Thursday

[cryptoxin]

I fell in love on the subway this morning, and she doesn't even know I'm alive. It was the conductor, who, as she announced my station stop, told the passengers to "have a happy women's history month -- celebrate yourselves and each other." That may be the most awesome morning subway ride I'll take all year.

Less than awesome: a slick subway ad,

Comments

[counteragent]

What's less than awesome about the abortion ad, in your opinion?

[cryptoxin]

I guess it feels like a stealth anti-abortion message -- it's subtly stigmatizing. I know a lot of women who haven't been changed because they had an abortion; it was a procedure, a solution, a relief for them. Of course it can also be difficult for many, and it's great to make a space to talk about the range of emotions and experiences around abortion. But part of the anti-abortion rhetoric is that women who have abortions will suffer mental health problems as a result, and this campaign seems to reinforce that idea implicitly. There was also the weirdness of an "abortion changes you" message apparently referring to and directed at men in this particular ad.

I don't know, do you think I'm reading too much into it?

[counteragent]

I don't know. I only skimmed the link but they explicitly denied having a political stance (and I'm robably naive to believe them!) I personally passionately defend a womans right to choose but equally passionately feel that abortion is a Big Deal and should not be undergone lightly. I saw the ad as a compassionate recognition of the serious emotional undercurrents that abortion could potentially inspire, and I thought the implication of the male partner in the decision making was a fresh take, instead of placing the burden of fertility solely on the woman.

I guess that if people look at the ad and think "oh shit I better not get (my female partner) pregnant and I should pull my weight in this mature prevention of unwanted pregnancy" or "it's the womans right to choose but I still need to emotionally support her no matter what" then yay.

If they think "I should feel guilty enough to keep an unwanted pregnancy" or worse "I should pressure her into keeping it" then boo.

[counteragent]

I hope I did not offend you in my response.

[cryptoxin]

Oh, no, not at all! My apologies, I was thinking about our different takes on the ad and then never got back to you. And remembering, back in college, the first time a female friend told me about having an abortion, and it was clear that she was struggling and needed someone to talk to, and I think I really let her down because I wasn't emotionally prepared to have that conversation and be there for her.

So I guess I agree with you, that the ad can work in different and potentially valuable ways for different people.

[counteragent]

Oh, good. :) Yeah, it's such a tricky topic, with lots of emotional layers. Normally not one I engage in conversation about, honestly, because people tend to just reduce it to their political views and those conversations are rarely interesting. But your reaction to the ad intrigued me, because I couldn't automatically unpack it based on my own reaction to the ad.

So thanks for sharing your thoughts!