DSK, Meet the US Justice System

It was with some disbelief and dread that I read this story, regarding the leader of the IMF attempting to rape a hotel maid in Manhattan. But so often when ugly things come to light, we wish they would just go away (much like DSK attempted to do when he booked it to the airport shortly after the attack allegedly took place).
It wasn't disbelief rooted in the idea that DSK must be innocent, as his wife has said. I think that privileged, powerful, white men perpetrate or attempt to perpetrate, and think it's perfectly acceptable for themselves to perpetrate, crimes of this nature. My initial disbelief was that the NYPD acted so quickly and decisively.
This isn't because I doubt their ability. It's because in the US as a whole, we have these underlying assumptions that frequently prevent justice from being done at all. The assumption that the victim, in this case a working-class immigrant woman, is not trustworthy and was probably complicit. The assumption that forcing oral sex isn't rape. The assumption that there was a misunderstanding somewhere, and therefore justice is a wag of the finger before the perpetrator is allowed to get back to his life. The assumption that if we pretend this stuff doesn't happen, then it doesn't.
It's for these reasons that I'm rather shocked that the NYPD hauled DSK off his flight and down to the precinct. It gives me hope that in spite of all those assumptions that often prevent justice, that this time justice will be done in the form of a guilty conviction.
But it's only been a day or so, and already DSK's apologists have decided it's a conspiracy and he's innocent and blah blah blah. I'm just waiting for the accusations that the victim was a regretful prostitute or some such nonsense. The fact that I expect that crap to start floating around is pretty telling.
Maybe I can be hopeful. Maybe this signals a greater turn of the tide, where society doesn't just pay lip-service to the awfulness and prevalence of rape but actually attempts to do something about it.

Hear, Hear

From Jay! on the 4/6/11 Best of the Left podcast (emphasis mine):

Finally though, here's the real point I want to make. You only have a finite amount of energy you can dedicate to your interest and passion for politics. Even if you dedicated your whole life and every waking moment, you still only have a very limited amount of time to spend trying to make the world a better place.
I want to encourage you to think deeply about the best way for you to spend the time you choose to dedicate to politics and then prioritize the actions you choose to take so you can have the greatest positive impact. I would sincerely hope that if you did this and followed through on your set of priorities, that you wouldn't have any time to spare to stress about whether people you agree with are being exactly as politically correct as you wish they were.
We're all in a fight for our lives here, and a lot of the people fighting along side of you aren't going to meet your moral and ethical standards, but any time you spend attacking them for their shortcomings is time not spent tearing down the wealthy, corrupt rulers of the world who are constantly sending poor people to war, preventing full access to affordable healthcare, funneling money to their rich friends and benefactors, actively working to crush the middle class, restricting women's rights and preventing them from reaching full equality, and preventing us from addressing climate change which is likely to devastate us as a species, among many other things.
Look, you're not wrong for being concerned about trying to keep people in line who agree with you, it just can't be something that rises to the level of importance and urgency that you've displayed in this conversation.

Tl;dr: Don't spend all your time for activism criticizing others in the movement; channelling your energy into activities that will challenge those who attempt to oppress us is time better spent.

Although Jay! was addressing folks who wrote into him about clips on the podcast, I think this point is particularly salient among feminists. Feminists, particularly feminists on the internet, spend so much time tearing each other apart that I wonder how they're able to get anything done. Feminists should be presenting a united front instead of nitpicking each other over nomenclature and what issues "belong" to who.

Jay! goes on to say that keeping each other in line is beneficial because it's the sort of criticism that's likely to result in change. However, the bulk of one's time should not be spent policing your own movement. In my opinion, that type of action results only in fracturing and alienation, which really only benefits those we're battling for our rights.

Informed Consent: Not Just for Abortion

The hypocrisy of informed consent is much more insidious than we realize, I think. This is because it's already imposed on women who want birth control.

When I was 25, I knew I wouldn't be having kids for a while. At least 5 years, and I was good with that. I was kind of bad at remembering to take my daily Pill, too. I would forget to take it at least 2 or 3 times a month. While not incredibly risky, it was still a little nerve-wracking. So I started looking into a better solution, one that didn't require me to remember to take a pill at the same time every day.

After talking with my gynecologist, I settled on Mirena. She talked with me about it and gave me a pamphlet during my normal visit. I told them I wanted it. They told me that I couldn't get it then because it required a consultation before getting it inserted.

I remember being really confused by this. Why can't I just get it now? I have to go think about it... more? As though I hadn't already thought about it enough? I had considered my options and brought it up with my doctor and talked about it. But I can't have it now? That. Is. Stupid.

So I made my appointment and came in, expecting to have it inserted. Now, I don't know if this is a fuck-up on the doctor's office's part or standard procedure, but they had me go through the consultation. Again. With a full co-pay, and nothing but a 5 minute discussion about the damn thing with the doctor again.

So I made another appointment. I paid the roughly $250 that my insurance didn't cover (that still came out to less money than buying oral contraceptives for 5 years) and had it inserted. And aside from the first day of pain, I haven't given it another thought since. Seriously, this IUD rules.

But what the hell was that waiting period about? Did I really need to go home and think about it between the consultation and the insertion? Why am I not allowed to make that decision immediately? What the fuck?

Now I realize I was the victim of the infantilizing regime that thinks women don't know how to weigh options or make decisions. BUT WHAT IF I SUDDENLY WANT BABIES IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?! Maybe I need a week to think about it!!!!! Fuck that noise. I did think about it and I don't need extra time, because I know how to make decisions for myself, no thanks to Republicans.

And now that I've had 3 years to contemplate the experience, I wonder how it would work for someone who isn't as lucky as me. Someone lucky enough to be able to afford 2 extra co-pays, and $250 of birth control in a lump sum. Someone who has readily available transportation. Someone who can leave work for a doctor's appointment at will, no questions asked.

The right-wing war on abortion is not just a war on abortion (although it is a very large and important piece of the puzzle). It was part of a larger war on people who 1) have sex at all, ever, and 2) can become pregnant. The right-wing psychos seizing control of state legislatures (and those pretending to be right-wing psychos so they can stay in the federal legislature) don't trust people to make their own reproductive decisions and don't want them to be able to make their own decisions. They know what's good for us, and they're going to make us behave how they want, even if it kills us. Especially if it kills us.