Monday, February 8, 2010

i still don't see the big deal. sorry, ladies.

so, there has been much controversy and anger surrounding the now infamous pam and tim tebow ad that aired during the super bowl last night. i watched it, waiting for the offensive part... but after the 30 seconds were over all i could think was THAT'S IT? THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SO MAD ABOUT?

so, a few points you should know:

1. CBS lifted a policy that banned such ads and decided to air this one, even though in the past they have refused to air ads by other organizations. people are angry because they feel like CBS is supporting one issue over others.

Newsflash. we live in America. we have free speech and television networks get to choose what they do and do not air. CBS has every right, as a company who's objective is PROFIT, to air an ad they want to air or refuse to air an ad that they feel would be offensive to their particular demographic. No network is going to commit ratings suicide over the issue of "fairness." you can not like it until you're blue in the face, but forcing CBS to air an ad they don't want to, or keeping them from airing an ad that they do want to air is taking away their liberties.

2. In case you didn't see it (you can watch it on Hulu) the ad was very vague and, in fact, said nothing of abortion or Pam Tebow's choice to keep her child. It simply talked about how she worried about him during her pregnancy and even worries about him now. Many feminists are now saying that they feel like Focus on the Family "played them" to get more media attention.

Well, yes, you did kind of shoot yourselves in the foot here, didn't you? Maybe that was the plan... but I doubt it. Rather, I think they decided to purchase an ad, announced it, and then CBS required them to be vague... and you got all upset about basically nothing.

3. Planned Parenthood filmed an ad countering the Tebow ad, featuring two football players talking about how they "respect their daughters" and would "respect their choices." Many feminists constantly harp on the fact that they are not "pro-abortion" but rather "pro-choice" and do not want any of a woman's options taken from her and think that people should respect a woman's choice no matter what it is... and yet i have seen some incredibly disrespectful comments coming out of feminist columns and blogs in regards to Mrs. Tebow's choice. Saying things like they want to "punch her in the face" and "sure it was easy for you to choose to have your baby, you middle classed white lady!"

First of all, violence? really? wow. that's classy of you. Secondly, didn't the doctors tell her that her health was also at stake? so... does class really come into that? Oh hey, i've got money and i'm white, so it's ok for me to risk my life. i'm less likely to die because of all my money and whiteness, so really it's easy for me to carry this risky pregnancy to term.

All i want to say is: there are much bigger fish to fry where feminism is concerned. shut up about it already. as Mattie Brinkerhoff so eloquently put it way back in 1869, "When a man steals to satisfy hunger, we may safely conclude that there is something wrong in society - so when a woman destroys the life of her unborn child, it is an evidence that either by education or circumstances she has been greatly wronged." Abortion is a symptom of a bigger problem: women are not equals in society, society is not educating us about sex and our bodies. So, how about both sides agree to quit bickering about the legality of abortion, etc, etc and instead start talking about preventing unwanted pregnancies and making life easier for single mothers? Pro-lifers: admit that people are going to have sex and there really isn't a thing you can do about it. So, at least agree that people should be taught how to properly prevent pregnancies and diseases. You also need to realize that law or no law, women are going to have abortions. If you are thoroughly pro-life, you would also want to protect the life of a woman who may die of an illegal, botched abortion. Furthermore, if you want a single and/or young woman to keep her child, how about not calling her a whore when she does choose to do so? Pro-choicers: how about you start really respecting every choice a woman makes? I have read many pro-choice stance blogs that have looked down upon women who choose to raise their child or give it up for adoption. They speak as if the women only make this choice because they feel "pressured to." No, believe it or not, some women have serious moral issues with having an abortion. And you can talk all you want about how you had your abortion(s) and you're darn proud, but you need to admit that many women regret their abortions as well. Everybody: let's work on things like affordable health care for pregnant women, affordable child care for women who are in school or work. Let's not make it harder to say no to life, let's make it easier to say yes to it. THAT is the real issue at hand. Can we stop covering it up with all our bickering? And can we stop wasting time complaining about overly vague 30 second ads that will likely do absolutely NOTHING to change ANYONE'S mind?