call my name

Michigan Republicans think it’s okay to legislate vaginas – but not talk about them. During a debate over one of the most restrictive anti-choice bills yet, Michigan state Rep. Lisa Brown read a letter from a voter that concluded, "Finally Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you are all so interested in my vagina, but no means no."

In response, Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger banned Rep. Brown from speaking on the state House floor the next day.

My ex-wife and I decided that we would be honest and open with our kids when they were young as it came to identifying their various body parts. We felt that real words used to describe the parts of their body would create a positive body image. There is nothing shameful about your arm so you call it an arm, there is nothing sinful about your leg so you call it a leg. There is nothing embarrassing about your penis so you call it your penis and there is noting weird about your vagina so you call it your vagina.

However, my Mother did not share our philosophy of using honest words and she was quite put out with our choosing this path of parenting.Often my Mother would plead that using wee-wee, or pee-pee would create healthier adults. She could not even say the word vagina or penis but stated that if we chose THOSE words our kids would grow up with a perverted sense of their bodies. She would insist that there is no need to teach our kids dirty words. Somethings she stated need to be private and personal.

I loved my Mother and many lessons of life learned from her have made me a whole person today, but this argument was one I could not buy. I was not going have my kids ashamed of their genitalia nor have them dwell on that part of their body as being bad.

I remember the first time my daughter asked my Mother if she has a penis or a vagina and my son chiming in ‘silly girl Grandma’s only have vaginas.’ My Mother staring her Grandkids in the face, turning slightly red, slowly holding back the urge to tell them not to use those dirty words finally said girls have vaginas boys have a penis...now lets talk about something else.

My Mother realized that a penis and vagina are a fact of life.

Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger of Michigan must have grown up in a house where women were subservient to men. A home where penis’s can make you proud but vagina’s must be silenced. A family life promoting the endless opportunities of males and the futile second class of females. He had to have developed disregard and disrespect for his mother and any other females in his life. 

Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger of Michigan is a blow hard, bully, hypocrite who believes he as a man can rule the lives of women. He had to have grown up learning that not only should women be ashamed of their bodies, but that women should never speak aloud about that shameful part of their body. He is proud and loud to legislate about the vagina, but dare a woman speak of it all he wants is silence. Any woman, any man who has respect for women should be appalled.

My Mother adjusted to the words penis and vagina, and after the first few times hearing it, paid little to no attention to those words. My Mother realized that it was she who had the problem with those words and never really finding rational for that problem stopped protesting. And after a certain age, my kids felt too old to ever say penis or vagina in front of their Grandmother anyway!

Michigan is only one state in the Union where male dominated Republican/Tea Party legislatures want to control the lives of women. It is only one state of many Republican/Tea Party dominated states where men can discuss what is right or wrong for women but prefer or rather insist women bud out of that discussion. This next election cycle, in November, strong proud women and caring men can stop this tide of out of control machismo, and vote into office equal opportunity humans. Or vagina’s will always be called who-who’s or thing-a-ma-bobs and the women who own them whores.