Recent Setbacks for Women/Women’s Rights

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Thanks to Tangerine Male women's rights are going the ways of the dodo, and more and more males think it is okay to treat us like lower life forms that need to be controlled and oppressed. We have to live in fear every time we leave our homes now because we have a uterus. It's just so hopeless.

The entire world is getting worse every day and there is nothing to look forwards to. fml

Every day, I'm more and more relieved that I needed a hysterectomy in 2022, which also included my ovaries because of a large cyst on my right ovary that had cancer cells in the fluid. In the end, the surgery got everything, and I'm still cancer free. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if even medically necessary sterilization is banned for women. I was already perimenopausal at 47 when I had my surgery, so even if I were capable of getting pregnant, there's no guarantee that I would carry to term, so if I didn't live in California, I would be blamed for the miscarriage, or simply allowed to bleed out or succumb to sepsis. Even here, it's dangerous to be a woman as a federal ban on abortion could nullify what we voters did, which is protecting reproductive freedom in the state's constitution shortly before my surgery.

This concerns me as well and as tech bro billionaires who control social media platforms are increasingly flexing their power and influence in the US government, I'm frequently reminded of the power their products have in our lives also.

I've wondered how much these echo chambers we spend so much time in explain some of the prominent women in the contemporary conservative and alt right movements who appear to somehow both internalize misogynistic messages from within these movements in a way that almost seems like they embrace them and downplay/willfully ignore/make excuses for them at the same time. It seems like such a weird tension that I guess part of me wants there to be an explanation behind it that is an external force, rather than an aspect of their character or just human nature.

But, I think this element is nothing new and can't really be blamed on algorithms, propaganda, etc. There have always been women who have reacted in this way to progress they feel threatens their own interests, I guess. I'm thinking of Phyllis Schlafly here.

I agree with everything that's been said so far. How do we support each other in this mess? Some of us have IRL autistic communities, so we can support other women and get support ourselves that way, but for those who get most of their support online, what can we do, or do better, to provide support for each other?

Maybe we could start a thread in this forum to rant, share, listen, and support on the topic of women’s rights and concerns, including our experiences related to those issues. We could ask that people abide by The Haven guidelines there so it remains more supportive and doesn’t turn into a political debate. That’s just an idea. I’ve been a bit low on ideas. I’ve been dealing with a lot in my personal life offline lately, like being confronted with past trauma in ways that I totally did not expect. I’m getting through it, though.

I'm sorry to hear you're going through that, although pleased to know you have the tools to help yourself get through it, too.

You're right, that we would need protections to make sure it was safe to communicate.