Why the Akin Mess Matters

WHY THE AKIN MESS MATTERS

            Unless you were on Mars for the past couple of days, you have no doubt become aware of the comments made by Congressman, and Senatorial candidate, Todd Akin of Missouri, regarding “legitimate” rape, and how these particular kind of rapes rarely result in pregnancy. To some, this is just another gaff made by a politician in a brutal political year. To others, it is an insult to women, especially rape victims. And for still others, Congressman Akin’s comments reflect their belief, not that pregnancy by rape is rare, but that a fertilized egg is a human life and must be afforded constitutional protection.  Well, it certainly is more than just a gaffe; it is an extreme insult to women; and it does speak to the personhood issue. So, all of the above are relevant to this discussion.

            That this was more than a gaffe is pretty obvious, as evidenced by the fact that the Republican party has thrown Akin under the bus, and are trying mightily to distance themselves from his statement. However, is this really that much more offensive -- and just plain wrong --  than other statements made by Republicans denigrating women? Or the legion examples of the outright racism that has become the stalwart of the GOP of late?  Is this more offensive than the ridiculous “birther” nonsense advocated by those intellectual heavy hitters of the Republican party, namely Donald Trump and Joe “Bull Connor” Arpaio? More offensive than calling a law student a whore? More offensive than that other intellectual giant, Joe the Plumber, suggesting immigration solutions for Arizona, like building a wall and then to start shooting? What is so different about Akin’s comments that he is now the political pariah of the moment? I’m not so sure.

             It is clear that the Republicans want to distance themselves from Todd Akin. But why not from all the other people mentioned above? It is also clear that the GOP is not doing as well as they thought they might be doing, especially with women and ethnic minorities, lately polling at ZERO with African-Americans.  Perhaps they are starting to read the handwriting on the wall and realize that their party can’t win elections by alienating themselves from huge demographic constituencies, like women, blacks, Mexicans, etc. Since their efforts at deliberate and fraudulent disenfranchisement of ethnic minorities and poor people (this is a subject for another blog post), have been discovered and uncovered for what they are – cheating; ethnic minorities are unlikely to move toward the GOP at this time. So, if they are to have a chance at all, they have to hang onto the white male vote (another future blog) and salvage the women’s vote, if at all possible. And they have to act quickly to get out in front and on top of the messaging.  Never mind that personhood amendments have been introduced in several states by Republican legislators, or that VP candidate, Paul Ryan has introduced legislation distinguishing between “rape” and “forcible rape.” Aside from the extraordinarily ignorant statement about how women become impregnated, the sentiment expressed by Congressman Akin was the same Republican verbal assault on women we’ve been hearing for some time now.

            Akin’s comment did, however, contain an ignorance the sort of which I have not heard since 7^th grade. His flippant remark added insult to an already injured, and growing larger by the day, demographic of women, who favor President Obama by at least 15 points in the polls. I have spoken to zero women – of different ages, ethnicities and ideologies – who were not offended by Akin’s ignorance and insensitivity. Reactions ranged from moral outrage to shock and utter disbelief.  Most men I know were also, at least, taken aback by these comments. And this man has daughters?

            The women I spoke to who were most offended were victims of rape and sexual assault, as well you might imagine. The word “legitimate” suggests that some rapes might be “illegitimate,” which suggests one of 2 things: 1) That there are occasions that women claim to be raped, but really weren’t; or that 2) women will demand abortions, falsely claiming rape, just so they can qualify for an exception to a complete ban on abortions, enabling them to terminate their pregnancies. Either way, it suggests that we women simply can’t be trusted tell the truth, or even to know what rape is.  Apparently suggestion wasn’t enough for Idaho Republican Chuck Winder, who said just that:  that women don’t know what rape is. Well, if women don’t know, how do these men know what rape is? Why is it that these men have to pretend that they know everything about everything when they don’t?  Even conservative women that I know are embarrassed and a little afraid of what a bunch of stingy, mean-spirited and arrogant ignoramuses the Republicans have become.

            What is the most troubling from my vantage point, is the outrageous and scientifically baseless claim coming from someone who, not only does not know what he is talking about, but delivers his ignorant remarks with a very condescending, demeaning and paternalistic attitude toward women. This false sense of superiority allows men like Akin to discount our credibility and suffocate us with their macho need to dominate us, all the while claiming to protect us. We are not stupid. We are not making up lies in order to get abortions. How people like this get elected is beyond me.             

Why is it that women always seem to be the absolute last in line when it comes to being recognized as having any rights at all? We know that true equality between the sexes is nonexistent at this time. Women earn slightly more than 75% of what a man makes for the same work. And now, we are not to be afforded a say over a zygote that cannot survive without the most internal resources of our own bodies? This form of life, exclusively dependent upon our insides to even have a chance at life, should enjoy constitutional protections that an actual, real (not potential), in the flesh, live woman does not? Preposterous!

This situation clearly underscores the need for women to step up efforts to elect strong and smart women to political office, as well as empowering young women by encouraging them to pursue educations and careers in all areas of life. 

            We need to get out there and educate the men who obviously don’t know what they don’t know. It is up to us.