been watching a lot of Republican candidates for federal office saying a lot of stuff about pregnancy and rape, and pregnancies resulting from rape, over the last several weeks, and I am simply unable to keep my mouth shut any longer. Because as all of my friends know, I’ve been prosecuting rape, child abuse and homicide for over a decade and a half, and this is a subject that I happen to know quite a lot about. And I am deeply disturbed by the personhood movement, by the idea that there should be specified exceptions to a blanket criminalization of abortion, and by the fact that the group of mostly men propounding this policy seem to have absolutely no FREAKING idea what they are actually trying to do here. Since I think that my perspective as a prosecutor might be relevant, I intend to provide it. Read on if you want to hear it. Skip this if you don’t.

First off, I want to talk about an abortion ban that leaves exceptions in place only for instances of rape, incest or life of the mother. The first thing that I want to say about this policy is this: this is a pro-choice position. The proponents can call it whatever the hell they want, but the bottom line is that this position is pro-choice. A person who takes this position is acknowledging that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy. What we are actually quibbling about here is who gets to decide when the woman’s reason is good enough. With the classic pro-choice position, the person who gets to decide if the woman’s reason is good enough is the woman. Herself. The rape/incest exception people – their position is that they get to decide if someone else’s (i.e., some other woman’s) reason is good enough. I am pro-her-choice. They are pro-their-choice...

So, personhood for a cluster of cells means that abortion could equal aggravated murder. Really, do Republicans want us prosecuting girls and women for the aggravated homicide of their zygotes? Is that the plan here? Do they actually want to impose the death penalty, or will life in prison be sufficient to satisfy their pathological need to punish women for the crime of being sexually active? Of course, if the woman is guilty, so is the man who facilitates her in procuring an abortion – boys, if you take your girlfriend to Planned Parenthood for an abortion, we’re going to imprison you both for murder. It’s called a “conspiracy.” In case you were wondering...

http://thedeadauthorsclub.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/fetal-personhood-and-criminalizing-abortion-a-prosecutors-perspective/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3346858

I am also noting the post that the OP author made further down:

I honestly believe that the whole "pro-life" thing is about men who have a need to abuse women 'legally'. If the actually cared about the 'child' they wouldn't be trying to cut off access to contraceptives, they wouldn't be treating rape as a joke, and they would be working to make sure that the unwanted and/or disabled children that are born as a result of their mean-spirited laws are taken care of and nurtured. Instead of frothing at the mouth about food stamps, and school-lunch programs, and screaming about having to provide insurance that covers contraception.

And of course women will always find a way to get an abortion. The rich ones will fly off to where abortion is legal and the poor ones will return to the back-alley abortionists. And yes, many will die. And the 'pro-life' crowd ill just see it as 'their punishment'

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023346858#post3

Stonepounder has been here a few years, but not posted much. This was certainly worth the wait to learn this DUer's take on this.

[treestar]

11. K&R

And we have people declaring there to be no difference between R and D.

[freshwest]

12. And spreading disinformation to depress the vote. At least they won't do it here with impunity.