Famous author staunchly pro-choice
I am a writer because I have strong opinions. Those opinions on women’s rights come from my grandmother, who was raped, and my mother, who was raped at gunpoint by her husband, and who was jailed when she ran away from him.
My mother told me as a child and a grownup, that no one should ever tell me whether I should have a baby. How could I be any other kind of writer, any other kind of person?
~ Author Amy Tan of The Joy Luck Club fame, defending her criticism of Republican candidates via her Facebook page, as quoted by The Abortion Monologues, June 19
She goes on to explain the family’s history of rape, abortion, and suicide in the comments section.
Jun.22, 2012 6:53 am |
Pop Culture |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
So if her mother was poor and homeless and she stole to survive, would she have no choice but to be a thief? Sometimes you have to break the cycle of violence instead of justifying a violent future by citing a violent past.
I can sympathize with why Amy Tan might be pro-choice, but she is doing the same evil thing that the culture that oppressed her mother and grandmother did. They treated women as less than human and therefore something to be forced and brutalized to show their male power. A woman killing her child is exercising that same oppressive power and then justifying it with the idea that the child isn’t really human.
So Amy has added ‘murder’ to the list of the Tan family iniquities and blood curses.
Yikes!
Don’t see any probability of ‘joy’ or ‘luck’ emanating from ‘choice’.
Suggested title for Tan’s next book: ‘The Dispondent’s Guide to Death and Destructiont’.
ken the birther says:
June 22, 2012 at 8:35 am
So Amy has added ‘murder’ to the list of the Tan family iniquities and blood curses.
(Denise) Many people, including Jayne Mansfield and Susan B. Anthony, have called abortion “murder.”
It has never been prosecuted as murder. When it was outlawed, it was always in its own category of abortion. Usually, only the abortionist was prosecuted but he or she was not imprisoned as long as a murderer was.
“My mother told me as a child and a grownup, that no one should ever tell me whether I should have a baby.”
True, but once you’re pregnant, you already have a baby. So, really, this quote has nothing to do with abortion.
My mother told me as a child and a grownup, that no one should ever tell me whether I should have a baby. How could I be any other kind of writer, any other kind of person?
When you become pregnant, you have a baby – it’s not a speculative thing.
It’s not a matter of should or shouldn’t – it is.
So properly stated the advice your mother was giving you, which you infer, is whether you want to be the mother of a dead child or one who raises a live child.
Once more, in the liberal mindset, the brutality of rape trumps the brutality of murder. Liberty is more highly valued than life.
More than likely Amy Tan is post-abortive.
And of course, what if Amy had been the product of her mother’s rape? i’m constantly amazed at the blind, senseless rhetoric.
That’s exactly what I thought, Jill. She seems to be grateful her mother chose abortion…. but ignores the fact that she very well could have been the product of that rape.
I wonder if she wants to discuss the atrocity of footbinding.
“I wonder if she wants to discuss the atrocity of footbinding.”
I’m sure she would say that it was part of the old misogynistic and patriarchal Chinese tradition that dehumanized women – a tradition that lives on in today’s pro-life community that would force raped women to have the rapist’s baby. What if, what if, what if her mother and father didn’t have sex the night that they did. What if her mother had been killed in a car crash while pregnant with her. You can spin all the imaginary scenarios in the world but they don’t mean jack. The belief that abortion is wrong is not shared by all cultures and religions. But the belief that abortion should be outlawed in cases of rape is what really alienates the fetus cult from the rest of the real world.
“More than likely Amy Tan is post-abortive”
LOL, the tired old canard of the “pro-life” movement. Any and all pro-choice women are “post-abortive.” Dream on!
Hey Chris, Rep. Karen MacBeth’s intrusive sonogram bill got aborted!!!!
Wow.
What a legacy.
My heart hurts.
Tan’s tirade talks about the one-child forced abortion policy in China. Her man Biden said he doesn’t “second guess” that violent policy. Is Tan’s head in the sand??? Good grief, she is blind.
I do appreciate the same words from you though, CC. CANARD.
Just type the word MISOGYNY and call it a day already.
The belief that abortion is wrong is not shared by all cultures and religions.
I’m betting you have no idea of how ridiculous this statement is in light of comments you made in the same breath about misogynistic and patriarchal cultures…
The belief that footbinding is wrong is not shared by all cultures and religions. The belief that slavery is wrong is not shared by all cultures and religions. The belief that child marriage is wrong is not shared by all cultures and religions. I could go on.
