Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 02:05:36 +0100
From: Hugh Rodwell <m-14970-AT-mailbox.swipnet.se>
Subject: M-TH: Whim oh whim oh careless whim ....


Leo sniped:

>>Of course, you manage to avoid completely the issue of "whimsical" decisions
>>about abortions, and whether or not you would support the whimsical decision
>>to abort a female child to sex select. This would, of course, expose the
>>shallowness of your oft purported feminism, so we should not be supposed.

Yoshie took him out:

>Sex selection occurs *because women are oppressed and less valued*. This
>material fact and the ideology of sexism that goes with it are the forces
>that make couples (or males who have power over their partners) desire male
>issues. It is *patriarchy*, not a woman's whim, that is the cause of sex
>selection.

The thing is that you can support someone's right to abortion *even if it's
just on a whim*, without supporting the socio-political content of the whim
itself, or the reasoning behind it. Leo chose his "whim" very carelessly.
Sex selection is rarely a whimsical decision. It would be in the case of
someone who suddenly thinks "Shit, I don't know any neat boy's names --
I'll have to get rid of him..." (Pats or Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous, for
instance...)

All this shows the weak tactics of emphasizing the fact that a fundamental
right such as abortion, like the right to vote, includes the right to use
it *at will*, even if that will is "whimsical" or malicious or whatever.
This is self-evident, and not the important aspect of the right. The
subjective intention is irrelevant. It's like property rights -- it's ours
to use or abuse as we see fit. This comparison also shows the fact that
there are no absolutes even in fundamental rights -- some abuses of
property, voting, abortion etc may be so damaging that society decides to
limit them. At the moment however the important strategic thing is to get
the fundamental right established. Any abuses will come out in the wash
afterwards, and will be far fewer than opponents of the right claim.

This by the way is the reason I quoted the old blues song "nobody's
business but my own" yesterday -- it's all about the right to be beaten and
screwed and cheated by your lover regardless. Horrible song, but one that
sheds some ironic light on certain aspects of this discussion. Where's the
dividing line between social and individual??

Cheers,

Hugh




     --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---