Vagina remarks, silencing of Michigan lawmakers draws firestorm online.

Explanation: This article is 3days [c]old already and searching both google and ATS show me it wasn't posted here and I find that to be extremely shocking considering its about political censorship!

Vagina remarks, silencing of Michigan lawmakers draws firestorm online (11:00 AM, June 15, 2012 Compiled by Jason Karas) [freep.com]

NOW ... before I go quoting anything ... here are some ground rules ...

1] This thread is over censorship of a medical term used in a floor speech in parliment.

2] It is NOT on abortion OR womens rights ... and I encourage my fellow members interested in such sidelines to make threads using this article in one of the other forums better suited to those topics.

OL cherry picked this quoted comment from the linked article as IMO it said it best.

Jezebel.com's Erin Gloria Ryan writes:

"Rather than be a manly man and tell the women to their face that they had upset the Speaker, Bolger acted like a mincing, spineless ninny and relayed the women's speaking ban through their party's House leader. He gave no explanation as to why the women were banned, so both are left guessing (and fuming) today. ...

Women have been absent from the debate around a bill that seeks to govern their bodies from Day 1. During committee, no pro-choice women were allowed to speak. Planned Parenthood was barred from testifying. And now this — two pro-choice female legislators all-out banned from voicing an opinion on the state's role in their anatomy. … Let this be a lesson to you, women: shut up and let men do all the deciding about your bodies."

Remember to please focus on the CENSORSHIP and avoid the derailing topics of womens rights and abortion.

Thanks.

Personal Disclosure: I just found this and was suprised that I hadn't seen it mentioned on ATS yet.

Aside from the issues of womens rights and abortion ... I found the entire issue to be completely disgusting and damning not only of the State of MI but the entire USA!

Do you agree that this level of blatant and unwarranted censorship is beyond reprehensible?

If yes ... what immediate constitionally backed actions would you as a citizen take against the perpetrators of such outrageous crimes agaisn't free speech!?

reply to post by OmegaLogos


all i heard was something about a vagina, but pretty much nothing makes sense here.


i am completely 100% confused.



edit: i REALLY gave it hard read through, and ALL i keep seeing is everyone being angry about vagina's.


what the lalala?

As the Michigan incident tells us, those who want to control women's bodies also want to treat that body as an obscenity.

I believe this is the core of the issue. Those who would control our bodies and deny our autonomy see us and our body parts as indecent and some kind of property they they rightly should control for their own needs and desires...

Of course they want to keep women out of it and keep them from blatantly using the proper name for their body parts... How dare these women speak out like that? The women should just go home, get prettied up and make dinner for their husbands...

I hope something more comes from this. They should be punished for disallowing people to speak for no good reason.

Oh, and... VAGINA!

.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


"Vagina is too lewd..." so one of the Michigan politicians said.

The Vagina is part of every females anatomy and there is nothing lewd about it.

These people are repressed, archaic, and narrow minded.

The fact that this story has gone viral is a good thing....people need to know.

What would I do about this? I would do ....what is being done....expose the archaic idiots to the public.

And for your education and enjoyment...the transcript of the play "The Vagina Monologues".

www.script-o-rama.com...

reply to post by SoymilkAlaska


Explanation: Here ... [quoted from article linked in the OP] ...

'Lawmaker banned from speaking after referring to her vagina in abortion debate'
Allison Yarrow from the Daily Beast writes:

“Brown said that the Republican leadership did not tell her why she was banned. In her brief floor remarks Wednesday, she also explained that as a Jewish woman, she chooses to keep kosher in her home, and that she also abided by the Jewish tenet dating back to the biblical era that “abortions performed in order to preserve the life of the mother are not only permissible, but mandatory.” ”

It is that simple and that shocking!

Personal Disclosure: Thanks for taking an interest! I hope that helps clarify the reason for this thread!

You put all manner of conditions on how your thread is to be accepted and responded to and then you have the nerve to say:

"Aside from the issues of womens rights and abortion ... I found the entire issue to be completely disgusting and damning not only of the State of MI but the entire USA!"

So in effect, you were just asking for trouble with this thread.

(And we don't call it "parliament.")

Shall we call this the censored response...withholding of the VAGINA

Update: Michigan Dem calls on women to withhold sex until legislature backs down

In comments ahead of Wednesday’s vote on restricting female reproductive rights, Michigan State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D), of Detroit, called on the women of her state to withhold sex from their partners until the legislature backs down.

“We’re launching a war on women,” she said. “Stop having sex with us, gentlemen, and I ask women to boycott men until they stop moving this through the House.”

You want to control what goes on in our house from your House? It may be a long dry summer there lads.

Good luck with that one guys. Ha.

*crosses legs and leans back to sip coffee* A truer employment of "boy"cott could never be found.


Source

reply to post by Aliensun


Explanation: Uhmmm?

You put all manner of conditions on how your thread is to be accepted and responded to and then you have the nerve to say:

"Aside from the issues of womens rights and abortion ... I found the entire issue to be completely disgusting and damning not only of the State of MI but the entire USA!"

So in effect, you were just asking for trouble with this thread.

I did take a big risk in posting this thread!

I sectioned off the issues I am unable to currently deal with and hence the pure focus on censorship!

Also I find the other issues just as important and I did direct others to make threads on that if they so choose.

Personal Disclosure: This thread isnt about me ok! Your focus is misaligned ... try recalibrate that ok!

I haven't read this thread's comments, so forgive me if this is posted already.

Brown, who voted against the abortion regulations, told supporters of the bill: "I'm flattered you're all so interested in my vagina. But no means no," referencing the proposal.

She wasn't using the term in a medical context as the OP's article would have you believe. This statement was provocative and the word "vagina" wasn't the problem - it was the inappropriate context under which it was used.

