Thousands filled the State Capitol lawn Monday evening in protest of the silencing of two female lawmakers and to hear a protest reading of Eve Ensler's 'The Vagina Monologues.'
Thousands of people turned out for protest performance of The Vagina Monologues at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., in response to Rep. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield being silenced by House Speaker James Bolger for comments she made in opposition to new abortion legislation passed by the House last week. (photo: Susan Tusa/DFP)
Huge Turnout at Michigan Capitol Reading of 'Vagina Monologues'
19 June 12
Several thousand people thronged the state Capitol lawn this evening, to protest the treatment of two female lawmakers who were barred from speaking on the House floor last Thursday following an emotional debate over abortion.
They heard a recitation by the two lawmakers and others of The Vagina Monologues.
The performance, kicked off by the work's author Eve Ensler who flew in from California for the occasion, was the culmination of five days of reaction to the decision by House Republican leaders to issue one-day revocations of the right of state Reps. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, and Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga , to speak on the House floor.
They said the discipline was in response to incivility displayed by the two representatives a day earlier during a debate over legislation to impose new restrictions on abortion clinics. Brown said she was punished for using the word vagina.
Welcoming the crowd today, Brown said the legislation would "effectively overturn Roe v. Wade," the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision which ended most state-level restrictions on abortion, and "turn back the clock to the 60s, when women were denied health care."
Concluding her remarks during the House debate, Brown had said, "I'm flattered that you are all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no' means ‘no.'"
Today, she said, "We shouldn't be legislating vaginas, if you can't say vagina."
Byrum got her one-day gag order after she reacted vigorously during the abortion debate when she was not allowed to speak on an amendment she sponsored that would have required a man seeking a vasectomy to have proof of a medical emergency or life-threatening condition.
Backers of the Legislation said today, as they did last week, that the controversy wasn't about Brown's choice of words, but her behavior, and that the legislation, approved on vote of 70-39, was not an attack on women but an attempt to protect patients from unscrupulous abortion providers and unsanitary abortion clinics.
Today's demonstration, however, was all about female sexuality and the Monologues, a 1998 stage play made up of a series of anecdotes about women and what were once called their private parts.
The crowd, estimated at about 2,500, was welcomed by Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, who said: "Welcome to all of you and your lady parts!"
Austin Muir, 21, of Lapeer, came bearing a sign that said "Trust Women," and to show support for the women in his life, including his mother who is a midwife. "It ridiculous what's going on here," he said.
Former state Rep. Maxine Berman, D-West Bloomfield, (author of a book about the Legislature called "The Only Boobs in the House are Men") doesn't participate in too many political events any more.
"But last week just put me over the top," she said.
Brown is Berman's representative, "And if she has no voice, than neither do I," she said.
The event was a lesson in creative signage. Angela Ash, 25, of Grand Rapids, held aloft "Keep Your Mitts off my bitts," While Sherry Alef, 58, of Algonac, carried a sign that proclaimed: "Angry white woman. Don't shush me."
Pasted on her backside was another warning: "this slut votes."
Another hand-painted sign in the middle of the crowd said: "I Didn't Come From Your Rib. You Came From My Vagina."
Whitmer said: "When they took the microphone away from my colleagues in the House, it was beyond the pale. It was not only a cowardly attack on her free speech rights, but the rights of her constituents as well."
A Facebook page set up for the event showed more than 3,000 people signing up to attend the 6 p.m. reading. Shortly before 5 p.m., several hundred people were laying down blankets, opening up lawn chairs and signing in for the play.
Afterwards, Byrum organized a fundraiser to raise money to attract more women to politics.
Ensler, who created the Vagina Monologues, fired up the crowd after the stories were done.
"I'm over dudes who can't even say vagina," she said. "I'm over the Michigan state Legislature ... censoring and rebuking and removing Lisa Brown. My vagina's got decorum."
She called on all women to participate in "One billion Rising," on Feb. 14, 2013. On that day, she urged women to leave their jobs and their schools and go to the streets to dance.
"I want you to take over this place," Ensler said. "I want you to dance for vaginas and life."
Whitmer ended the rally with the three V's: "Vagina, Voice, Vote!"
Related: Blog replay of the "Vagina Monologues" performance
2001 flashback: Meet the author of 'The Vagina Monologues'
Related: Dem women try to convert "Vagina Monologues" buzz to campaign cash
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Of course we won't talk about unscrupulous religionists who pretend to care about pregnant women and then pressure them to go to term even if it costs them their lives. And we won't talk about how medically qualified abortion clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, are being shut down by every means possible.
BS, thy name is republican.
Barb, you're finally getting attention in MI to what I consider to be the state that's going thru the worst case(s) of suppression in the country. Godfather Snyder is not only illegally taking over jurisdictions with his emergency managers - which I consider to be the worst offense (Detroit is in his sights); but he's also implementing voter suppression as are all GOP-controlled states; and now his henchmen won't allow duly elected women free speech in the state assembly.
