Out there in the nether regions of Facebook there’s a grass-roots movement called Periods for Pence. The group was one woman’s response to Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s decision to sign into law the most restrictive abortion regulations to date. Under this law, (since blocked by a federal judge as unconstitutional), women of Indiana would be required–among other things–to bury or cremate all fetal remains, whether aborted or miscarried, no matter how far along the ‘pregnancy’. At their own expense of course. Following the letter of the law, that means any menstrual period, by virtue of the fact that it could contain an embryo, would have to be cremated or buried.
The anonymous founder began the page as a way for Indiana women to voice their anger and displeasure with the law. For months they’ve been tying up the phone lines of the Governor’s office to report on possible legal violations every time a Hoosier woman got her period. Women wrote testimonials and transcripts of their messages. And since Governor Pence seemed so concerned about their female health, was so interested in their female anatomy, they phoned in with concerns about menstruation and vaginas in general.
Now that Governor Pence is on the Republican ticket and there’s a chance he could become the next vice-president of the good, old U.S. of A., the site is picking up steam across the country.
It is, in every sense of the word, hysterical.
The site and the women (and men) who frequent it have been called ridiculous, silly, immature, and juvenile. But don’t be fooled. It may be satirical in nature, but the truth behind the page and those who contribute is anything but silly or juvenile.
The water simmering under the pot that is Periods for Pence, indeed under many American women themselves, has been on a slow simmer for years. With the announcement of Mike Pence for Vice-President, it may have just started to boil over.
Why now?
Well, we ARE DONE.
We’re done.
Personally I am so fucking done that the little buzzer that pops to tell me so is broken from overuse.
The Periods for Pence women, like me, are done apologizing for being women. We are done fighting for rights which are, at best, loosely guaranteed. We’re done begging for those rights when they are routinely stripped and limited and oppressed and denied.
Some of us are done explaining to you why we are fans of Hillary Clinton.
A lot of us are done explaining to you why it is ok to vote for her just because she’s a woman.
We’re done explaining to men–who don’t bear the physical, psychological or financial* responsibility for bearing and raising children—why abortion is not up to them. Or how restricting abortion is in no way helping women, nor is it going to make it go away.
We’re done explaining that having an abortion doesn’t mean carrying a lifelong scar or stigma or guilty conscience. Done explaining that sometimes it is a tough choice, but sometimes it’s not. And we’re done explaining over and over again that this issue was settled more than 40 years ago. We’ve moved on. We’re done.
We’re done trying to peacefully and logically explain why we still need feminism, trying to politely explain how sexism is still rampant, because if we are anything but polite, we’re accused of being hysterical and irrational.
We are DONE justifying our personal experiences of sexism to men who deny it, done listening to men tell us sexism doesn’t exist, as if the long-fought battle for voting enfranchisement ended everything and in now in the land of unicorns and rainbows everyone is equal.
We’re done explaining.
We’re done listening to presumptions that our votes shouldn’t count as much because they are coming from women, as if the only votes that truly matter, the ones that really count, are those of men (and predominantly old, white men).
This year’s spectacular mindfuck of a GOP ticket isn’t even bothering to court our votes at all, seeming to work under the false pretense that we don’t matter, we’ll go along with the tide, or they don’t need us anyway.
We’re done with half-assed laws which take away health care, screenings and funding. We’re done with unconstitutional laws which assume and assert we can’t make decisions about our own health, which refuse to allow us to make decisions about our own bodies.
We are done being told, in so many words, that the folks elected by women and minorities don’t count as much, because they’re not white men and therefore their abilities and achievements are somehow lessened through the filter of their very being.
We are done with apologizing and explaining.
Calling up the governor’s office or now the offices of the Republican presidential nominee to talk about our bodies may not seem like much. It may seem silly or ineffectual.
But make no mistake, it is so much more than that.
It is rallying the troops. It is making plans. It is getting ready to protest and demand and to vote.
Because if there is a bloody revolution coming? There’s a good chance it will be uterized.
*the financial burden of males is a choice–that is not to say it isn’t taken on happily by most men, but it is a choice.
Wine and Cheese (Doodles) 
Wonderful piece. I very much enjoyed it.
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I will be checking it out. Thanks for the heads up.
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Definitely do, Mary. It’s great on so many levels. First, it’s truly funny. Second, it shows you how much a grass-roots movement can do (the same with Moms Demand Action) and lastly, we should all be aware of who/what we are voting for.
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YES YES YES YES YES!!!! No more apologies from me, either.
I have had endless laughs over the Periods for Pence movement. My daughter was thrilled to find out he was Drumpf’s veep choice. Such a hoot.
Except it’s not funny. It’s SICK.
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Seriously, I am so freaking done. Between the two of them, where is anything they are going to do for women? Anything at all. Nothing. Not one single thing on the GOP platform is going to help women.
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It’s way worse than not helping women. They will deliberately make life for women immeasurably worse. They’re transparently anti-female.
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I know…which I keep thinking works to our advantage. I mean they are now so blatantly white and male that it’s like they just don’t care who knows it. I guess it’s better this way–no more pretense. I mean, they’ve been like this for a while now–not always–but for a while now. At least now they’re not even pretending to care anymore. We all know where we stand.
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I so hope you’re right. I keep running into people who have so much internalized racism and sexism they can somehow justify supporting this evil pair. It’s absolutely shocking.
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You know, I have a friend who announced on FB today that she would be ‘unfriending’ anyone who she saw posting pro-Trump comments on her Facebook feed. And I thought it was great, and something I haven’t had the guts to do myself yet…but am beating myself up about. As she said, she respects differences, but how can you respect someone who is willing to overlook all of that in the name of something else? A few months ago you mentioned you were in the midst of an existential crisis–I think I’ve been having my own this summer. Ugh.
