Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Prochoice & motherfuckin' proud!



anyone that knows me, knows where i stand on the issues of women's reproductive rights. unless you've been hiding under a rock, you probably know that roe v wade is in danger of being overturned which to me is fucking insane. i know a lot of people don't agree with me on this issue, and that's totally fine(not really), but i am staunchly prochoice.

i think a lot of antichoicers have it all wrong. i'm not for abortion. that is not an easy choice for any woman to make. but it should be THEIR choice & no one elses, especially the goverment.
i think that children should grow up in loving, stable environments where both parents are involved & are able to take care of the child.

doesn't anyone ever wonder why the u.s. has the highest teenage pregnancy rate? uh, let's see...abstinence only programs are funded by the goverment. literally MILLIONS of dollars are spent on teaching teenagers with raging hormones that sex is a terrible, bad thing that should only happen when you get married, instead of teaching them that there's things such as CONDOMS & that it's perfectly normal to be feeling the way they are. discourage them from sex? sure, but at least give them alternatives because they're going to do it anyway.

i really don't want this to turn into a rant..although it looks like it already has. so i'll just leave it at this: this piece means a lot to me. the topic is very near & dear to me.

i probably won't be posting a whole lot in the next few days because i'll be working nonstop. and i'm pretty crafted out. and i'm pretty irritated with craftster being so fucking slow. what the hell, craftster? why you hatin'?

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can anyone be for the killing of innocent babies? It is a baby, it's scientifically called a fetus, but it is a living human child. To abort a baby is the same a killing a two year old. Both are children, innocent and helpless.

Rachel said...

thank you! amen sista!

Loca4crafts said...

Hell yeah, sistah!!! I love this needlework. I am aqlso prochoice and proud of it!!!

Rachel said...

to 2nd anonymous..right on! exactly my thoughts.

Amira said...

oh man, i'm so with you on this one. there are so many reasons to be pro choice - children should have parents who can take care of them. personally, i believe being a parent should require a license!

&LOVE your needlework :]

amy dame said...

while i disagree with the two parent thing, i LOVE everything else you've said, and the piece itself! i, um, had to buy it.

i'm so tired of the whole "pro-choicers kill babies" thing. no, the religious right kills babies when they cut funding for healthy baby programs, when they keep single mothers and POC in such poverty that they can't properly care for their children, when they support abstinance only programs that don't work, when they cut funding for programs that help mothers and children get away from abusive situations, etc, etc, etc!

argh!

but i love your piece!

Unknown said...

So absolutly amazing! I really think this is one of your best pieces. Keep up the fight sister!

Sherezada said...

This friggin' rocks the house! Keep preaching the word, sister, and display this piece proudly!

Brook said...

why do people that have rude things to say always post anonymous? if you believe so strongly in something who cares if anyone knows who you are. Me, personally don't believe in abortion... FOR MY SELF. I know the consequences when I have sex... I might get pregnant... so abortion is out the question for me. But I am pro- choice because I believe we should have control over our own bodies and what we do with them.

Rachel said...

amy, thank you so much! i'll send it out to you as soon as i can :)

Rachel said...

brook-i know right? seriously, grow some balls & leave a name at least!

kittykill-thank you so much! that means a lot to me!

sherezada-amy will be the one proudly displaying it in a few days! :)

Anonymous said...

right on!
to me it isn't "pro-life" it's purely "anti-choice"!
getcher politics outta my kitty there mister man!

Anonymous said...

"getcher politics outta my kitty there mister man!"

OMG... I think i need THAT on a t-shirt!

My Body
My Sexuality
My Uterus
My Vagina
My Morals
My Life
My Choice

NOT YOURS

Right on sistas!

Terri said...

Saw this on craftster and just wanted to say ZOMG awesome!

Anonymous said...

Wow, some of the stuff you guys said hits it right on the spot. I am pro-choice and honestly I wouldnt get an abortion, but thats because Im engaged and in a stable lifestyle. If it was othetwise and I got pregnant, I want the option of being able to not have that child! Miss M I so agree! If you are against abortion, THEN DONT HAVE ONE! Well nuff said. I love this cross stitch, VERY AWESOME!!!! -Thatcraftyrabbit

P.S OMG Crafter IS being so slow, I thought it was my computer but no other sites are that slow. wtf. At least Im not alone.

Anonymous said...

To start with, I think your cross stitching is amazing and looks very professional.
I don't agree with the message because I don't support the choice to murder innocent lives. But that's my opinion. The world keeps turning because we are all entitled to our own opinions.

Rachel said...

paige-honestly, i appreciate your compliment on my crafts & cross stitches. however, i think it's pretty sad that a woman (i'm assuming you're a woman) has no problem with handing over the rights to her body & what she can do with it to people who could not give less of a shit about your well-being..and most of them can't get pregnant anyway because they're all men!

Unknown said...

I love your work and your attitudes!

I've had this argument so many times: how can anyone believe that a potential human has the same as, or more, rights than an actual human?

