So let me get this straight. A young girl who gets pregnant because she was raped at... oh, let's say NINE YEARS OLD... cannot be considered to have been "legitimately raped" because rape victims are somehow incapable of getting pregnant? Wow. And here I was thinking that a little girl of NINE YEARS OLD wouldn't even understand what "CONSENSUAL RAPE SEX" means considering she's UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.
Who could possibly come up with the phrase "Legitimate rape" while spouting such absurd bullshit? Oh... it's this guy... Representative Todd Akin from the great state of Missouri...
I contemplated writing a long-ass blog entry which attempts to explore Akin's religious convictions concerning the sanctity of life... you know, make a real effort to understand him and such. It would be an interesting topic for a blog entry, because my personal beliefs on the sanctity of life and how abortion fits into those beliefs is a difficult and controversial topic... even when it's just me discussing my views with myself.
But I keep running into a road block whenever I try to reconcile how somebody can use the phrase "legitimate rape" when talking about women who have been violated and victimized. I jump from there... directly to a conclusion of WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!... and just can't go any further.
People like this are abhorrent to me.
And he can recant his idiocy and apologize for "misspeaking" all he wants, but it's not going to change the fact that he honestly feels that there's science which justifies forcing his personal beliefs on other people... even when it's all a load of crap.
I wonder what the political trigger will be that finally pushes women too far. Will it be defunding family planning centers? Will it be eliminating women's health services? Will it be outlawing abortion? Will it be outlawing birth control? Or will it be a bunch of old men telling them that THEY will be the ones to determine if a woman has been raped or not?
I honestly don't know.
But with each passing day I fully expect women to start marching in the streets in response to how they're being treated by those who are elected to "represent" them...
Again.
UPDATE: And, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, crazy-ass Pat Robertson has come out to support Akin...
It's astounding how these stupid assholes keep missing the point completely. The phrase "legitimate rape" is just an indicator of Akin's underlaying belief in "magic vaginas" that can reject sperm when a woman is a victim of a sexual attack. This is a belief that is categorically false, and the kind of thing that a FUCKING RAPIST would say to justify their actions. THIS is why Akin is a douchebag that is unfit to hold public office. Categorically STUPID people have no business representing anybody.
Being a woman-bashing sexist piece of shit that uses the phrase "legitimate rape" (even when "misspeaking") to describe such an act of terror and extreme violence is just the cherry on top of your ignorance sundae.
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I agree with your “WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!” characterization of Akin, but can’t help thinking “Gee, Dave is being overtly restrained in his opinion of this guy”.
There are no words that I can find that are harsh enough for this waste of human DNA. I am astounded that women haven’t already responded with mass protests against the more than 1000 bills attacking them this year.
Methinks that my wait is not going to be very long, however.
That dude is a class A douche.
I know several women who have been raped. I know two women who have had abortions…one of them was a product of a rape. She agonised…agonised over aborting that child even under those circumstances and truly, I don’t think she would have done it if she had been in a more stable financial and familial position at the time.
Maybe this is wrong of me because I know men have a stake in it too, but I am heartily offended by men flapping their gums about how wrong abortion is and how women shouldn’t be allowed to have them. Men can walk away…and do every single day…from their children, wives and girlfriends. Men don’t have to be pregnant, labour and raise children. Men can walk away. Women don’t have that luxury. Even with Safe Haven laws which is supposed to allow a woman to give up newborns without fear of reprisal, authorities still try to find the mother. Um, say what? I see it from time to time on the news and I can’t wrap my mind around how they can yap about anonymity but still seek the woman’s identity.
Government has no business having anything to do with abortion. And moron male politicians have no business or even the right to try to put a definition on what rape is.
Legitimate rape. Give me a fucking break.
Having “legitimate” public officials would be nice. Instead we have ass-clowns like this. Ugh.
I didn’t realize how much this whole thing had upset me yesterday, but it did in ways that have left me oddly fragile right now (which pisses me off even more.) I think it’s important to tear the two issues apart from one another too, because he has a pro-life stance, and then he ALSO has a redefine rape stance (which he was a part of a bill last year that failed that tried to do that, yes with the end goal to remove funding and forward prof-life agendas, but it’s still two separate things.)
I think that even if you don’t agree, people can at least understand the motivation behind a pro-life stance. But the redefining rape one, I can’t make any of the pieces fit. It defies reason, and that’s probably the answer right there.
The logic behind the idea that rape is not a legitimate cause for the decision to abort is the same logic that allowed extracting confessions through torture starting 600 years ago – if God didn’t want you tortured he wouldn’t have put you on this rack, so your only options are to confess or perish. Either way the mere fact we have you in this dungeon means you’ve been cursed by God. It’s God’s will. Likewise if you happen to get raped and become pregnant, because if God didn’t want you in that position he would have never put you in sight of that fellow in the first place. It’s God’s will.
but it is all part and parcel of the whole conservative paradigm; if you are unborn you have the full protection of a vast army of stalwarts. But after you’re born you’re screwed. Pre-born good, pre-school bad.
When the times comes, I think it will be more than women taking to the streets. I think it will be more of a coup.
People who say things like “LEGITIMATE rape” should have to pay a tax. Stupidity tax I think it should be called. It should go towards women who need abortions but cannot afford them and are forced to make choices based on economics and not their physical and psychological well being.
Given these comments, I really am starting to wonder what drives they fucking tools? Are they really believing this shit they spew or is this just another example of media being focused on the dumb asses to take away from the focus on jobs, economy and other issues?
I feel his comments are utterly disgusting and his apology has no meaning to it (otherwise, why would he say it). But other than some of these fuckers being the dumbest people on the planet, are they just trying to distract from the real issues with these outlandish statements?
The real problem is that he’s not alone in his thinking. The majority of the GOP just calls it “forcible rape” instead. As if any rape isn’t forced.
The GOP is trying to distance itself from Akin but he isn’t an outlier to their views and agenda against women!
As Eve Ensler suggested in her letter to Akin (on Huff post, a great read BTW), why don’t they stop wasting their time trying to redefine rape to favor rapists and try instead to STOP RAPE!
I just don’t understand these people.
As usual, The Onion provides the most concise, cogent and thoughtful analysis of Akin’s “Legitimate Rape” remark.
I’m sure he things “unlegitimate rape” is when the women are asking to be raped because of the way they act, the clothes they wear etc.
Oh wait a second. Women never ever ask to be raped and anyone who thinks a women gets raped because of what she does and wears is an idiot.
It’s times like these that I want to punch humanity in the face!
I hope I never find myself on your “bad” side and get angry Lil’ Dave faces strewn about my mug.
This whole thing pisses me off for a variety of reasons, but I think that “legitimate rape,” carries with it, for a lot of people besides just Akin, the connotation that there is a lot of “fake rape” out there, wherein a woman puts up a fuss and says no but C’MON BRO, WE BOTH KNOW WHAT SHE REALLY WANTED, and that just makes me really really fucking sick. It’s as if men can do no wrong, and might even be the victims sometimes, if a woman has sex and we all know she wanted it but hey she had buyer’s remorse and changed her mind afterwards! The poor guy!
Blech.