Saturday March 10, 2012, 12:08 pm

Why I'm Marching Against Religious Patriarchs and Woman-Hating Pornographers this Saturday -- And Why You Should Too
By Sunsara Taylor for OpEdNews.com/

It is no longer deniable by anyone paying attention, that we are living through an all out war on women's lives, women's rights, and women's futures. This is not a minor matter; women are half of humanity. Defeating this war is everybody's responsibility.



This is why this Saturday at noon I will be out in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City with a rowdy band of others screaming at the top of my lungs. This is the home of Timothy Dolan who spearheaded the recent attacks on birth control, which come on top of decades of attacks on abortion. Nearly 90% of counties now lack an abortion provider.

From there, we will march to the porn stores in Times Square and once again scream at the tops of our lungs. We will protest these stores because pornography has become more violent, more humiliating, and more cruel towards women -- even as it has become more mainstream.

In reality, there is no meaningful difference between the Bible's view of women and pornography's view of women. Both reduce women to "things" to be controlled by men. The church reduces women to breeders. Porn reduces women to sex objects to be brutalized and degraded. We are neither. Women are human beings. On Saturday, we are shaking off any remnants of our own passivity and launching a new movement that will not stop until the full humanity of all women is recognized throughout society and throughout the world.

By taking to the streets in protest, we are not appealing to those in power, neither to the politicians who are either outright attacking women's lives nor with those who are "just" seeking "common ground" with and conciliating to those attacks. We are calling out the millions of people who are horrified by this relentlessness but who are sitting paralyzed on the sidelines. We are also calling out to those who have become so acclimated to the unceasing violence and disrespect of women that they aren't even angry.

Our message: IF WE WANT THINGS TO CHANGE -- WE MUST ACT! We must rely on ourselves. We must do more than click an online petition or send money to some politician, we must get out in the streets, we must make our voices heard, we must confront the woman-haters and we must create through this protest a taste of the future we want.


For too long, those who attack women have felt free to do so at the tops of their lungs and with the backing of the state. Rush Limbaugh can call a thirty year old woman who uses birth control a "slut" and monopolize headlines for days. Timothy Dolan can revolt against birth control and get a personal phone call trying to appease him from President Obama. Porn producers can speak openly, as Bill Margold does here, about their desire to portray violence against women, "I'd like to really show what I believe the men want to see: violence against women... The most violent we can get is the cum shot in the face. Men get off behind that because they get even with the women they can't have."

Please read full article and ladies get on those marching boots. Time to Kick butt and take names.

Saturday March 10, 2012, 12:19 pm
oted thank you Kit.
"Sisterhood is powerful women of the world unite!!

Saturday March 10, 2012, 7:51 pm
Own your power! Do the right thing!

Saturday March 10, 2012, 9:27 pm
I was working on a project for a class I am taking on Race, Class and Gender in America. I discovered that there are still 6 or 7 states where there are laws on the books making it legal to beat your wife. Usually, the man is confined to beating his wife if it is on Sunday, on the steps of the State House. This is but a small example of the male patriarchy which relies on texts such as the bible and quran to give men the belief that women are disposal, usable, abusable chattel. People believe, especially men, that they are intelligent, fair, enlightened etc. How can that be true while they treat women the way they do. Changing the status quo of thousands upon thousands of years isn't going to be easy, but it has to start somewhere. I support you, in the ways I can and address this topic in public and online whenever and wherever I can.

Saturday March 10, 2012, 9:41 pm
I was also disappointed to find that there is an ad on the OEN site with a youthful looking woman with a Video play button on her nose. I've see it for weeks now. The visual image bothered me to the point that I didn't look at what its headline says. It says the 4 Dangers Destroying Men. It's a video about how sperm counts are falling, and men are losing their virility. I watched part of it. The beginning talks about how once strong men would occasionally drag women by the hair into their caves. I am surprised to see such an ad on the site of such an article. OEN needs to rethink its advertisers.

Saturday March 10, 2012, 9:57 pm
Noted. Thanks for posting Kit.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 1:51 am
Well, now we know.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 3:39 am
A great post Kit keep up the great work TY

Sunday March 11, 2012, 7:46 am
Noted - civilization is going backwards -

Sunday March 11, 2012, 7:51 am
It is disgraceful and absolutely ridiculous what they are trying to do..I do not begrudge anyone ever from their own opinion..however when they force their opinions like this by harming others..it is so wrong..

Good posting Kit..
Noted..and shared..

