By Odeisel
I remember back when I was a young player coming up in the game. Smelling good, looking good, making a little money and out on my own with my own crib, living in Harlem. There were a few bars popping up where there used to be dives and the crew used to barhop almost every day. One such night, I brought a woman back to the crib. First base, second base, third base, check. As I headed for home base, I heard what no one wants to hear in that situation: stop.
I wasn’t that gone off the Henny that I tried to push the issue. At that point, I didn’t care if it was a stop- stop or a keep-going stop. I knew enough that there was no good in that situation so I politely told her to get her stuff and go. No hard feelings, but I was not trying to catch a case. It wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t fun, but not my call. It was all hers.
What would have happened if I had tried to test the no-means-yes paradigm? I could have been right. Or I could have been a rapist. That line is not always wide, but the umpire is always the woman and it’s her right. I never questioned that. Evidently, Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin does and he’s got doctors to prove it. In one of the most ignorant and unbelievable political gaffes this side of paying Black voters with fried chicken, six-term Congressman Akin, in a televised interview, in the midst of a Senatorial battle with a woman challenger, was asked whether his anti- abortion stance applied to rape victims. His response? “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.” I promise you, I didn’t make this up.
I don’t really care for abortion as a Presidential issue, but I don’t understand why ANY woman would vote for someone that was against their right to choose. I’m as against Democrat patronage of Black people as I am Republican ignorance of the plight of the poor. I have to say though, that this is up there with all the wildest things that I’ve ever heard. From the dumbest rap lyric, to the most ignorant ranting from the Klan, this is up there.
What is legitimate rape? Perhaps he meant violent rape. I’m sure if you dig deep enough, you can find some scientist to connect pheromones and force to corroborate his theory. It speaks to an overarching mentality among mostly male law makers use religion to tailor law, even as they bypass those same standards in their own lives.
That’s the tough part when it comes to life on Earth and the promise of a hereafter. You believe in something and hope that devotion pays off eventually, even if you stand outside of denominational semantics. We play with labels like pro-life and pro-choice like it’s Lakers vs. Celtics; choosing sides, rooting for a winner and turning the other way when the calls favor your team, yet raging against the game when the foul is on your player.
There are many reasons why someone would be against abortion. There are many reasons why someone would be for the choice of a person to have that option, even if you don’t agree with it. But on a very human level, I think we can all agree that there is no distinguishing any form of rape from another. Sometimes you grow up anesthetized because you figure no one you know has ever had it happen to them. I can all but guarantee that someone close to you has been raped or sexually assaulted, whether it was a no that was ignored or a violent episode. I’m sure they will tell you that even without physical scars, the violation never goes away completely. It would be a shame if they had to prove their pain was legitimate.
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