Livestock

Right now, there are literally hundreds of women on FaceBook and other social media that are telling “all women” that we are being treated like livestock. I can’t make this shit up, folks.

Yes, absolutely. As a female human being in America, I am currently:

• being held in a cage
• restricted from movement
• bred against my will
• used in breeding programs
• abused and neglected
• being used for someone else’s profit
• living in windowless sheds
• being denied normal behaviors
• being used for meat and milk, and perhaps eggs

Seriously? What the hell. In what way is any woman in this country being treated like livestock? For fuck’s sake. Yes, I’m ranting.

I have MAJOR problems with statements like this. So many problems. Let me innumerate them.

First and foremost, saying that women today are being treated like livestock takes away from places where women actually are being treated as livestock. There are still places on this Earth where women are bought and sold as chattels, as actual livestock. To even imply that any American woman is being treated so is ridiculous. Please note, this is outside of those few women who are being trafficked in and out of America, who really are being treated like livestock. The person who said it was pointedly referring to *average* American women, not outliers and the abused few who we ought to be helping.

Let’s look at women in Palestine, to use a place that’s on the social media map right now. “Women and girls in Palestine continue to experience various forms of violence due to the entrenched discriminatory social norms and traditions, and the prolonged Israeli occupation. The most common types of violence against women observed in Palestine include domestic violence, sexual harassment, early marriage and femicide, as well as public and private spheres including streets, workplaces, homes and high-density areas such as refugee camps, particularly in Gaza. The outdated and discriminatory laws in Palestine hinder survivors of violence from accessing gender-responsive services and obtaining justice. In addition, survivors of violence often face social stigma, and are blamed as responsible for the violence occurred to them.” (UN Women) Sorry for the United Nations link, but considering their current stance on the war against Israel, I thought it good to remind them that they, themselves, have had multiple talks about how horribly and inhumanely Palestinians treat their women. That is being treated as livestock.

I know that the reason the Left (as a group, here, rather than any particular individual) is using the term, is to create an emotionally ladened response. It’s meant to evoke a feeling, not reality. And it works, it really does. But it does huge disservice, because if at some time women in this country begin to be subjected to treatment as livestock, we need to be able to differentiate. Misusing words, terms, phrases is a massive problem for the Left.

Let’s step past the misuse of words, however. What’s behind it? A concern that women (largely on the Left) have that they will lose their rights. This is a real and valid concern (though I disagree with the direction it’s coming from, for the most part). The Left has so equated abortion with rights for women that most progressive women have a difficult time separating the ideas. It’s thoroughly entrenched that access to on-demand abortion is the same as the right to be a free woman. This outrage comes from women of all ages, from all walks of life, and from all races. The Left has set women up to be absolutely terrified that their rights will be stripped from them.

This is exactly why I refuse to use or even tolerate the words, “The Constitution grants the right…” No, the Constitution outlines and recognizes certain rights, but it does not grant them, nor does it create them. To do so would mean that the Constitution (or the government behind it) could take them away. The government does not have the right to strip me of MY rights. My rights exist whether anyone recognizes them or not. And how do I know if something is a right or a privilege (or one of the odd in-between things, not quite either)?

There are negative and positive rights. Negative rights are ones such as the right to keep and bear arms. All that’s required of other people is to do nothing. The right simply exists. Positive rights require something from another person. I’d say the Fifth Amendment would come under that heading, where the government must compensate someone for taking property. I’m sure others will come up with better examples, but there it is. There are some incredibly bad explanations as to how rights work, available online, and I’m sure not understanding what actual rights are, is a large part of our problem today. For a horrid example, check this one out.

There are moments when rights can be infringed upon, per our own laws. The right to keep and bear arms does not give you the right to shoot up a grocery store. The right to freedom of speech does not allow you to incite violence (well, unless you’re a Democrat, but that’s another article). The right to freedom of expression doesn’t allow you to create kiddie porn. We do abridge certain rights, where they collide firmly with the good of the country as a whole. This does not mean that we should go about squashing rights on the regular.

I do not believe that anyone in America is coming to round up the women. I don’t believe that the men of this country, as a whole, are at all interested in having us in chains, or penned up, or even without jobs (in this economy? who are we kidding?). Women’s rights are not being infringed upon.

I will tell you that if someone did come to round me up, I would not go quietly. I would go with 6 pallbearers to keep me company. I would go down shooting. I expect that “my men” would be at my side, defending me, and defending the liberty of every woman and person around them.

So if this is the case, why is the Left going down this particular road? Why are they using the images of Handmaidens and 1984 and such, and making claims that the Right wants this for all women? Well, largely, because it works. Women have been brainwashed (and yes, the Right does have some blame for this) that they cannot defend themselves from these kinds of attacks. The answer is, yes we can, we have, and we’ll continue to do so. But the image of it is so incredibly compelling.

I’m going to say something that might be considered very wrong by a lot of people, but it needs to be said by someone, and it’s safer if I do it than one of the guys. Women, as a general group (ie not as individuals), like to be protected. We do. We’re soft that way, emotionally. We can stand up and be nasty if necessary, and there are a few outliers who are much more masculine than the rest of us. Nothing wrong with that. But overall, we enjoy the feeling of being held, hugged, cuddled, loved, cherished. We like to feel safe. The images of Handmaidens is meant to make us feel Not Safe. It’s meant to make us terrified. It’s an image that’s been weaponized and is being tossed around like a bomb, and boy, is it doing a lot of damage.

I am not livestock, and I will never be livestock. What other people call me does not make me that thing. Since I will not submit to becoming livestock, or a slave, or owned like that, I cannot be livestock. There are a large number of steps between where we are today, and the Handmaid’s Tale. While there are still a few (admittedly loud and boisterous) radically Right folk who would like women to be nothing more than housewives and mothers, that number is dwindling. Fast. Even the most conservative of my male friends has no interest in holding his wife or girlfriend back from being a professional. He’s not offended if she makes more than him. He’s not threatened if she has more education than he does. These are just things that happen.

Equality is something that slowly happens over time, and women have reached the point where they are essentially equal to men. I don’t believe there are any jobs that women are barred from because of their gender. There are jobs that are extremely difficult for us to get, because we generally don’t have the physique to do it, but for those women who dedicate themselves to doing those jobs, they can do it. In the same vein, there are plenty of men (some of them even conservative! *gasp*) who have found joy in less competitive jobs, or who have decided to be the one who stays home with the kids. Whatever way it turns out, each family is welcome to assemble their wealth as they wish. They have the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Women aren’t livestock. I cannot see a future in America where women are treated as livestock. They definitely are not livestock right now.