It is still all about Eve.
First Eve was to fight off the devil, then she somehow wrested control of male headship from Adam, and now according to Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, she can keep herself from getting pregnant when she is raped.
- Superwoman.
- Temptress who can fake a rape.
- Body extraordinaire that can will itself from getting pregnant. Or in the Congressman’s words “shut that whole thing down.”
The congressman was asked in an interview if he would support abortions for women who have been raped. “It seems to me first of all from what I understand from doctors that’s really rare. If it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” He later admitted that he misspoke.
As I say over and over, the topic is not abortion. It is the disrespect of women. It is because some people are willing to put forth anything outrageous about women because there is a deep-seated feeling that women because of Eve are inherently capable of all kinds of evil things: Witchcraft, seduction, emasculating men, feminising the church.
This attitude is learned in the church and bleeds out into society, and creates women into some separate kind of alien being.
At CBE Houston or informal motto is “Educate and Agitate.” Will you help us? Our next meeting is September 8. Be in prayer for us.
Commit to 5 with us.
Pray daily about gender equality; learn more about gender equality; ask for Bible Studies promoting gender equality; make a change in how you talk about women; tell others.
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
I am curious to know how he figures the female body can determine whether the sperm gets there by force or invitation. I am glad Romney rebuked his comment. I am appalled once again by the ignorance evident in statements like these. “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” is what comes to mind when I hear them.
LikeLike
Also I know of someone who got pregnant from rape and kept her child. I don’t think it’s all that rare
LikeLike
A child by rape or incest is just as important as any other child. I think much of what happens is determined by who the rapist was. Adoption is a solution, instead of abortion.
> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:15:20 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
LikeLike
It is part of this silliness about women.
> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:09:34 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
LikeLike
“A child by rape or incest is just as important as any other child. I think much of what happens is determined by who the rapist was. Adoption is a solution, instead of abortion.
I agree. I can also see it from the victim’s perspective too. I just read about a victim’s response to Akin’s statement and how she couldn’t bear carrying her child to term because of the trauma of the rape. And she said she was re-victimized by his words. It’s one of those situations that none of us can completely understand unless we’ve experienced personally. People of influence need to think very carefully before speaking of or making decisions about situations they aren’t familiar with.
LikeLike
You are right. I personally have no idea of the best thing in this situation.
> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:21:42 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
LikeLike
I see what you were saying too. The child produced from the act has no control over what the perpetrator did. I just hope that women being victimized are getting the help they need before they make any decision about their pregnancies. I hope someone is listening to what they feel without making judgements.
LikeLike
Thank you. “Adoption is a solution” discounts the time the woman who was raped must carry the child in the instance of adoption, including: taking perhaps better/special care of herself, assuming the risk to her body that always exists with pregnancy and birth, undergoing any illness that may or may not be associated with a pregnancy, preparing for birth, and undertaking the financial burden as well. What is her support network like, in terms of emotional, physical, and financial support?
As a result of having been stalked + the reaction of my church and those nearest (in proximity) to me, I had PTSD for a time and I’ll not go into details, but let’s say that just taking care of myself was a challenge. Not to compare the two, but I was not raped, yet there was still a great negative impact on my life.
A woman who decides for herself to carry to term after a rape, that’s fine.
A woman who realizes that for her that every time she had morning sickness (and I know not everyone does), and every doctor’s visit, and every birthing class would at best remind her of being raped and at worst make her re-live it? I do not judge her.
LikeLike
The important point here is the disrespect of this man toward women. Rape is an incredibly harmful action upon a woman’s entire person, not just her body.
LikeLike
Thank you. And even in this day and age and let’s not forget–this country, as rape is treated differently by the legal system in the US than it is in some other countries–the reaction of those closest to her may add to the trauma rather than alleviate it.
LikeLike
Michelle I am so sorry to hear that you had such an awful experience. Even if you weren’t physically raped, you were violated emotionally and I’m sure it altered your life where you no longer felt safe and had to stay in a constant state of alert. No one should have to live that way. I am also sorry, it sounds like you didn’t get the support you needed. Churches often fail so miserably at this. I can imagine hearing such ignorance from people like Akin must be difficult. I know it has dusturbed me greatly.
LikeLike
The incredible way this man chose his words disgusted me. By “legitimate rape,” I presume he meant that the woman was not lying and had not secretly given consent. All this did was reveal his judgmentalness towards women and his willingness to believe them complicit in assaults on their bodies. And then there was the ignorance of his statements about the woman’s body’s response to the rape. Altogether an “othering” of women as if they were an alien species.
LikeLike
+1
LikeLike
This congressman is a total idiot. Men like him are scary when they have even the smallest amount of power as it relates to women. I keep saying it but women are going to have to say heck no to such nonsense.
LikeLike
I think it is part of the “culture war” mentality in the church, and as you say Shirley, the “us vs. them” mentality influences arenas outside of the church. It’s a way to shift the blame back onto the women when it is some men who are behaving badly and not being held accountable. They say anything to make their propaganda sound believable. Akin’s statement puts the blame back on rape victims and denies the reality that it really happens fairly often. The same type of propaganda is used in the church. Get the followers to believe the worst about those who are on the outside, then if you don’t buy what they say 100 percent, you are in the same category as “them” – as in homosexuals, feminists, and pro-choice advocates.
LikeLike
Temperance:
There has to be a bogeyman, a scapegoat, and many churches have found an easy place to put the blame–women. I’m not a woman but if I were, I believe I would have to be phsically sick listening to this blame service after service.
LikeLike
Thank you, Temperance. At this point, I am actually just not surprised by the whole thing. I wish I were, but this kind of talk is what I’ve come to expect from a segment (NOT all) of those who don’t recognize the God-granted equality of the sexes.
The woman who has been raped is already present, already here, is fully formed, fully human, and *she* also had no control over what the perpetrator did.
I mention my own experiences only in the hopes that it may help to shed light on what the woman who has been raped may be experiencing. Re-living things is no picnic. (I am fortunately past that point now, but it took *time*.)
LikeLike
Just to clarify: My point, also, was not about abortion, per se. It was that either view, the view that all females who have been raped should carry to term, or that all females who have been raped should have an abortion, leaves a person (the woman who was raped) out of the picture, and are examples of the very disrespect that I oppose.
LikeLike