I am a mother and I have had an abortion. And anyone who thinks that abortion is an "easy way out" is full of shit.

The best t shirt I ever saw on this subject was worn by a woman at a huge rally outside an abortion clinic. The shirt read, I fuck to come, not to conceive.

Now *that* would look good stitched up!

Keep the faith!

amy dame said...

Beth, that's amazing!!

Jigsaw Youth, if you don't stitch it up, i want to! maybe i will anyway, i love that!

Anonymous said...

I love your work. It's refreshing to see cross stitch used to express liberal political ideologies. I say that because in the nursery of the church I grew up in there was a sampler that said "spare the rod spoil the child" and so often I have associated the craft (cross stitch) with that sort of outlook. so Thank you.

Lily said...

YES!!!! Great blog! This is exactly why people should NOT vote McCain/Palin! Sarah Palin is not pro-choice and there are potentially 3 Supreme Court Justice seats available that the right-wingers want to fill with pro-lifers.

I love you for posting this. I am so extremely pro-choice that really, it's the deal breaker for me. A politician can have the best things to say on everything else, but if they aren't pro-choice, they don't get my vote!

Mal said...

Word girl! AMEN!

Rachel said...

thank you lily! it's a deal breaker for me to, in any situation. it's scary to think how far women have come just to possibly be thrown right back.

Silencer said...

I saw this over on Craftster and had to come visit. I LOVE this not only for the stitching but of course the message. To think that there are people out there that belive that Pro-choicers are actually FOR the killing babies is beyond me. I AM the message you crafted! and wanted to show my support for the the right to CHOOSE!

Danni said...

I came over from Craftster too. I wanted to tell you that as a fellow pro-choicer I really love the message behind this, as well as your actual stitching. I agree with a lot of things fellow pro-choicers said in your comments too. Fuck anonymous shitheads. We're going to stick to our guns!

~Danni

Rachel said...

silencer & danielle-thank you guys so much for the support! i know this is a fight that we will never give up on!

Paula Menetrey said...

I saw this on Craftster and had to come over here. I think this is an awesome piece. I was raised in a strict Catholic home, but now I am the complete opposite of everyone in my family. I have traditionally kept my beliefs to myself so as to "keep the peace" with my family, but recently (maybe cuz of the political climate we're in?) I'm speaking out. This past weekend I totally schooled my whole family at dinner about various issues, mainly abortion. I had to correct my mom and brother for using the term "pro-abortion." It felt so good to speak my mind!

Rachel said...

doesn't it? i think it's ridiculous that people are classified as "pro-life" or "pro-abortion". that's seriously fucked. i am all for children & would love to have one..someday, when my husband & i are both ready. and abortion is not an easy way out.

Anonymous said...

I posted earlier as the second anonymous.

I was thinking today that it's just gotten so twisted. When I was in my late teens early twenties back when Planned Parenthood was founded. Planned Parenthood was about CHOICE. Making the choice to have safe sex and choose not to have children until ready. Meanwhile enjoy our sexuality the way God had intended. God gave us the ability to enjoy our sexuality. Planned Parenthood was always about women and men's reproductive health. The whole abortion thing was ALWAYS as LAST resort. This was probably before most of you were born. In those days birth control was condom or abstinence and that doesn't work for most people. It was difficult to get pills for women. Thankfully much of that has changed, but not enough.
I am really tired of meeting women who said they could never have an abortion because that would be murder, yet they ignore their children for many reasons sometimes because they are to drugged up. They don't have food or other necessities because they spent the money on drugs. Their kids are playing on the sidewalks by themselves, fodder for pervs, because they are to busy thinking about themselves or drugs. But they feel good about themselves because they didn't have an abortion. As if child abuse/neglect is better than abortion.
I always vote based on whether a candidate is PRO-CHOICE. If they are not PRO womens rights I can't vote for them. I can't take that risk. I'm not just talking about the choice to have an abortion I'm talking about choice regarding my body. I can't get pregnant so I have no need for abortion for myself. I still need choice over my body.
We need to focus on prevention. That has always been my focus. That is the main issue.
Abstinence only works if one uses it, and that is obviously expecting too much for most teens. Abstinence didn't work for Palin's daughter. I was so wondering why Palin's daughter was hiding her front the day Palin was introduced. So obvious.

A couple of decades ago a friend of mine said you can't legislate morality. And you can't. Especially when it comes to teens.

Why should a woman be forced to give up at least months of her life and likely years while her rapist walks free to do whatever he wants with his life? But the woman be forced to give birth to his child... and raise it too?

sorry so long winded but this is important stuff.
Anonymous2

Brook said...

RACHEL~ looks like you found your "etsy" calling... stitch up 10 of these and you will sell them like hot cakes.

Rachel said...

i know right? i'll get right on it!

torrance said...

I agree with you 100% sistah!
(And as always: Love your cross stitch!)

I am VERY prochoise myself. Not that it's that the whole prochoise/"prolife" scene big of a deal in here. In Finland it is perfectly legal to abort an under 12 week embryo, and even after that for medical reasons. And there are no motherf****** protesting places where they do abortions. Is it desirable to get an abortion? Of course not! Should/Can you handle something like that lightly? Of course not! But one should have a choise about their body.

