it's enough to make a grown woman cry

[JoB]

this morning in Bill Moyers Morning Reads i came across this story

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/03/24/non-story-massachusetts-divorce-sex-in-house-bill/

I am sure it was forwarded because of the sensationalism that often passes as information

except… in this particular case it didn’t produce the outrage the author intended..

the bill was not misrepresented

nor was the legislator who filed it

that he filed it as a favor for a constituent who happened to be publishing a book

in other words.. more as a media opportunity than anything else..

was the author of this article’s rationalization for the facebook posts having made much ado of nothing

yet..

when i finished this article i was more incensed than when i began…

there is a story here.. though not the one told.

The author of the bill contends that a bill forbidding divorcing women from having boyfriends or having sex while going through divorce is a bill designed to combat domestic violence…

after all.. if the divorcing partner finds out the mother of his children is entertaining gentleman callers.. he might well be inclined towards domestic violence…

just another version of the protecting women from a defense that shouldn’t exist.. “she made me do it”.

where does this end?

at the start of my adult life i had to get a letter of permission from the husband i was divorcing because he was living with his latest conquest to get a job at a department store.

i have spent my entire adult life fighting for the right of equality for women…

while it is true that women no longer have to get permission from their husbands to work

the “she made me do it” defense is still alive and well ..

so well that Bill Moyers didn’t think it worthy of pointing out while passing along the article:(

it’s enough to make a grown woman cry.

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[wakeflood]

JoB, I look around and I just can’t stop shaking my head at all the ridiculousness going on in this city, state, country. We’ve lost our collective mind. Topsy-turvydom as Gilbert & Sullivan would say, only we’re not laughing.

It’s enough to make us all cry.

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[wakeflood]

Someday historians – should there be any left – will study the downfall of the American Empire (which they’ll date to roughly 1980 as a start) and wonder what the root cause was.

Could it be lead pipes for potable water, like the Romans??

Could it be CO2 levels affecting their capacity for reasoning?

Some weird bacteria that used human fat as their host environment causing paranoia?

The debate will rage on amongst the handful of remaining humans living in their undersea pod-colonies…

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[ernieusafret]

Global warming, it’s frying peoples brains.(humor).

Actually, it’s lack of common sense, and too much control from the government(read-Too much free time from government employees)

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[metrognome]

I’m not sure I read the same article as you three. First of all, the article was extremely poorly written and confusing as heck. Second, while the *citizen* who submitted the bill made gender-based comments, the proposed change has nothing to do with gender:

‘In divorce, separation, or 209A proceedings involving children and a marital home, the party remaining in the home shall not conduct a dating or sexual relationship within the home until a divorce is final and all financial and custody issues are resolved, unless the express permission is granted by the courts.’

Bottom line: this isn’t about government or government employees or elected officials run amok, it’s about poor journalism. An individual with an axe to grind submits a proposal year after year; his representative passes the bill on as he says he would do for any proposal submitted by a constituent (not as a favor to a friend shopping a book.) The proposal languishes and is ignored by the legislature as it has been in the past and as are many bills, whether submitted by citizens or legislators.

Poor journalism. That’s it. Nothing to see here, folks.

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[amalia]

Saw the subject and thought it was another post about Window 8.

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[Jeannie]

Amalia, your comment wins for funniest of the week! Windows H8 does make grown women weep!

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[waynster]

Hmmm and women don’t get mad at men during a divorce hmmmm……although they can and do get mad at us men from time to time lol

http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2014/01/15

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[JoB]

metrognome..

the gender based comments of the author of the bill should have been the story

sadly.. they misogyny gets missed even when pointed out:(

do you think that’s because of the poor journalism or because almost any point is more important than than blatant sexism?

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[JanS]

sadly, it’s usually the man who moves out, leaving the woman with the children in the home to hopefully get child support. I immediately saw the gender bias in what this guy wanted. I notice that the party not in the home (usually the man) has no limitations put on him.

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[JoB]

before i read comments, i am pasting today’s contribution…

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/03/27/3419556/federal-judge-tells-women-attorneys-not-to-dress-like-an-ignorant-slut/

in the end the judge apologizes.. not because he thinks it is wrong to judge the female lawyers in his courtroom by the way they dress but because he thinks his comments might have been inappropriate.

his comments were inappropriate..

as was his conduct..

we haven’t come so very far in 50 years :(

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[JanS]

JoB…there have been so many examples in the news just this week alone that it made my head swim, from the 8yo girl kicked out of school because she didn’t look girly enough to some of our fine legislators saying women should be subservient, to a pastor in the news telling women to just SHUT UP and kowtow to their masters…er…husbands….it’s rather sickening really, and shows how far women haven’t come.

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