Letters to the Editor
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@Tyler_Mason, @TomRitchford
There's not much point. Parson Jim is either trolling or locked into a mindset that will cause him to simply not comprehend what you are saying. Changing Lynx to Lynxette, using "honey" as a belittling pejorative... he's pretty much wearing his misogyny on his sleeve.
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Is it linked to this organization?
There is an organization, http://www.standtrue.com/index2.html, that is what you might call a Generation Y Pro-life organization.
I too have worked with organizations that try to support teenage mothers. The intensive support required to make it work is almost overwhelming. Almost none of them can find permanent housing. I am a little surprised at the emphasis on teen mothers. On the one hand, girls who are already pregnant might find it supportive, but girls who are contemplating becoming pregnant might find it inspiring, and most pro-life groups are careful not to endorse out of wedlock births.
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Canbee
You're right, and to think I removed a comment about his caricature of feminism that read something along the lines of:
That'd be like saying Parsons are holier-than-thou idiots who can't be bothered with seminary, but still want a title.
His comment on "irregardless" shows that he isn't just ignorant, he doesn't really know how to research or learn.
You're also right that he's trolling, he does it frequently here. I should know better than to respond, but once in awhile I respond from sheer annoyance.
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Other humorous irregardless commentary
I know that it's been done, but my friends and I tease the word all the time, so I couldn't resist...from dictionary.com:
(my personal favorite: "adverb
regardless; a combination of irrespective and regardless sometimes used humorously" - though somehow I don't think Parson Jim was trying to be funny...)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ir·re·gard·less /ˌɪrɪˈgɑrdlɪs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ir-i-gahrd-lis] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adverb Nonstandard.
regardless.
[Origin: 1910–15; ir-2 (prob. after irrespective) + regardless]
—Usage note Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ir·re·gard·less (ĭr'ĭ-gärd'lĭs) Pronunciation Key
adv. Nonstandard
Regardless.
[Probably blend of irrespective and regardless.]
Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
irregardless
an erroneous word that, etymologically, means the exact opposite of what it is used to express, attested in non-standard writing from 1912, probably a blend of irrespective and regardless. Perhaps inspired by the double negative used as an emphatic.
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@TomRitchford
Ummm, Tom, I'm also "of the right". People on both sides of the aisle just make things up and yell. For example, your assertion that it is "an acceptable form of debate over there". By the "us" in "not for us" you do mean salonistas and not left wingers, don't you?
Do you remember Salon before the bush regime? It wasn't too gentle with Clinton. I doubt Salon will transform from journalism into cheer leading if the dems get control of the white house. It might even look right wing. After all, we'll still have corruption and civil rights abuses. Hopefully, empowered dems won't be as despicable as our current administration.
We'll see.
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so much for not berating other women for their choices
"The prevalence of delayed adolescence -- embodied by 45-year-old professionals who ponder if they're "ready" to take care of someone else -- also has its downside."
Nice.
So women who are 45 and have devoted themselves to raising the glass ceiling or to work they genuinely love, who nuture other people as mentors or teachers or managers, or who just plain know themselves well enough to know that parenting just isn't for them, are as self-obsessed and immature as teenagers.
Not, say, because they pay attention to the fact that women who have kids often pay for it from their creativity, from their work life, from their personal life, in all kinds of ways that they're not willing to give up.
Not, say, because they look at the way parenting is often reduced to a nauseating spectacle to produce the best trophy kid, even if that practice requires a lifetime of therapy and debt to service absurd standards of so-called "achievement," and they think, "no thanks."
Couldn't possibly be because they look at how their friends' marriages and friendships erode because they're supposed to cater to their kids' every whim or deal with the guilt of feeling like a bad parent.
Because the mature thing to do would be to have a kid, whatever your circumstances. Because maturity is proved solely through the act of procreation.
Big feminist props to ya on that one.
Seriously, what were you thinking?
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A private decision - and it should be
No, standupgirl is not feminist. It is a front for shaming any other decision a woman would make. Choice is feminist and this is not a choice site.
If you want to see a site where women have had abortions and are not ashamed, see http://www.imnotsorry.net
Deciding to have or not to have an abortion should not be a decision that is community property. People, particularly men on commenting on this blog, have swept aside any difficulty in the decision.
I have to say, that among family women who have decided to have babies in their teens, that there is sometimes a reverse macho stand that they take, so asking your relatives who have had a child in their teenage years what to do is not always a good idea. Your decision to have an abortion could be taken as condemnation of their choice to keep.
Don't become a parent or have an abortion just because you are afraid of the condemnation of your family or friends. You cheapen parenthood and your child if you do. This is not about them, it is about whether you want to be pregnant or not and whether you want to be a parent or not. Your pregnancy is not family or community property and your choice to be or not be a parent is not family property. This is where the choice part comes in and the feminist freedom to decide whether you will be pregnant or not is up to you. Some people want to take that away.
Bear this in mind, there is not a more pro-life decision to be made than only having a child if you are ready to be a parent to it. Keeping a child when you can't be and don't want to be a parent is trivalizing that life. Having children when you are ready to have child honors children the most.