So please, let's focus on the context of the statement. The article linked in the OP doesn't even mention the actual statement, because that would reveal that it WAS an inappropriate comment and banning the representative from speaking had nothing to do with banning the pro-choice voice or removing women from the discussion - it had to do instead with enforcing the rules of conduct. But these activists groups are looking for SHOCK and AWE, not TRUTH.


ETA:


I can see already that a bunch of armchair activists want to jump on this issue, argue for abortion without even understanding the spin what was attached to this incident.

l2DenyIgnorance, people.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


I guess the Speaker's and other offended lawmaker's Mommies and Daddies, against all expert advice, used words like "pee pee" when referring to body parts.

Teach children proper names for all body parts. Use words such as genitals, penis, vagina, vulva, anus, and private parts. Most children associate the uses for these body parts as related to bathroom functions. Explanations related to the sexual functions of these body parts need not be provided until the child is older or when the parents feel it is appropriate.

Michigan parent guide source



ETA: If they can't say it...they sure shouldn't try to legislate it.

Vagina
Vagina
Vagina

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


You obviously haven't educated yourself on what Representative Brown actually said, and why she was temporarily banned for speaking.

If I were a state rep and said to the floor "I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my penis, but no means no!" would that have been appropriate?

Brown claims that men make offensive statements all the time, but are not banned from speaking. She doesn't give any reference or example of that, however.. Sounds like she is trying to rally the feminazis who are too stupid to actually look in to what happened. Sadly, it appears to be working.

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
reply to post by TinkerHaus

 

I guess these lawmaker's Mommies and Daddies, against all expert advice, used words like "pee pee" when referring to body parts.

Teach children proper names for all body parts. Use words such as genitals, penis, vagina, vulva, anus, and private parts. Most children associate the uses for these body parts as related to bathroom functions. Explanations related to the sexual functions of these body parts need not be provided until the child is older or when the parents feel it is appropriate.

Michigan parent guide source

And again, l2DenyIgnorance. The ban on speaking WAS NOT due to the world "vagina" as they are trying to make you believe. It was because the comment was inappropriate. She wasn't talking in a medical context, she was accusing the floor of being interested in her lady parts.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


Explanation: St*rred!

Thanks for bringing that to our attention!

Personal Disclosure: There was another lady also banned from speaking and I wonder if this was a concerted effort to get banned?

reply to post by TinkerHaus


By lady parts, do mean her VAGINA?
Neither the word nor the sentiment is inappropriate in any context.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


Because she shouted from the floor in support of a joke-bill she was pushing that would require men to go through a whole bunch of garbage to get a vasectomy.

And I know this thread isn't about abortion, but I have to point out that a vasectomy prevents a pregnancy in the first place, while abortion kills a living being that has already been conceived.

tHaus out. =P

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
reply to post by TinkerHaus

 

By lady parts, do mean her VAGINA?
Neither the word nor the sentiment is inappropriate in any context.

And still the actual issue eludes you. Are you being obtuse by design or is it accidental?

The problem wasn't the word "vagina" - this was an abortion rights event, the word "vagina" was used thousands of times. I know a few articles out there and a whole bunch of reactionary 'tweets' tell us that she said a bad word, but that is not what happened. Two minutes of internet research will show you what she said, and why she was banned for speaking. Both Brown and Byrum made clear violations to the rules of conduct, and were obviously using charged and inflammatory language to charge up their feminazi supporters.

I'm pro-choice, by the way. I'm just not easily fooled. I would never personally choose abortion unless there was a health risk for the mother, but I am pro-choice for other people so long as it's a respectful process carried out EARLY in the pregnancy. So no, I'm not arguing an agenda here. Just trying to present the facts.

Perhaps I just don't agree with you.

Cheers though.

Lold when the one lady said, and I paraphrase, 'If it's such an issue stop having sex with us.'

When I first read about this I was pretty pissed, thinking that the word vagina was the issue. If you watch the lady speak she is rather insulting, and honestly I found her remark combative and inappropriate given the setting.

Now what does still piss me off is that the two women were not allowed to speak. They represent the voters, and this action essentially silenced those in their districts. Poor form.

What was up with the vasectomy thing? Not allowed to get one unless serious health concerns? Eep.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


When I first saw the headline, I was, like others, outraged. Then I read the actual statement and the very first thing that came to mind was 'shock value'.

But I think that's what she was going after.
Many here in MI are aware what the R's are up to. And look, like the bills or not, there is some shady stuff going down out there in Lansing that is flying under the radar.
If someone can use that shock value to get in the papers then people who might otherwise not realize the bills trying to be passed would have the opportunity to call their Reps and let them know what they think.

Is that definitely what's been going on?
Hm, I don't know, but that's what it seemed to me.

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
Perhaps I just don't agree with you.

Cheers though.

It's not a question of agreement... What is there to agree on?

There are facts, and there is rumor/hearsay.. You are choosing to listen to the hearsay while I am presenting the FACTS of what occurred. There is no opinion in the events that took place that led to these representatives getting a temp-ban.

Same thing happens on ATS - if you ignore the terms of service and conduct yourself in an inappropriate manner, you will be temporarily silenced. If you continue to ignore the rules you could be banned. This is not open for interpretation, these are the rules written in black and white that we have all agreed to abide by.

Brown acted inappropriately when she accused the state legislative body of being interested in her vagina. No one was talking about HER vagina but her. That's inappropriate in many places..

Byrum shouted out from the floor while someone else had the floor. Again, clear violation of the rules. If these women are so passionate about their cause they should do their constituents and the pro-choice people right by working within the system, not tarnishing these movements by acting so disgracefully.