Do your research before you speak, CC. Really. I mean it. Footbinding was perpetrated upon daughters by their mothers in order to seem more feminine and sexually alluring. Men and women had very separate lives in Chinese society, and while men may have learned to desire a broken foot, it was the women who did it to the girls, and not just any girls….THEIR OWN. These daughters had no voice, even when they were screaming as they were made to walk on pus-filled, rotten stumps till their bones were broken. The one place that should have offered them refuge–their mothers–became the perpetrators that rendered them both sexy AND enslaved.
The weak overpowered by the strong, all encapsulized in a relationship where love and security were needed. See a trend?
Interestingly, Amy Tan is not liked by many in the Asian community, especially many Asian men. They call her “Auntie Tan” and say that she presents them in a bad light.
Everyone has their own share of responsibility when it comes to how they influence others on consequential social issues like abortion. Or… the treatment of women. Especially as a rape victim, it grieves me to think that God gave us such a gift in the relationship between the sexes and marriage, only to have it turned into a prison of abuse and oppression for so many.
Tan (whose work I really enjoy) cannot justifiably excuse using the very same type of life-and-death oppression she condemns, on our own offspring. But it really brings to mind the infamous comparison of an aborting woman to animal caught in a trap, willing to gnaw it’s own leg off to escape. Sin begets sin. God help us.
I wish that Amy Tan could look on her sibling(s) and child(ren) with tenderness. I would like to say something to her, because I do respect her work as a writer. Many people aspire to be good writers, even great writers, but it takes work and dedication to slog through writing’s tedious moments and lean times.
Ms. Tan. I will tell you a story and try to protect the privacy of the people in it. Once upon a time I was pregnant. At the time, I didn’t know the father very well, but I got to know him better in the years that followed. Then we lost contact for a very long time, but now are in contact again. I aspired, for example, to be a writer. I spent a great deal of time writing and thinking I was good at it. At the time of my pregnancy, the father gave no indication that he had an interest in writing. His father was a writer but he didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. But many years later, he decided to take some literature classes, etc. and he gave writing a try. He has a tremendous innate talent that has emerged. His samples are as good as mine, and if he keeps it up, he will surpass my skill and leave me in his creative dust ;>)! Recently, family members were cleaning a property and discovered something. His own grandfather left behind his own written words. Articulate, charming, words.
My child’s father is a good writer. I write. My child’s grandfather is a professional writer. Now, we find out our child’s greatgrandfather was also a talented and prolific writer.
Amy. Look at your sibling(s) and your child(ren) with tenderness. How my chest would swell with pride if my child had lived. Perhaps she would have liked writing. Maybe her writing would be in shelves at bookstores, or on Amazon’s website. But, Amy, my child never lived to read or write. Whatever she would have said, will never be said. We will never know what contribution she would have made. Never. It’s a long time, never. It’s as long as forever. Amy.
Again, why is CC allowed to spread hate here? He/she doesn’t contribute to the conversation and yet he/she is allowed to keep posting nasty, repetitive, opinions.
Anyway, I agree that rape does not justify murder (against the death penalty as well btw), however as pro-lifers and definitely if we are Christians we need to do a better job of reaching out in love with monetary & physical support to those that are faced with the decision to kill their child or not. This def goes for my family as well.
There should be an “unwed mothers” home in every county in every state, but there is not one for over 100 miles where I live. Our CPCs should be open 24/7 with our support, instead the one in my county is barely open 30 hours/week. Every church in every town should be either supporting a UWM home and/or CPC, or open their own (my church is taking this to heart in our area).
Very few women want to abort their children, many feel that in the face of circumstances and lack of help they have no choice.
Perhaps if Ms. Tan’s mother and grandmother had been helped their teaching would have been different.
Chris Aresenault: Once more, in the liberal mindset, the brutality of rape trumps the brutality of murder. Liberty is more highly valued than life.
(Denise) People generally tend to focus on rape. Discussions of modest dress often ask: does immodesty correlate with rape:?
Discussions of pornography ask if porn leads to rape.
Ninek that was powerful. Thank you for sharing it here
You can spin all the imaginary scenarios in the world but they don’t mean jack.