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:05 am
Kit--kudos for taking a stand in keeping with what the Bible says Christ commanded.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:14 am
Kit, a very interesting article. Although there must be a line drawn in the sand and that line is there are rights and wrongs in this world whether we choose to believe so or not. That is indisputable! This statement of yours and I quote"In reality, there is no meaningful difference between the Bible's view of women and pornography's view of women. Both reduce women to "things" to be controlled by men". Although there are cases of men absolutely degrading women in the Bible, it must be noted that women were also used by God mightily in the Bible and do note that I said God used them mightily as many men were not manly enough to get the job done. And when you lump the entire Bible as the standard of the mistreatment of women as part of a cognitive whole of all exploits of women, this gives the reader the impression that God is the oppressor when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Then the other point of disagreement I have within your post is that, again, no matter how you slice it (No pun intended) abortion is the killing of what would be if left alone, a child, a human being and this is where I point to the lines that must be drawn in the sand as the rights and wrongs that are the laws of our creator! Regardless of whether one believes in such or not simply because they do not have the eyes to see nor the ears to hear then we at that point we can easily differ our facts to that of the medical profession that visibly, does not dispute my statement of the fact that a child if left alone in the mothers womb, can only develop in to another human being. I am not against the taking of Birth control at all! As I do believe that is our right to decide as to whether or not we wish to become parents, However, after the fact that birth control was not taken nor all precautions taken for that matter, and one becomes pregnant then that is where the line must be drawn as the fact is to abort is the deal breaker and thus becomes the murder of an innocent child (Human being) And then what is good for the goose you must agree, is good for the gander........Meaning, that in many of those wombs of women who choose to abort are women themselves. So to state that we woman want all our rights is all well and good. BUT, at the same time, we can not satisfy those rights being out of integrity to the fact that we as women be permitted to kill off those who's rights we so vehemently fight for, simply because they are being carried in what is the safest place in the world for them until they enter it! Otherwise, regarding porn , inequality in the work place etc...I am woman, hear me roar and am in complete agreement with you!

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:28 am
Thank-you Elaine for you insightful comment. I agree with you 100%.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:36 am

Abortions does go back to biblical times, and before. Where in the bible is the word used or the condemnation of the act of abortion even mentioned. Women knew of a tea that would cause spontaneous abortion, the plant was used so much it is now extinct. As for heroic women, as the word was used in ancient times, the only one stands alone in my mind is Devorah (not Deborah).

What choice one woman makes for her life should always be a free and independent choice, others men or women, need to focus on their own lives and their own bodies.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:14 am
You cannot currently send a star to Kit because you have done so within the last week.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:32 am
But...if a woman chooses to employ herself by using her body and sexuality in pornography....what then? There really ARE women who enjoy porn and women who have made great success in the field. (Jenna Jameson and Nina Hartley are just two of them) Why does a large segment of society condemn them for it?

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:39 am
invest in women's education and organization such as FINCA that support and empower women to have voice and be economically self-sufficient

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:45 am

I think the problem we face today is not women who make the choice of prostitution or to make films. The real problem is far too many children and adults are forced into making these films. Are all the missing persons; children and women just disappeared or are many forced into acts against their will? The larger our population grows the more deviant personalities we see, and there is always someone willing to satiate those desires.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:51 am
Kit I agree with your last statement

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Sunday March 11, 2012, 10:29 am
thnx for this article

Sunday March 11, 2012, 11:13 am
noted, thanks Kit for sharing this

Sunday March 11, 2012, 1:02 pm
Thank you for sharing Kit. Great article. Thank you for the comment, Elaine.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:13 pm
Jenna Jameson is open about the fact that she got into porn after childhood sex abuse and despises the porn industry. She's a shrewd businesswoman, that's for sure, but you can't use her as an example of why the porn industry is good for women because it's not, and she'd be the first to tell you so.

Thanks for the article.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:17 pm
To Elaine.
In defense of the quote you cited by Kit, I contest your view that god used women mightily in the bible. The bible is a compilation of vague histories, stories, and parables. The men who wrote the bible crafted stories that told of how women were used mightily. Men created stories depicting how women were used mightily and by their gods. I say gods because, Elohim, for one example among many, is plural for god.
The bible is singularly one of the prime movers for the misogynist patriarchal hegemony of men in regard to their treatment women. The Quran is similarly flawed and even more flawed by current Islamic interpretation of its tenets.
If you construe from this that pointing to the bible is an ill-mannered statement that god is responsible for this oppression you are also stating that pointing to the bible is in error for teachings that eventually espouse love and compassion. Either god put these ideas into men’s heads or he/she/it didn’t. Further, god is responsible because men are behaving this way toward women because they believe it is the word of god.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:18 pm
To Elaine continued
As for abortion being what you call it, then how is it that targeted drone killing, and shelling, of people towns and villages (war, whether it is against terrorism or not) is alright when the collateral damage is destroying the born and unborn is acceptable? I love it when both sides of a war scream god wills it!
I also contend that the line drawn in the sand you reference as the rights and wrongs of the laws of your creator are a double edged sword. I found over a hundred examples in the ot observing that god ordered the destruction of villages, towns, and their inhabitants too many times to ignore. Is that the same god you are referring to and siding with in your debate? Or is it a different one?

