"back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. ... The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly."It's an old quip-- I heard it when I was in high school (in the 90's-- ha-ha). It's not exactly a joke, but it's clever. Makes a great point. Nice aphorism.
A bevy of self-appointed professionally offended people are... offended:
Dem lawmakers rip Santorum backer over 'aspirin' birth control joke
By Geneva Sands-Sadowitz - 02/17/12 06:20 PM ET
Foster Friess, a top financial supporter of Rick Santorum, generated a storm by using an old joke suggesting women control pregnancies by keeping their knees together.
Democratic lawmakers ripped Friess on Friday for his remarks on contraception, calling his aspirin comment, "shocking," "out of touch" and "moronic."
"It's an affirmation of the fact that intelligence is not uniform across the board. Mr. Friess is obviously very good at some things that have made him very rich, but he also appears to have moronic tendencies," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on MSNBC's "Jansing & Co."
Foster Friess, referencing an old joke about closed knees when discussing the controversy over mandatory access to contraception, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell on Thursday, "back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraception ... The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly."
"Although it sounds funny, it is very, very, very insulting to women," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), also appearing on MSNBC.
The conservative donor asked for forgiveness Friday in a statement that read, "I can understand how I confused people with the way I worded the joke and their taking offense is very understandable. To all those who took my joke as [a] modern-day approach, I deeply apologize and seek your forgiveness."
"I'm glad he at least apologized," added Cummings.
Santorum responded to the controversy Friday, telling CBS News that while his supporter's remark may have been in bad taste, it was not "reflective of me or my record on this issue."
He accused the media of a "double standard" for creating a furor over Friess's comments and ignoring controversies surrounding President Obama.
Friess is the top financial contributor to a super-PAC supporting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful.
Ire towards Friess made it's way onto the Senate floor Friday during testimony where mostly female Democratic senators blasted their GOP colleagues for what they called a "war on women."
"It seems that yesterday on national television one of the chief financial backers for Rick Santorum, the Republican candidate that's now surging towards the nomination suggested that contraception was once as simple as a woman putting aspirin between her knees. Really? Shocking, appalling, an insult," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Friday.
A House hearing Thursday that featured a panel consisting of entirely of male religious figures opposed to Obama's contraception policy, also sparked outrage and gave Democrats a political talking point this week.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing was held to examine whether the administration's birth control mandate intrudes on religious freedom.
Murray told MSNBC that the combination of the all-male House panel and Friess's remarks made her feel like she was "waking up on a set of the Mad Men," an AMC television show about advertising executives in the nineteen-sixties.
"Going back centuries here. It's astonishing," she added."... it is very, very, very insulting to women". No. What's insulting to women is the contraceptive ideology that women are incapable of chastity and are so addicted to rutting that the only way to keep them from getting knocked-up is to give 'em free no-baby pills.
As a priest told me a few years ago, contraceptive ideology is a deep insult to men and women. It is the assertion that we so lack integrity and continence that we have to be chemically treated to prevent the natural consequence of our acts. Contraceptive ideology treats us like barnyard animals.
It is easy to dismiss the idiot brouhaha about this clever quip by pointing out that the flacks who fake offense are slimy pols, pandering to the base, stoking contributions, etc.
But there's a deeper tactic at work here. It has long been a weapon in the leftist arsenal in liberal democracies, and it's surprisingly effective, given its banality.
Fake offense-- political correctness-- is a form of soft censorship. Histrionics shut people up-- it's not worth being called ... "very, very, very insulting to women," "shocking," "out of touch" and "moronic." "Going back centuries here... astonishing,".
The reason for using soft censorship here is obvious: the quip about aspirin between the knees makes a very good point. The best contraception is chastity. It's a point for which the contraceptive cult has no good answer. To answer it requires impugnment of chastity, which would of course be an admission of cognitive dissonance for the "safe sex" claque. Not worth the candor.
Chastity, not pharmacology, is the key to sexual health-- physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Egnor: The best contraception is chastity.
ReplyDeleteOf course. Unfortunately, people have trouble relying on that method. Abstinence-only programs fail reliably.
Michael said: "What's insulting to women is the contraceptive ideology that women are incapable of chastity and are so addicted to rutting that the only way to keep them from getting knocked-up is to give 'em free no-baby pills."
ReplyDeleteLovely.
Michael, have you ever had sex with a woman with whom you didn't want to make a baby?
Ever?
Was it HER addiction to rutting, or yours?
Did your wife ever have sex with someone without wanting to make a baby? Was it her addiction to rutting?
You are so immersed in your misogynistic double standard that you can't even see it.
Bravo. Fake histrionics sure do shut people up. Usually when they shut me up, it's out of weariness: what's the point in trying to have a rational discussion with someone who's more interested in faking offense to score points?
ReplyDeleteI you really think that the best contraception is chastity, you haven’t been doing it right.
ReplyDelete-KW
Dr. Egnor, have you ever considered that they were actually offended? I mean, Santorum is basically implying that single women who use birth control are sluts with a lack of self control.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, sex is fun and I am glad that we live in a time where it's possible to do it in a safe and responsible way. And I could give a damn what your Church has to say about it.
Ahh, excellent timing.
ReplyDeleteSome perspective - a word which Michael studiously avoids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDlZZ5Y32LU&feature=player_embedded
Really now?
ReplyDeleteAll that reaction to a silly little joke about asparin?
Things are worse than I had thought.
The thing is, it may have been said in jest, but the underlying meaning was sincere. And to hear it from some old male windbag in 2012 is kind of revealing.
ReplyDelete@RickK
"Michael, have you ever had sex with a woman with whom you didn't want to make a baby?
Ever?
Was it HER addiction to rutting, or yours?
Did your wife ever have sex with someone without wanting to make a baby? Was it her addiction to rutting?"
I think i posed this same type of question to someone else on another thread and got no reply. Most likely because they never were too popular with the ladies...
Technically, the 'pulling out' method is birth control too. I wonder how many of you anti-birth control conservatives practice it? Or do you only have sex when you're looking to have another child?
And if you're thinking of only a woman's contraceptive, as in, they shouldnt be using them because that would make them sluts, then thats a blatant misogynistic double standard.