All words are meaningless if you refuse to allow yourself to consider them. Let’s play “Spin ALL The Imaginary Scenarios!”:
In this first scenario, I’ve just been born. I won’t stop crying. I’ve been crying for 2 weeks straight almost, my dad won’t stay home to help between working and going out drinking, and she’s at her wit’s end. She takes a pillow from her bed, brings it over to my crib, and presses it down hard on my tiny body until the crying and the breathing stops. Forever.
Now a second scenario, I’m 12. I’m riding my bike in my grandmother’s driveway. My mother comes home from grocery shopping and she’s in a hurry because she took my brother with her and he’s spit up, and is fastened into his car seat, and she hears him choking on it. At the exact moment she starts to pull in, she looks in her rear-view mirror to try and see his face. In her moment of distraction, I’ve ridden out from behind one of my grandmother’s shrubs to meet my mother-who keeps driving, not seeing me. I’m run over and die instantly.
How are these scenarios meaningless? How do the circumstances of my demise not make any difference to you? How do they not hold a great deal of significance? How can you look at another human being’s death and tell yourself, “Welp, dead is dead, right? Oh well.”
How?
So Ms. Tan believes children should be considered part of the “No Joy, No Luck Club” if their mothers so deem.
Does anyone know if Maya Angelou is pro-choice? I ask because today’s quote has resonated with me, and I keep remembering Angelou’s words,
“I am the hope and the dream of the slave..”
Those words have popped into my head many times over the years. I envision my great great great grandparents, kneeling in prayer for the health of their children. Surely, they meant for the generations to continue. Surely, my ancestors did not pray that the family tree should wither.
The message is
Hey Women! If you’ve been abused, raped, or otherwise suffered horrible things, Its totally fine to perpetrate murder on other human beings.
I’ve been raped. You can take your message to empower me by turning me into a murderer and stuff it. It’s mean, violent, and wrong.
Ninek, I think Maya Angelou is pro-life. She was pro-life for her own baby anyway.
http://www.culturejamforlife.com/prolifeheroes/maya_angelou.php
Mary Ann says:
June 22, 2012 at 4:47 pm
The message isHey Women! If you’ve been abused, raped, or otherwise suffered horrible things, Its totally fine to perpetrate murder on other human beings.I’ve been raped. You can take your message to empower me by turning me into a murderer and stuff it. It’s mean, violent, and wrong.
(Denise) As I observed above, there is a tendency in SEVERAL ISSUES, not just abortion, to focus on rape.
Lrning, WOW!! That link is awesome. I took this away from it:
“…Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing u p in Maya Angelou’s shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.”
Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn’t conceive. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God!”
Originally Published in Family Circle Magazine, October 8, 2000, page 56.”
CC,
I would really appreciate it if you would stop and think before you type.
I helped a young woman last year who was raped. She conceived in that rape. The rape was the trauma. She considered abortion but knew that her child was innocent. Why let the perpetrator of the rape go free and give the innocent child the death penalty?
She chose life for her baby(NOT a RAPIST’S baby)and put her up for adoption.
You really don’t know as much as you think you do.
Carla, not sure what you were doing up at 4:28am (lol), but if we ask CC to think before she types, this would assume that she thinks at all.
Carla says:
June 23, 2012 at 4:28 am
CC,
I would really appreciate it if you would stop and think before you type.
I helped a young woman last year who was raped. She conceived in that rape. The rape was the trauma. She considered abortion but knew that her child was innocent. Why let the perpetrator of the rape go free and give the innocent child the death penalty?
She chose life for her baby(NOT a RAPIST’S baby)and put her up for adoption.
(Denise) As noted, abortion isn’t the only issue in which people tend to zero in on rape. It is focused on in discussions of whether or not adoptees have a right to know their birthmothers, modesty in dress, and pornography.
Rape is often also focused on in discussions of how we should treat crime in general.
Oh, Carla, don’t you know? You didn’t help her, you “oppressed” her, and, uh, something about “misogyny” and “patriarchy.” Should throw in something about the Catholic Church as well.
JDC–you forgot “bodily autonomy.”
Thanks, Courtnay. Don’t know how I missed that, must be having an off day. :)
Should people who want abortion criminalized automatically recoil from the accusation of misogyny? Many distinguished people, including some women, have disliked females as a sex. Romance author Barbara Cartland said, “I would rather be with a stupid man that with a clever woman.”