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:19 pm
To Elaine continued
When we also add that many of these fetuses that are aborted are the potential offspring of a growing number of women who are living below the poverty line, to force people to bear them we dooming said children to receive nutrition so poor in substance that they will never attain the cognitive abilities of the rest of us.
On one hand legislators tell us these poor women are having babies so as to qualify for food stamps, welfare and Medicaid so they want to cut these subsidies. On the other hand you, your interpretation of your god’s laws, and more men, want to force people to bring a child into such a no win situation where they are likely to be handicapped mentally, arrested for drug use, and placed in prison? What a game!

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:37 pm
noted thnx for this article

Sunday March 11, 2012, 2:39 pm
Education is power! Power is education!, that way you can make your own decisions. School, and getting the knowledge is the best way to win any argument, any war, violence towards women, children, animals, and adults too! Get informed, glad I did!

Sunday March 11, 2012, 3:23 pm
I am pro-choice, support a woman's right to contraception, and am a feminist. But I also support a woman's right to participate in creating any form of pornography that only involves consenting adults. To tell a woman she may not create a form of pornography with her body by her choice is just one end of the same continuum that tells a woman she has to cover up her body from head to toe because of what effect it will have on men.

There is no excuse for rape or violence. And we should hold people accountable for it. And part of that means not letting them blame it on the porn they watched or the music they listened to. Healthy reasonable adults can distinguish fiction from fact, and they do not base their lives on fiction. We have fictionalized romance of all kinds of ridiculous sorts, and most adults grow up and recognize that a healthy relationship is not based on waking up a pretty sleeping girl with a kiss or being woken up with a kiss by a prince who decided your apparently dead body was so attractive that he was going to kiss it. Similarly, adults can watch porn of a degrading act and recognize it as fiction. What is important is that nobody ever be forced to make pornography and people should not be forced to view it if they do not want to. But I am not willing to scream against porn that involved consenting adult women making a choice to create it.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 3:36 pm
Noted an excellent article thank you Kit

Sunday March 11, 2012, 4:20 pm
Thank you for the article, Kit. I have 2 granddaughters that I want to grow up in a world of equality. Although they're being raised by parents teaching them self-respect, the world isn't always so kind. They will always have the support from family, but others aren't as lucky. Yes, we must take to the streets in protest to affirm the rights of women. Most of us probably aren't near NYC, and didn't have anything local; the best support we can give is by setting good examples of how we wish to be treated and continuing our fight for equality.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 5:15 pm
Well said Lois I totally agree

Sunday March 11, 2012, 5:34 pm

Ra Sc - Rape is a violent criminal act and not a sexual act. It has nothing to do with the way a woman dresses or looks, where she might go at night or how she conducts herself. Violent crime can not be excused or tolerated. However, nor should any man be convicted without a DNA or sound proof of his guilt. Far too many men are being released after 20 or more years in prison, only to have DNA prove they were innocent.

With our current justice system being turned into a "for profit" system far too many juveniles and adults are convicted on slim evidence of guilt.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 6:32 pm
noted

Sunday March 11, 2012, 6:50 pm
Men and women have always been equal in the Eyes of God. It has been men who took control of religion and made women inferior to men. This is now no longer acceptable in a society where women now refuse to be held down. Society can not progress if half of it's population is being held back. What the GOP is doing is a last desperate attempt to hold onto useless and outmoded ideas.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 7:08 pm
Love this

Sunday March 11, 2012, 7:10 pm

As usual well said Hartson.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:10 pm
Women Have to support other women & we all have to fight ALL forms of slavery.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 8:31 pm
Noted, thanks.

Sunday March 11, 2012, 9:40 pm
the current pornography industry is demeaning to women and traditional patriarchy does not allow for a womans equality

Monday March 12, 2012, 1:59 am
Thanks.

Monday March 12, 2012, 3:34 am
Thanks.

Monday March 12, 2012, 1:28 pm
Why bring pornography in this debate? It has nothing to do with the pieces of crap who wants to take away women's rights! Right now there is a real war against women in the United States so focus on that instead on things that has nothing to do with that! Women are not forced to go into the porn industry just like women are not forced to watch porn! So stop focusing on pornography, shirts, ads, balloons in parades and things like that and focus on the people who wants to stop women from having abortions, who wants contraceptives difficult to get and who wants to put things in vaginas!

Monday March 12, 2012, 5:24 pm
Sometimes they are the same people.

Friday March 16, 2012, 2:25 am
Thanks Kit! I for one like to know I am not the only one. A hard secret for me I will stand up(ever so shamefully) and be counted, by saying this is more true than I think people realize. I for one, as I sit here and cry have to admit for the first time publicly, that this is not only the projected norm, but these men (not all,my heart chooses desperately to believe not all) try to convince their partners that it is she who is weird and abnormal if she doesn't go along with the violence reported in this story. She is shunned, ridiculed and told their are women out their begging for this attention, and threaten to get the attention from a "real woman" unlike their devoted wife. Attention is needed desperately on this and thank you for reminding me again I'm not alone. It was truly needed.