At this morning's Farmer's Market, a man started to shout something out as he passed the corner where the Planned Parenthood volunteers had the table set up. He started to shut when he was about 5 feet behind us, and continued to do so as he walked past:
"My sperm, my voice! Don't silence me! Pro-life Catholic coming through!"
Everyone at the table went wide-eyed and tried not to laugh. My sperm, my voice? WTF? It was so bizarre that I had to jot it down, so that I could remember it later.
This guy is a bit of a regular. He walks past the table and makes a passive-aggressive, anti-choice comment. He never stops. He just drops his words and keeps on walking.
It was pretty funny when I first heard it, but the more I've thought about what he said, the more disturbing I find it. This guy considers his sperm to be his voice, and women, by taking control of their own fertility, are silencing him. It's as if he feels that spreading his seed is a First Amendment right.
What are the odds that this bozo would put on a condom if asked? Probably slim to nil. What are the odds that this bozo would continue to have sex, sans condom, even if his partner said no? Every time I think about the implications of his statement, the more chilling it becomes. Sadder still, it is very likely that there are many other men who feel this way. Some of them may be in government. Some of them may be pharmacists. Some may just be sad little rapists. But the common bond they share is that they feel their sperm is their voice. They feel that their voices are silenced when women take control of their bodies and fertility. It threatens what they see as a fundamental right.
This explains a lot and is also rather frightening.
The other protestor of the morning was another man (surprise!) who asked us rather belligerently, "Do you think it's funny to kill babies?!?" I ran him off with my patented, "We aren't here to debate, sir." Followed by a series of friendly, smiling, "Thank you, have a good day sir"s until he finally gave up and walked away.
Some people.
We had a lot of good visitors to balance them out, though.
Sad little rapists? Small things make men proud.
I'm sorry if you found that offensive, but read it again. "Some may just be sad little rapists." Did I say "All men are rapists" or anything like that?
This guy said that his sperm was his voice. I'm sorry, but your sperm is a biological material, voice is your voice. The sort of guy who feels that he will be silenced if his sperm doesn't lead to conception and birth doesn't get my sympathy, especially one who want to be aggressive about it.
The "my sperm is my voice" crowd take personal affront to women having control over their reproductive systems, and it goes beyond abortion. This sort of person is against contraception. The Pill is bad, condoms are bad. They "silence" him, so the best course of action is to refuse to let women access contraceptives and to refuse to use a condom when asked. If a woman says "not without a condom" and he makes it happen anyway, what is that? What would you call him? I know what I would.
In conclusion:
"Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate."
I like the term; I think it is a memorable expression. It was a compliment for turning a good phrase. Jeez, lighten up.
I like the term; I think it is a memorable expression. It was a compliment for turning a good phrase. Jeez, lighten up.
Ah. Well, it didn't come across that way on the first or the second reading. (Sounded more like criticism.)
Thanks, then.