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bearshortyI love my father. I really do. He is probably one of my favorite people in the world. We have similar tastes in TV and books. I have a lot of his personality. But over the last six years he’s been getting more and more Republican – he watches Fox news, and listens to AM radio. Which has always been the source of friendly arguments where we just get frustrated but, of course, don’t expect to change each other’s minds. He sends me articles that show global warming isn’t real, I send him the ones that show how the Earth is changing. But today in the car on the way home from work, we had a more than a thirty minute yelling debate on whether the government could mandate the health insurance companies to subsidize contraception. He sees the issue as the government imposing where it shouldn’t and why should he have to pay for people’s “personal choice” and if I argue that contraception benefits society on multiple levels, he brings up sterilization in the 1930s and eugenics that was thought to be good too (that is such a specious argument too which he probably heard on some conservative talk show.)
I see the issue as a women’s rights issue and that the extra $360 a year are especially useful to women who can’t afford much and should not have more kids if they don’t want to. Since he is coming from a middle class white male perspective, $360 is such easy no big deal money that he can’t even grasp why contraception and access to it is so crucial. According to him: Oh, women can get contraception anywhere, like in Walmart for $5 (as some caller to conservative radio said), or get an app on their iPhone that tell them where free condoms are. When I pointed out that not everyone has internet or iPhone or time from working multiple jobs to visit such places, he doesn’t really get that. And we are not even getting into the argument of religious institutions and health coverage. And he thinks we should pick and choose which things our health insurance should cover and opt out of what does not apply to us. Seriously! (One of his conservative stations was in the background where one presenter wanted to "ask femminazis" why he, personally, should pay for contraceptives, like men are not affected by this at all! I think I yelled at the radio at that point). I got so frustrated that I am physically upset from this debate, about an hour later, I feel on the verge of tears at this and I’m not that emotional a person – I never get so worked up and I’ve disagree with him on so much in the past.
I need some internet ideas – good articles that show why contraception and providing it should very much concern his privileged self,why family planning matters, the cost of contraception and its effects (I found one about college students and those extra $360 but he thought that was not that much money – headdesk). I sent him this one so far.
I see the issue as a women’s rights issue and that the extra $360 a year are especially useful to women who can’t afford much and should not have more kids if they don’t want to. Since he is coming from a middle class white male perspective, $360 is such easy no big deal money that he can’t even grasp why contraception and access to it is so crucial. According to him: Oh, women can get contraception anywhere, like in Walmart for $5 (as some caller to conservative radio said), or get an app on their iPhone that tell them where free condoms are. When I pointed out that not everyone has internet or iPhone or time from working multiple jobs to visit such places, he doesn’t really get that. And we are not even getting into the argument of religious institutions and health coverage. And he thinks we should pick and choose which things our health insurance should cover and opt out of what does not apply to us. Seriously! (One of his conservative stations was in the background where one presenter wanted to "ask femminazis" why he, personally, should pay for contraceptives, like men are not affected by this at all! I think I yelled at the radio at that point). I got so frustrated that I am physically upset from this debate, about an hour later, I feel on the verge of tears at this and I’m not that emotional a person – I never get so worked up and I’ve disagree with him on so much in the past.
I need some internet ideas – good articles that show why contraception and providing it should very much concern his privileged self,why family planning matters, the cost of contraception and its effects (I found one about college students and those extra $360 but he thought that was not that much money – headdesk). I sent him this one so far.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-02 04:49 pm (UTC)Don’t know if this article is a good one or not, but thought I’d share it: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2907603.html
(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-02 06:48 pm (UTC)Fighting with family is always different because you know fundamentally they will still love you. I just, myself, wanted to acknowledge that our disagreement was just political, and I felt bad because he felt bad that I was upset (If this makes sense at all).
Thank you for the link! I will definitely check it out. I think I want to make a list at some point on useful articles to help in constructing coherent arguments.