This whole sleazy business being carried out across the country by Republican operatives is following written directives by the ALEC organization, which is backed by the infamous Koch brothers. I live in MD. I talked to a friend just yesterday who said he's from GA where he votes absentee and he didn't think there would be a problem. I told him he'd better check because GA is in voter suppression mode too. Everybody had better check against any surprises on election day.
It's great that Rachel and Ed are covering the story and I hope they stay on it. But the most shameful part is that the pathetic mainstream media is not outraged as we are about this whole sordid episode in American politics. As I noted in previous posts, I believe the MI assembly has bitten off more than it can chew with this attack on women!
Attempting speech suppression they are now quite ironically met with a far greater national audience being educated to the suppressions of the past present everywhere and now present residually still in many places ,
A time when a woman sexuality and equality was simply not allowed. And dominance of both determined by false notions of gender superiority.
Unfortunately some minds still they be in that place. The mere mention of a bodily part to be kept quite silent and never spoken of or about....comical....
and thusly now quite comically or ironically displayed by protest...the end result being...many many more now educated to the issue. ...nationally as well as locally in that state....
ironic....kudos...job well done.
Great line, ABen! Yeah, it's way PAST time!
I am still chortling over this. Presenting the Vagina Monologues there was the first thing I thought of when word of this came out, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been to force those neanderthal males in the MI government to attend and listen to it. Now THAT would have been payback!
//Backers of the Legislation said today, as they did last week, that the controversy wasn't about Brown's choice of words, but her behavior,//
Her BEHAVIOR??? Oh sure, she dared to speak out and disagree with them -- and use the V word besides -- horrors! These guys must think we're all idiots.
//and that the legislation, approved on vote of 70-39, was not an attack on women but an attempt to protect patients from unscrupulous abortion providers and unsanitary abortion clinics.//
That is so ridiculous it isn't even double-speak -- it's just a plain old lie. If they think we are all going to swallow that load of crap then they have proved themselves too stupid to even get out of bed in the mornings!
Few Americans realize that "Pilgrims" were viewed as nutty extremists in Europe, not the tranquil "settlers" we pretend they were. Genocide, misogyny, witch burnings not a very Christian agenda. Looks like the puritans will always be with us, though. Michigan GOP caught in 1600s time warp. But blue state voters elect them, partly because Dems have no new ideas. How about:
HOLD WALL STREET Accountable? See "Inside Job"! Fabulous!
The point is that women are losing the right to control their own bodies to the whims of, largely, men who self-identify themselves as Christians, yet whose behavior is anything but Christlike. It doesn't matter whether the lady bits in question are referred to as vulvas, vaginas, po-pos, or vajay-jays. In this discussion, the search for linguistic or anatomical clarity is a red herring.
BTW, "I didn't come from your rib, you came from my vagina:" best protest placard ever...
Gore Vidal stated it best in a speech at Harvard April 20 1992:
"The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal — God is the Omnipotent Father — hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates.
The sky-god is a jealous god, of course. He requires total obedience from everyone on earth, as he is in place not for just one tribe but for all creation. Those who would reject him must be converted or killed for their own good.
Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god's purpose."
issues....now.
Where do they get these politicians????
Well maybe this is showing us why none of the really serious problems are being taken care of.
Patriarchy is not about caring and being constructive; it is about dominance and obedience.
They turn over a lot of big rocks and the politicians slither out from under them.
//Patriarchy is not about caring and being constructive; it is about dominance and obedience.//
Right -- and patriarchy is dying, which is why these reptiles are escalating their fight to such extremes: they are attempting to maintain their dominance in order to stay alive.
People can protest all that they want on the streets & say whatever they want to in the strongest possible terms, but that hasn't stopped the extremist Republican governors & extremist state legislators from passing ridiculous laws that have limited as well as discouraged abortion clinics from doing their jobs.
And, between the Citizen United decision by SCOTUS allowing people like the Koch brothers to pour unlimited amounts of money into putting out vicious attack ads which lie & deceive & which have a strong manipulative affect on naive, stupid, & ignorant voters as well as the mandatory use of fraudulent & corrupt electronic voting machines in every state of the union thanks to HAVA, & the continued efforts by Republican-cont rolled states in their apparent successful effort to suppress & purge the Democratic vote, all of this while the Democrats seem to be almost be totally helpless in stopping all of this, the Republicans don't seem too concerned about their political futures.
The Republicans could care less about women yelling out in the streets, "We will not go back!"
