In the midst of some of the darkest days for those affected by the Las Vegas massacre, there is one quote that has struck a cord with many.
Shared by feminist activist, Gloria Steinem in 2015, it has now resurfaced in light of the horrific attacks.
It reads:
I want any young men who buy a gun to be treated like young women who seek an abortion.
Think about it: a mandatory 48-hours waiting period, written permission from a parent or a judge, a note from a doctor proving that he understands what he is about to do, time spent watching a video on individual and mass murders, traveling hundreds of miles at his own expense to the nearest gun shop, and walking through protestors holding photos of loved ones killed by guns, protestor who call him a murderer.
After all, it makes more sense to do this for young men seeking guns than for young women seeking an abortion. No young woman needing reproductive freedom has ever murdered a roomful of strangers.
A little louder for the folks in the back. pic.twitter.com/NAB9bvU7CM
— Maryellen Stewart (@Maryellen) October 2, 2017
It is a confronting reality.
Steinem originally posted the quote on her Facebook page in 2015, as part of her Christmas wish list for that year. She didn’t know the original source, saying, “This riff is not mine, it’s on the Internet – I thank whoever gave us all this present.”
Listen to our bonus episode on Tell Me It’s Going To Be OK about the Las Vegas Shootings.
If you want to help the victims and families of the Las Vegas Shooting, you can donate to this Go Fund Me page. If you are located in the area, then you find volunteering opportunities through this Facebook page.
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I like how this post gets you thinking. It also highlighted the similarities between abortion & mass murder. I was encouraged to look up the deathtoll comparison of abortion cs gun deaths out of curiosity. Turns out aborted lives outstrips gun deaths by nearly 10 to 1: https://goo.gl/images/hBDhcP Que the outrage mob, but let me remind you I was the OP who insisted on conflating these issues.
Sorry about the typos. It's actually 100:1 not 10:1 (mental note to compare global abortion rates to the last 100 years or war deaths). And the 'I' in the last sentence was supposed to say 'it'.
Gun laws aren't going to change. There are legal, cultural and practical factors making it simply impossible. It's just wasting time and energy to call for it.
I think though there is one thing we can all do that makes things a tiny bit safer each time, reach out to someone who is lonely or down or quiet or unsettled and ask them if they are OK. Talk to them and listen. Try and ensure they feel connected. It won't help much, but it will do more than anything else.
Yeah, but unlike the woman in this comparison, if a man went into a gun shop and said he wanted a gun for the express and only purpose to end defenceless human life, the police would be called and he would be forceably detained. And the police would be right to do so.
Les, you call yourself as libertarian and then limit your love of 'freedoms' to those which suit your particular life?
I look at male anti-abortionists as the ultimate armchair critic, they hold a very strong opinion about a situation which they'll never, ever find themselves in.
Where did I say I was anti-abortion? I can believe in a woman's right to terminate and still slap down the poorly thought out, inappropriate, agenda driving insensitivity of Steinem nasty statement in a time of mourning.
To correct your ad homenim, in the past I've not only supported abortion rights here but even called for them to extended to a discussion about male financial abortion rights to bring greater equality to the sad situation.
As I understand the way MM wants to run discussions on this site, it should be like a dinner party conversation. I'm a real lover of free speech, being a libertarian, but I have noticed your comments do tend to lead with the personal quite a bit and I think you could do better arguing the issues, not misappropriating things to personally have a go at others, because I think you're intellectually well capable of being truly thought provoking if you choose to be.
Les, it's disingenuous to pretend that 'ending a defenceless human life' isn't an emotionally charged statement that points to a different opinion on abortion than you've now expressed.
If it helps, my statement on libertarianism isn't really aimed at you personally, but the large group of self-professed 'libertarians' (coralled by Trump and also present in Australia) that are against abortion, a healthy refugee intake etc. Those things are freedoms, they're just not freedoms that interest them personally. If it's libertarianism, it's a very selective and self-centred version.
I might add, on the ad hominem front, using 'ending defenceless life' is undoubtedly pretty offensive to MM readers who've had an abortion.