Inside a Women's Issue: Abortion

Posted by Jordan | Posted in , , | Posted on 10:54 AM

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Abortion, oddly enough, is a hot topic of discussion in the political and religious world. Nearly 40 years after women won the right to determine what happens with their own bodies, the Right (read: Wrong) has begun the discussion again like there is any discussion to be had.

My freshman year of college, I was enjoying my newly found liberalism and being gay, I starting to think more deeply about issues affecting women, in large part due to an English professor I had. She was a Master's student at the time and taught my class a lot about American Rhetoric. She was one of those professors you'll never forget, even though her name now escapes me. I remember her overalls and black rimmed glasses. She told our class the story of having to choose between having her son and making the decision to abort her baby and focus on school. While she chose to have a child, she helped the class understand how grateful she was to have that choice as pregnancy completely changes a person's body and emotions.

I understand many people's religions feel abortion is wrong and I feel that's the choice of people in that religion to follow the sanctions of their religion and not to press that onto those who do not follow religious doctrine. I personally, believe that adoption is the best option, but I would never second-guess a woman's choice to do what she wishes to do with her own body. Childbearing can often be dangerous for many women and children who are not wanted should not be brought into the world. While I understand there are people who chose not to have an abortion and were happy with their decision, I do not think anyone who made the difficult choice should be looked upon with shame.

UPDATE: Read this and try not to puke.

My sister miscarried her first pregnancy and I'm sure nothing more tragic has happened to her or my family. It's very upsetting to read that this is even a discussion being had in modern times.

This is What a Feminist Looks Like: Sandra Bernhard

Posted by Jordan | Posted in , | Posted on 9:04 AM

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I recently accepted an internship at Lakeshore Theater in Chicago, IL. While I haven't even technically started yet, the perks have already started appearing. This weekend I was able to see Sandra Bernhard (on Valentine's Day, no doubt) at the Theater where she did four or five shows over the weekend.


I'm actually a pretty big Bernhard fan, considering I've seen every single Roseanne episode ever taped (probably five times.) I knew she was just as crazy and amazing (though much more posh) in real life. She walked onto stage in a Cheetah-print coat and covered in crystals. Her comedy had me in terms, her songs had me smile. She's always been outspoken politcally -- expressing her opinion on what Bush did wrong and on what Obama has yet to do.

She joked that the abortion politics are getting out of hand and that when she was a teenager, getting an abortion was a rite of passage. She said, "We earned those abortions!" It's crazy that we're even having this discussion about abortions again. She spoke about sending her daughter to camp during the summer and how they had begun planning her daughter's Bat Mitzvah. She talked about how her girlfriend was able to sway her from Kabala and how Madonna maybe had even more in common with Michael Jackson than she claimed at the VMAs.

The pinacle of her show was her cover performance of "Circus" in closing the show. Bernhard's comedy was the perfect amount of zshha, jewess, lesbian, offensive and chic to claim me as a huge fan.

(Photo via Sandra's Myspace)

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