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Micheline's Blog

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Micheline's Blog

Tag Archives: Lysistrata

Musing on the state of women…

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Planned Parenthood, United States

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

Aldo Ciccolini, Birth control, crippling view of sexual intercourse, Georgetown University, Kristiana Pärn, Lysistrata, Responsible Freedom, Rush Limbaugh, the Republican Party, Twitter

Follow Your Heart: Swinging Quietly

Kristiana Pärn
12 Variations sur ‘La belle Françoise’ en Mi Bémol Majeur, K.353 (Aldo Ciccolini)
(please click on the title to hear the music)
 

Sometimes I forget that my readers do not necessarily know about events taking place in the United States.  I must therefore provide some information regarding my article entitled: A Response to Mr Limbaugh: Abstinence for All posted on the 6 February 2012.

Background information

This article, featuring Aristophanes’s Lysistrata as an example, was about the disrespectful comments made by a self-appointed Republican party radio host: Mr Rush Limbaugh.  Mr Limbaugh has since lost sponsors, but that does not go all the way.  Members of the Republican party should ask that Mr Limbaugh never again be allowed to speak of their behalf.  Moreover, his radio program should be taken off the air.

Miss Sandra Fluke, a third-year law student at Georgetown University, was addressing the subject of birth control and its cost.  Mr Limbaugh, a self-appointed spokesperson for the Republican Party, called her a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

He also suggested that to protect herself from an unwanted pregnancy she should simply put an aspirin between her knees which prompted me to suggest that he and the likes of him should also refrain from any sexual activity when a pregnancy is to be avoided.  Abstinence for all!

We are free and wish to remain free.  Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a former Canadian Prime Minister stated that, “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” However, all of us should make responsible use of the freedom we enjoy, including Mr Limbaugh.  It is not my business to enter into his private life, but it is quite acceptable for me to remind him that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

President Obama phoned Miss Fluke to express compassion and, in fact, apologized on behalf of the United States of America.  As for Mr Limbaugh, he will lose more sponsors because of his abusive statements.

Comments

Mr Limbaugh expressed a very degrading view of women and sexual intercourse.  It would be my opinion to he considers sex a sinful act, which is most objectionable because, among other things, many women have yet to accept their sexuality.

Far too many women have been raised to view sex as “dirty,” and, as a result, are not able to consider sexual intercourse as “clean” after they “marry.”  How can a short ceremony turn sex from dirty to clean?  Mr Limbaugh is therefore perpetuating a crippling view of human sexuality.

It seems that the campaign will circumvent such matters as education, job creation, the availability of affordable housing, equalized taxation and putting into place social programs that will protect every American and will include health-care for women.

Fighting Obama

About ten days ago, I  left a “tweet” on Twitter to encourage Mr Obama.  Within minutes, I was deluged with “tweets” denigrating the President.  I quickly erased my tweet and the tweets I had received, so I could breathe again.  However, looking back, I remember that in some of these offensive “tweets” President Obama was accused of moral laxity.

Fortunately, there are millions of fine Americans many of whom are Republicans and some of whom are my readers.  I respect my readers.  They know that prominent Republicans are now leaving the party to avoid being associated with persons like Mr Limbaugh.

Good news, I am now receiving comments.

—ooo—

This blog was written yesterday, 7 March 2012.  However, I did not post it because I was nursing a migraine and had taken a tablet of sumatriptan.  However, it’s not too late to publish it.  Today is International Woman’s Day.

P. S.  I chose art by Kristiana Pärn in celebration of women and their little ones.  We are not to be vilified.  Inside the heart of most women there is a Loving mother.

 

Follow you heart: Go together

Kristiana Pärn

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A Response to Mr Limbaugh: Abstinence for All

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Planned Parenthood, The United States

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Aristophanes, Aubrey Beardsley, in praise of abstinence, Lysistrata, Pierre Trudeau, Republican, Rush Limbaugh, United States

lysistrata-shielding-her-coynte-1896_jpg!HD

Lysistrata, Aubrey Beardsley

Lysistrata

Aubrey Beardsley book illustration[I]

Why is Rush Hudson Limbaugh III entering “the bedrooms of the nation” (Pierre Trudeau) [ii] and using foul language to vilify a young woman on the air?  Obviously, Mr Limbaugh, should be returned to a kindergarten in order to receive an appropriate education.  And why should  President Obama be required to phone a young woman to reassure her on behalf of the nation?

With all due respect, Mr Limbaugh should by now know the difference between plain human decency and a lack thereof.

—000—

Well, I also feel a great deal of sympathy for the young woman Mr Limbaugh attacked publicly, because it must have been a crushing experience to be so treated. Mr Limbaugh called Miss Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.” Had I been in President Obama’s place, I would also have phoned Miss Fluke. A State apology was in order.

Moreover, were I a prominent member of the Republican Party, I would remove you from whatever role you have given yourself within the party. You have defamed yourself. In fact, I would also have you permanently taken off the air. Let’s have a little decorum. Why should the children of America be exposed to inappropriate behaviour and foul language?

The Children

Yes, the children. What will become of the children of the United States if we allow you and people like you to be seen and heard? They need good examples, examples of persons who belong in elegant living-rooms and dining-rooms, whether rich or poor and whatever their race.

The World is Watching

I hope you know that the whole world is watching. At the moment, the US has a good name abroad because President Obama’s administration is made up of people who are capable of governing a country that was drowning when Obama was elected into office.

Abstinence

Given that you have stated Miss Fluke should put “an aspirin between her knees” to avoid an unwanted pregnancy, I would suggest you do the same and that, in your kind of United States, neither men nor women should seek sexual intimacy unless they want a baby. You see Mr Limbaugh, men make women pregnant. So, let us have a new form of Prohibition: abstinence for all unless a couple wants a child.

Conclusion

Mr Limbaugh, by your own standards, you can never again approach a woman who is not prepared to carry your child, give birth to your child and raise your child. If you have a wife, you cannot even approach her unless she wants to get pregnant. If you force yourself on her, you could and should be charged with rape.

So my suggestion is that all men and women now keep their legs crossed. If abstinence is the only way a woman can earn respect and avoid an unwanted pregnancy, abstinence it will be and it will be for all, as in Aristophanes‘s Lysistrata (411 BC). The play is online.

Aristophanes

To the right of the screen there is a picture of Aristophanes “as imagined by a nineteenth-century illustrator. It may be inferred from jests in the plays […] that the real Aristophanes was prematurely bald.”[iii]

Josquin des Prez Ave Maria
performed by Tallis Scholars
pictures by Hieronymus Bosch
 
  
 
 ________________________
[i]  “Lysistrata.” < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata> 
[ii] “Pierre Elliott Trudeau.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau>
[iii] “Aristophanes.”  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes>
 
Canada’s omnibus bill
As Minister of Justice, Pierre Trudeau* was responsible for introducing the landmark Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, an omnibus bill whose provisions included, among other things, the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults, the legalization of contraception, abortion and lotteries, new gun ownership restrictions as well as the authorization of breathalyzer tests on suspected drunk drivers. Trudeau famously defended the decriminalization of homosexual acts segment of the bill by telling reporters that “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”, adding that “what’s done in private between adults doesn’t concern the Criminal Code.” 
*Prime Minister of Canada (1970-1979; 1980-1984)
 
 
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