If you've read my post below, I state that it would've been much more effective if these two female Democratic representatives in Michigan would have defied the ban put on them by the Michigan House Republicans by attempting to speak their minds anyway on the Michigan House floor. By doing so, they would have, in effect, told the Michigan State House Republicans where they could stick it. Yes, they may have been forcibly ejected from the Michigan State House, and Yes, they may even have been arrested as a consequence, but that would have made a bigger stink throughout the country as a whole then playing it safe & doing what they did on the front steps of the Michigan State House.
Just once, genierae, just once I would like to see the Democrats give the Republicans one hell of a bloody nose. I am sick & tired of watching the Democrats playing it safe in fighting the Republican agenda. It Won't help them as much come Nov of this year as much as taking greater risks in loudly & directly & viciously & ruthlessly & publicly attacking the Republican agenda by telling the American people the truth, not the lies & not the deceptions that the Republicans espouse almost everyday.
We don't live in a perfect world & the human mind is not perfect nor is it always logical. Fighting the war against the Repubs in the way you describe is analogous to taking a knife to a gun fight. When I was growing up, I was always told that nice guys finished last when it came to dating women, & it was true. Unfortunately, the same can be said about politics & human nature.
I liked Paul Wellstone before he was assassinated by the Bush admin just a few weeks before the Nov, 2002, midterm elections in an unexplained airplane crash that took out his whole family because GWB knew how much of a threat he & his wife were to his admin. Wellstone was unique among the Senate Dems. He had balls. He was an Allan Grayson on steroids. He was strong & powerful in his Senate floor presentations. He never pulled any punches in his attacks against the Bush admin and yet was not overly alienating.
That's what we need & don't have anymore.
I agree that it's probable that Paul Wellstone was murdered, I thought as much at the time. He was a powerful threat to them, and being cowards, they were very afraid of him.
I don't suggest that people with good intentions should play the same dirty game that the Repubs are playing, lying & being deceitful, but being & acting strong & waking up the American people by the use of fear as the Repubs do, by telling them the truth about what is happening around them, is no sin & it isn't immoral, unethical or wrong.
Almost everyday the Repubs, with the help of some of the Dems, both at the state & federal levels, are passing legislation, laws, that, once passed, are extremely difficult or impossible to repeal. Just look at the Patriot Act as an example. Just look at what Scott Walker did in Wisconsin. One of my favorite sayings, genierae, is "An ounce of prevention is worth a whole lot of cure."
And, to add insult to injury, the Repubs with the help of the Dems took our voting rights away by passing HAVA which now requires all of us to use fraudulent & corruptible e-voting machines. So, please tell me, after all the damage is done, how we undo it all in our lifetimes by trying to be nice?
What would really affect the Repub House members is what happens on the House floor itself. It would've been much more effective as a protest act if the two Democratic female reps had openly defied their ban by the Republican House members by actually speaking on the house floor anyway, even if it caused them to be forcibly removed and/or arrested by the capitol police. Then, if I were them, these two Democratic female members of the Mich State House, voted in democratically by their constituents, & I was forcibly removed & or arrested by the capitol police, I would've then taken it to court as a violation of our Constitution & our Bill of Rights.
One of things that I truly hate about the Democratic Party is that they refuse to fight fire with fire, to fight like warriors, to fight the Repubs in the same way that the Repubs attack them. Unless & until you actually & sincerely get the Repubs truly angry at you, then you have absolutely no affect upon them whatsoever.
Allan Grayson, when he presented the Repub healthcare plan on the House floor is a good example.
In a patriarchal society, both men and women have been socilized to do just that. Many women learn to fear conflict, especially if the person they are conflicting with uses violence to reswolve the conflict in their favor.
Many men learn to fear the sharing of power as being "unmanly." In all cases, fear is our worst enemy. Everytime fear enters the equation, the results will almost always be negative. It is when we overcome our fears, that things turn positive.
While in college, in speaking with a woman who was connected to a battered woman's shelter. she said that many women have learned to prefer the known hell to the unknown possible paradise. For many women, it took a threat to their kids to get them to change.
Perhaps it will take something as drastic as that for women who have been socialized into choosing the subordinate role, to change their prioriies, and the resulting decisions. The way the Repugnuts are going, that may not be far off.
Now what we need is some video to send the message home... too bad we couldn't do something like the "annoying orange" on youtube.
The hugh hugh antiwar demonstrations around the time of the second Iraq war were largely discounted and shown smaller than they were, and quite often just not reported.
What does a push to the upside show in my view.....there are believers in the media on this issue.
Really any woman I would assume should favor the view of the demonstrators, it is so obviously wrong.
Unfortunately those used by those in power.... media employees police and others.... their opinion on a issue is more important than ours in a way, as they display ours and the reaction to ours for others to see.
So good...the media is on our side in this issue.
Size matters a bit but really is not the final say in this issue....the display of absurdity is the final say.
And it has been successfully endeavored.
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