It's time for Missouri women to take back their bodies now, and I know just how to to do it. Follow me into the breach...
The war on women (or is it caterpillars?) has now it an all time low thanks to the good state legislatures of Missouri who obviously think that women should have as little say over their own reproductive rights as humanly possible. As reported by Amanda Beadle at Think Progress:
Missouri legislators passed a bill Friday that allows employers or health insurance providers to stop offering coverage for contraception, abortion, or sterilization if doing so violates their religious or moral convictions. The bill now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon (D), who has not said whether he supports the legislation.
But remember, this is about interference from the fedural govurnment!
“This bill is about religious freedom and moral convictions,” said Rep. Sandy Crawford, R-Buffalo. “This is about sending a message to the federal government that we don’t like things rammed down our throat.”
In short, we don't like wehmun.
This is obviously ridiculous and insulting to women. But there is something that can be done. It would take stamina, persistence, and patience, but I could almost promise you that things can change for the better. And that would be all the women in Missouri to do pull a Lysistrata. In other words, no sex. Period.
For those who scoff at the idea, a little background. Lysistrata is a Greek comedy written by Aristophanes around 400 BC and generally considered to be the first written comic play in Western civilization. It takes place during the The Peloponnesian War. The wives of the soldiers who go off to fight become desperate in their struggles to keep the men from fighting all the time, so Lysistrata bands the women of Greece together and make a pact that unless the war ends and their men come home, the women will not have sex with them. The Greek women of course make it harder for the men (no pun intended) by making themselves as sexually attractive as possible in order to break the men down. The men eventually try going to brothels for their needs but that's later in the play.
There's a saying in the theatre that in all good comedies, there is truth. Much like Lysistrata, women's needs are being pushed aside by misogynistic legislatures. They have become almost personna non grata. Perhaps one of the fastest and most effective ways of making themselves known is simply taking these draconian bills to the enth degree. If the women of Missouri feel that they can't be trusted to make proper decisions when it comes to birth control, then these women should take the one measure that would guarantee that the bill in no way would ever be violated: No sex. None. Not with husbands, boyfriends, and especially with anyone in the legislature. And in the 21st Century, we have the resources to follow them to some house of debauchery if they try to cheat. Band together and place "Do Not Enter" signs around their wastes. Do it for a month, maybe two. It would drive men so crazy that maybe, just maybe, they'll pay attention and stop all this craziness. Lysistrata was a comedy. Comedies are also a reflection of society. It's time Missouri got a mirror.