Feminist Reader discussion

So, I’m not sure if I’m missing the discussion, or if I’m the only one here, but here’s my take on The War on Choice:

I like the idea of this book – a history of the struggle for reproductive rights and a practical guide to what individuals can do to protect those rights. Unfortunately, the book itself had some major flaws.

One – was it just me, or was her style of writing really disjointed? It seemed like there should have been a pretty obvious linear flow, but she skipped backwards and forwards and just wasn’t at all cohesive.

Two – The book itself is really out of date and it desperately needs a website.

Three – This is my big issue… The war on choice itself relies on emotional/belief-based arguments (what does it mean to be alive? what is human?) that are falsely disguised as rational/fact-based arguments (when is a fetus viable? how do you define a person under the law?). The pro-choice movement has been really good at dealing with the rational issues, but has been terrible about letting the anti-choice people completely control the emotional/belief-based side of things. In this book, Feldt doesn’t really address the core emotional arguments that the anti-choicers make, and until we reclaim a LOT of the cultural territory that we have ceded, all reproductive rights will be at risk.

Tamra,

I was there, but I had no idea where to post! I figured everyone was gone. Oh well, we can have a not-real-time discussion.

I didn't notice the particular problems, but I did find the book a bit hard to read. I didn't think there was much of a thread to grab on to. I also found a lot of the information, whether outdated or not, fairly common knowledge for pro-choicers. I completely agree with you that we need to grab the emotional side "bull" by its horns, though I'm not sure how to do that.

More later, I have to catch a cab to the airport in 15 min. Off to UCLA to present at a conference. Oh, 4:30 am, how I hate you :-)