So, with the advent of anti-abortion laws designed to get Roe v. Wade back to SCOTUS and repealed (Alabama being the shining example here), I know the common sentiment is that the evil men want to control womens’ bodies because, you know, men. I foolishly responded to one such Twitter meme (been mostly avoiding the Twitter these days, but sometimes I just can’t help myself) with nothing but a photo of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who gleefully signed the bill into law, and the response I got was “is that a woman.” Which I thought was rather sexist and demeaning, but since it came from a female I felt it best to just continue ignoring Twitter again. Anyhow, in case the suspense is getting to you, yes, Ivey is indeed a woman (I mean, I haven’t checked or anything, but I’m pretty sure).

But, anyhow, if you’re somebody who thinks this issue is simply about women seeking to overcome the patriarchy, you should think again. Polls like this one show that two-thirds of ALL Americans want Roe to stand. And that includes roughly equal numbers of men and women (65% of the boys and 68% of the gals, which is statistically a dead heat). And since support is close to 3/4 for women 18-44, I’d say if you’ve got a problem, it’s with the old broads (such as, I would point out, Kay Ivey).

Of course this isn’t anything new. I believe it was Gloria Steinem who utter the much-repeated old chestnut (Thom Hartmann loves this one) that “if men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament!” despite the fact that every poll I’ve ever seen has men and women basically even on support of a woman’s right to choose. I mean, in modern times, anyway.

The fact is, this isn’t the boys vs. the girls. This is a bunch of greedy, conniving, lying, hypocritical politicians (mostly, but not exclusively, Republicans, of course) who figured out they can con a gullible (though substantial) minority of religious morons into thinking there’s only one issue worth voting for (and donating campaign money to – duly laundered through the nearest mega-church, which takes its cut and passes the rest along), so they can enrich themselves. After all, these pious politicians and church leaders need that money to pay for abortions for their mistresses and family members.

So the Fox News crowd clutches their pearls (and their rosaries) and dutifully sign their social security checks over to Joel Osteen, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, and that most pious of the pious, chosen-by-God President, Donald Trump and drag their asses out to the polls while “liberals” squabble over who the purest one of all is while not actually doing anything.

So, you know, you can keep on framing this as the evil men vs. the women if you want, but I think it just makes it easier for the real perps to keep the focus off of them. ‘Cuz – at least on this one – it’s not man v. woman, it’s the majority of US versus a minority of THEM.

But I probably just don’t get it.

It’s about 43 degrees, windy, dark, and drizzly out there today, which means that in the history of CNY Mother’s Days, this doesn’t even come close to the worst one ever (weather-wise, at least). As long as we get less than eight inches of snow, we’re good. But, anyhow, to all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day. If you’ve got a mother, then you should probably do something nice for her (something better than what you’ll do for your father next month, which I guess goes without saying). Unless you don’t actually like your mother, in which case the hell with her. So she carried you for nine months (and, really, I’m sure she wasn’t even aware you were there for at least the first couple of months, so that wasn’t much of a burden) and then went through untold hours of suffering to squeeze you out. Big f*ckin’ deal – you didn’t ask to be born, am I right? Right. And for all my fellow orphans out there, just hang out and relax, do something nice for yourselves – unlike so many of the other bullshit Hallmark Holidays, you’re off the hook for this one.

Speaking of Mother’s Day, I saw that Alyssa Milano is calling on a “sex strike” to protest anti-abortion laws (only for women, though, I guess because only women are pro-choice). I don’t have an opinion on the matter (the strike part, I mean – I think abortion should be safe and legal and if the prospective father is present and involved, as he should be, then he should be able to express his thoughts, but in the end the person who actually has to be pregnant and give birth is the one who gets the final word on the matter. I mean, is that too obvious? I guess), except to say that whoever you are, male, female, non-binary, or whatever else, if you don’t want to have sex, then you shouldn’t. And nobody should feel as though they should have to.

I will say, though, that using sex a reward or withholding it as a punishment is probably not healthy for a relationship. Plus sex is kinda like HBO. You think you need it, but then after it’s been denied for a while, you realize you can live without it (oh, sure, it might be nice to watch the occasional episode of Game of Thrones, but if you have to, you can get by and if if push comes to shove, you can probably get what you need off the Internet). Then any power it may have had over you starts to diminish, if not evaporate altogether.

And then it’s like, hey, not every episode was all that great, and I wasn’t really watching enough to make it worth the fifteen bucks a month.

None of which, of course, relates to the Alabama anti-abortion legislation that I assume was the impetus for this most recent sex strike idea. How withholding sex (or not) from your partner the plumber in NYS is gonna influence legislation in Utah (or whatever), is beyond me.

But, hey, what do I know? In fact, to all the ladies out there, I say you should hold out until recreational marijuana is legal in all 50 states.

Solidarity, sisters!