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Friday, May 27, 2011

The Ladies Eight Minutes With Rep. Senfronia Thompson

Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, May 27, 2011 at 12:11 PM

You've go to watch Rep. Senfronia Thompson tell the the Texas House of Representatives yesterday to show women they respect the deserve:

The subject: a bill she introduced to consolidate insurance programs. The problem: A divisive flier declaring "nanny state" circulated by the Texas Civil Justice League to oppose the bill that shows a baby nursing, which has nothing to do the insurance bill.

"We go up in arms about women having the ability to nurse their children in certain pubic places and you all lose it because you don't want to allow that," says Thompson. "Some of you may find them funny but I find them despicable," she says. "I find them distasteful. I find them hateful and I find them to be close to violence and disrespect toward women."

"Men, if you don't stand up for us today, don't you walk in this chamber tomorrow."

Comments (9) RSS

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I couldn't figure out what the heck she was talking about, or how the picture of the baby nursing had anything to do with women's rights or whatever. I tried, but it was pretty incoherent. Did they think it was pornographic or something? What was the point of that speech?

Posted by TortoiseTurtle

on May 27, 2011 at 1:04 PM

So we shouldn't kick the woman can down the road?

Posted by Last of the Time Lords on May 27, 2011 at 1:08 PM

aw, she broke her bracelet :(

Posted by happy renter on May 27, 2011 at 1:13 PM

@1 - The flyer equates a picture of a nursing baby with something negative - and nursing is something that is wholesome and amazing. She's saying that by equating nursing with negativity, they are giving women (especially mothers) the finger (at best) or a beat down (at worst). AND THE FLYER ISN'T EVEN TALKING ABOUT NURSING, SO WHAT THE FUCK.

Posted by Soupytwist

on May 27, 2011 at 2:26 PM

Note: I don't really care one way or another about Texan insurance programs. I'm responding only to the rhetoric.

@4 & Senfronia Thompson: The comparison isn't anti-woman or anti-mother. If you think it is, then you're missing the comparison.

The idea of using a baby nursing as a negative image is focused on the baby, not on the mother. The idea is that those who receive care from the 'nanny state' are, effectively babies. It's not saying that mothers or babies are bad, but I think we can all agree that if you call an adult a baby, you're not making a statement about the beauty of life.

Posted by Hover Dog on May 27, 2011 at 3:40 PM

I think I love that woman. Also, I am a fan of soupytwist.

Posted by BazookaTooth on May 27, 2011 at 3:55 PM

@5: If the most important part of the photo was the baby, he would have been hold in someone arms. That would have made more sense to show it is "nanny" state.

I'm not calling everybody obsessed, but when half of a photo is a breast, that's not just a cute photo of a baby, especially on this context.
It's not just comparing the receivers to babies, it also compare the government that provide it to the breast of a woman, with all the weakness and passivity of the stereotype.

Posted by Kyrie on May 27, 2011 at 4:40 PM