From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-kounaris/contraception-its-2012-an_b_1292549.html
Cynthia Kounaris
02/22/2012
The House panel on women’s health issues that had not one woman on it got a lot of well-deserved attention in conversations and in media the past few days. The main reason why this so universally resonated was because it defied logic. Even if, for some reason, it seems okay to you that only men should discuss women’s health and reproductive issues, did no one have enough sense to say “Well, personally, I think this is perfectly logical, but maybe it won’t look so great.”. Obviously not.
But this whole topic and the ensuing conversations sparked a lot of “where’s the logic?” questions for me.
In this day and age, why would it be okay to have ANY panel on ANY topic that included only men? Note that I am not saying that a panel on women’s issues should have only women on it. There are probably men who could provide knowledge and insight on that topic, as on any topic. But why would there be a panel of only men — on women’s issues or religious issues or any issue? Where is the logic in that?
Women outnumber men in the U.S. Women college graduates outnumber male college graduates. More women than men voted in 2008. Where we don’t outnumber men is in the Congress, in C-level jobs and on Fortune 500 boards.
And as for contraception, while I support a woman’s right to choose, I don’t view (nor should we view) contraception as JUST a woman’s issue. Yes, women are the ones who have to bear the physical burden of pregnancy — and, all too often, the financial and emotional burden of pregnancy and raising the child, if the father does not step up and share those responsibilities. But wouldn’t fathers want their teenage sons to use contraception? Wouldn’t fathers want their daughters to use contraception?
Continue reading at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-kounaris/contraception-its-2012-an_b_1292549.html