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I totally empathize. And totally agree with being unable to respect anyone who supports this man. Being able to ignore his horrifying crap points to a serious character flaw.
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Dina, you said “I have a friend who announced on FB today that she would be ‘unfriending’ anyone who she saw posting pro-Trump comments on her Facebook feed.” I am sorely tempted to unfriend even those who say, with a whine, “I will vote for Clinton, but ….” but anything. Because that always means they have NO FRICKING IDEA of what her qualifications are.
eh hem…
Abortion and whose decision: my husband is my love and my rock, and has been for 36 years. (Do the math.) We are a great team. Three or four years ago we happened into a discussion about what would happen if by some incredibly cruel twist of fate, I got pregnant. And I said I would have an abortion (that math thing, if nothing else.) And he said something about we’d make a good decision together. And I said NO, *I* would decide, and *I* would have an abortion… His jaw flapped a few times, but he quickly understood that was not something WE would decide. (I don’t doubt he would agree with me, but it wouldn’t matter.)
If only all men were so quick to understand…
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I have one! It’s only one of the reasons I love him. But it infuriates me when conservative men insert themselves into my life choices and assume I don’t have the sense to make autonomous decisions about my body. Grrrr…..the Clinton thing. Ugh. I can’t. I’m done trying to explain that one too. Even if she were ALL the things they accuse her of I would STILL vote for her over the alternative. No brainer for me.
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Put ’em in their place, please! I’m on your side!
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Thanks, we need all the allies we can gather!
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Yeah, we were surprised to hear on the RNC they’ve added something to their plank about not allowing women to serve in the military anymore. Is that right? That should help with the gender gap and those women supporters who might have supported them, in the military. Nice choice with Freddy Mercury soundtrack introducing Trump and Mellania too.
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hmmm, I heard no open gay/lesbian, but not women, though Mike Pence famously used Disney’s Mulan as an example why women should not serve in the military…kid you not. He labeled it ‘liberal propaganda’
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Yeah, I heard that about Mulan. I guess you can learn a lot about life and how to behave from Disney, especially if you don’t like reading or traveling much.
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I don’t think it’s silly at all. It’s about time we owned the discussion. Reminding men that we deal with our reproductive systems ALL THE TIME–not just when it is convenient for men to bring them up to score political points– is important.
BTW, I have my period right now haha. Been doing this almost every month for nearly 40 years. SO I THINK THAT MAKES ME THE EXPERT, MR. PENCE.
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You’d think, right?!? I need to find out if we’re tweeting too. Let the floodgates open. In all senses. That’s it. The discussion is ours and ours alone.
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“It’s about time we owned the discussion.” Sing it, sister.
Sitting back and thinking about it, why in the actual f*** do we NOT own THE CONVERSATION AROUND WOMEN’S HEALTH?! Why is this shit legislated in the first GD place? Why, in 2016, is it SO DIFFICULT for our society to include Victims of Legislation (that’s what we women are, let’s call it like it is) in actual discussions about their own actual bodies and their own actual lives and choices? Why is it – that in this day and age – this country is accepting of crusty old Steve Kings and Mike Pences supporting douchey, out-of-touch, oppressive, draconian laws – without so much as consulting with the ones that those laws would affect? Why are we ok with this? What needs to occur in order for us women to COMPLETELY own the conversation around women’s health?
I, like the author, am DONE. I’m DONE. (ok, the grammar nerd in me would urge me to rephrase and say “I’m finished”…but…”I’m DONE” seems to pack more of a punch) 🙂 🙂
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I’m giggling about your inner grammar nerd sparring with your outer marketing self–I had a similar argument with (a man) who kept insisting that what women really wanted was parity, not equality. I finally resorted to pointing out that shouting, marching, and campaigning for ‘parity’ simply did not have the same revolutionary oomph behind it as the word ‘equality’. I’m not sure he bought it though. So….what are we going to do about it? I’ve got fingertips at the ready, words by the dozen. I can do rhyme. (There’s a group of limericks on here somewhere). I can do revolutionary, I can do satire. Tell me what we need and where to show up and I will BE THERE.
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Periods for Pence is under attack by Trump Trolls. Fill out their survey and tell Facebook how important this witty response to anti-woman legislation is to you. https://qtrial2016q3az1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_blUHe8f1ZfBGPMF
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Done!
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We hate Pence, too! goodsensepence.com
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Saving this to keep reading over and over. Periods for Pence! Tampons for Trump!
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Thanks, Dale. Together we can be loud enough that they have no choice to listen. #SaveP4P
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Reblogged this on Don't Play! and commented:
LOVE.
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Don’t let them shut you down. Don’t let them shut you up. #womenstrong
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Is there a “Uterized” hashtag in use, in conjunction with this message/movement? Seems INCREDIBLY complimentary to #SaveP4P… and if not, can we start using one?!!? Like #UterizeTheVote or #Uterized or #UterizeUp or something.
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Not to my knowledge, but I suck with hashtags–though I’m particularly fond of #TiredofOldWhiteMen myself. Let’s go for it. I also just used ‘Don’t let them shut you down. Don’t let them shut you up.” My twitter feed is @DinaHonour–keep me in the loop. Someone else posted about time for the 19th Amendment folks to take this into their hands, which I ADORED.
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Can you just not use the “f” word? I’d share except for that.
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Hey there, I thought I responded to this request last night, but it appears it got lost in the nether. I completely respect your hesitation or decision not to share due to language. That said, I don’t use gratuitous swearing in my writing for shock value. When I do use it, as in this piece, it is meant to convey something-in this instance, palpable anger. But again, I respect your decision. Thanks for taking the time to read through and to leave a comment. #womenstrong
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Really interesting!
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Glad you found it so!
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