I've always thought that the states have a pretty fucked up way of teaching sexual health. Abstinence? Come on! A lot of teenager are going to have sex no matter what you teach them, so it might be a bit better to actually tell them how not to get pregnant/std:s...
In Finland we have a different (better) way of teaching sexual health. You pretty much learn all about birth control at the latest by age 14 (I'm not really sure..I'm too old to remember by what age they talk about things like that in school) But I still think there should be more of that in schools.

..wow..that's a long comment :D You really know how to fire up a conversation girl ;)

(sorry if the spelling is a bit off, I'm in a hurry to go to school)

Nosnin said...

I really love this piece and keep up the rockin' work!!

Unknown said...

Second Anonymous, you are SO RIGHT about Planned Parenthood. When I was an underemployed 20 something, they were essentially my primary health care, even though that was kind of a stretch for them. Under wildly different circumstances, they confirmed both my pregnancies, and each time did it with compassion and courtesy. I HATE when I hear people say they won't contribute to the United Way because they USED to fund Planned Parenthood. ARRRRGGHHH!!

Ladies, SPEAK OUT! Write letters to your paper! VOTE! We and our daughters could SO EASILY be cast back to the dark days of illegal abortion!

Katie Kutthroat said...

my theory.. consider it. so when a boy is born they circumcised why not just go ahead and do a vasectomie, then if and when he ever got married, decided to have children it can be reversed and its a pretty easy surgery and the recover rate doesn't take that long.. then there would be no unwanted pregencies, no abortions, no welfare.. think about it.. that should please to conservatives!

but for the time being since its a man's world.. or so they would like to think i am prochoice all the way.

Rachel said...

hmm. definitely a theory i've never thought about. i'm personally not too keen on the idea of surgeries that are intended to be permanent, like vasectomies, if there is a high possibility that they want it reversed in the future. particularly for newborns. now...if there were such a thing as male birth control pills (which actually has been in the works or a while) i would be totally down. i don't think all the responsibility should be put on the woman, like it is already. to be honest, i fucking HATE taking birth control.

ha, the funny thing is (and i'm sure you already know this) will & dan are here because of a vasectomy reversal!

Katie Kutthroat said...

yea I do know that.. and vasectomies are totally reversable and is an easy surgery with minmal recovery time, unlike women and their tubes being tied which can actually be very dangerous. I just don't see why everything has to be up to women and then when women do make up their mind they are scorned for doing so.

Aly B said...

I love you and this awesome piece of needle work. I feel exactly the same way you do with women's rights. I'm a stepmom and I love my kids and I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't think I could ever have an abortion, but no one should be able to tell me what I can and can't do with my body, especially when they don't need to live with the repercussions of the choice they made for me.

I also love how the first comment was posted anonymously, at least stand by your opinions, my god.

Anonymous said...

First saw your work of Craftster of course, but I just wanted to leave a little comment. I guess I am what some people would call the 'religious right' because I am a more conservative person, and I am a Christian. However, I do not believe in making abortion illegal, or fighting against abortion like my fellow 'religious' folks do. Women have always found ways to terminate pregnancies - legal or illegal. If I were pregnant now - GOD FORBID, because I hate children - I could drink myself into a miscarriage in two or three evenings. "Relgious" people do need to mind their own business, but sadly, most of us "religious" folk have nothing better to do than cause problems. I am pretty sure that's why so many people hate us. I am very proud that you are using your craft to speak your mind and put your beliefs out there.

Anonymous said...

holy freakin yeah sista! http://radicalcrossstitch.com/2008/09/16/pro-choice-stitching/

Mr X Stitch said...

Hi,
First of all, congrats on stimulating such debate from a piece of cross stitch - great stuff!
I'm a man, funnily enough, and agree with Katie Kutthroat's view. I think that the male responsibility in this matter often gets sidelined, leaving the women with the burden.
I think women should have the choice, and that they shouldn't be judged for making either decision on the matter - neither of which are simple decisions.
But I also think that, if it is a relationship situation, the man has equal responsibility to take precautions.
If you want to spend all your time doing the beast with two backs, vasectomy is not a bad way to go, particularly as it is reversable. I don't expect my wife to take the pill (as it f*cks up her hormones) and so I either use condoms or simply stop before things get messy. Let's face it, you can have an awful lot of fun before things get messy..!

Rachel said...

mr. x stitch, i agree with everything except i think having a vasectomy is a pretty drastic way to go. yes, it is reversible, but it's still surgery & something that shouldn't be done unless you don't want to have kids. i don't think it should be used as a birth control option & just get it reversed when you want to have kids. i definitely agree that it should NOT be all left up to the woman.

funny enough, my husband is the product of a reverse vasectomy!

Mr X Stitch said...

I agree about the drasticness of a vasectomy. I prefer to think about Hilary Clinton just at the right moment and that stops any climactic action every time! :)