To nm: I do believe there’s hatred rooted in the patriarchal belief system, which conservatives have inherited. I don’t think they recognize it as such. They believe they are upholding morality and working to create a better and “righteous” world. They’ve given very little thought as to how or why women get continuously screwed in their version of righteousness.

Ease access to birth control and provide children with information about safe sex? Are you kidding? They can’t do that. It would condone – perhaps even promote premarital sex, which is also immoral.

See, the thought process here is circular. You cannot sway a true conservative with logic or fact because they will always revert back to the “moral” argument. This is why most attempts at discussion leaves one feeling as though they’ve bashed their head into a brick wall (and somewhat relieved these people aren’t still stoning us to death.)

to bellacoker: I agree. Direct hatred would be much easier to identify and move beyond. This moral superiority, however, is so entrenched in the conservative psyche I think the daughters of our daughters will still be trying to bump them from the hamster-wheel of godliness inside their head.

Also, I think that abortion is an easy choice for some women, I know that it was for me, and that that is okay too. Just because one option is more difficult it does not mean that difficulty equals right. If someone told you that you had a choice between going to a movie or setting yourself on fire there is no reason to believe that you would pause later, perhaps during your popcorn eating, and wonder if you should have immolated yourself because going to see the movie was the easy way out.

Thank you for your post, it was very though provoking.

I would be more impressed by this description of the conservative mindset if so many of the same people making it more difficult to obtain an abortion weren’t also making it more difficult for kids to get accurate information about sexual intercourse and birth control, and making it more difficult for unmarried people (and some married people, too) to have access to birth control.

I mean, I’m sure there are many whose mindset is as you describe it (complete with the overbearing overtones you point out of the ways they try to compensate for our terrible tendency to make bad choices), but there are even more, it seems to me, who are seriously devoted to making women suffer if we have sex for fun.

Very thought-provoking post, though.