Some secret sauce to allow them to ban abortion without a backlash

I finished the book Delusions of Gender, How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, by Cordelia Fine. I bought it because of a favorable review. After buying and before reading the book I thought it was about being transgender. It is only in passing. It’s about all the bad science that tries to declare there is a big difference between male brains and female brains. The book debunks it all. If you disagree with or don’t understand what I wrote here please read the book before arguing with me. There are a lot of articles and books written about how different male brains are from female brains. Some of these are from a century and a half ago. They try to justify why women can’t and shouldn’t be allowed to do certain things. Isn’t it nice when one can get science to confirm their prejudices? This justification runs deep and is far ranging. So Fine must tackle it from many angles, which she does with wit. Here are some of those angle. Other people’s opinions of make a great deal of difference on how we think of ourselves. Women perform noticeably worse than men when reminded of their gender just before a math test. That difference goes away when instead women are told that men and women perform equally well on the test. Worrying about how well one does on a test can suck up enough mental energy that one doesn’t do well on it. There’s a big difference on people describing how good they are at certain things, such as decoding a facial expression, and how good they actually are at a task. No, women can’t routinely grasp a man’s emotions before he can. Women are repeatedly told “You don’t belong here.” Without a female role model they can succumb to that belief. Some women handle it by becoming less feminine. The feeling of not belonging is reinforced in the hiring process when the employer may claim she just doesn’t fit into the corporate culture. It is also reinforced when many key events, like hosting a client before closing a big deal, are held at strip clubs. No matter how the salaries of a husband and wife compare she’s much more likely to do most of the housework and childcare. And kids notice who does what. There is a big idea that fetal brains are or are not awash testosterone during pregnancy. That’s a potent hormone and that’s got to make a difference in a developing brain. Right? Except no difference has been found. Girls that had a high level of testosterone in the womb act no different than other girls. Also, male macaque monkeys in one region of Japan are the primary caretakers of infants and in another region of Japan they do little to care for infants. There’s a big fascination with teasing out gender differences through the use of the fMRI, the magnetic resonance imaging that highlights what part of the brain is functioning at a particular moment. But... Because these machines are so expensive study sizes are too small to be meaningful. So claims are made on too little data. The machines are too imprecise to show anything meaningful. Also, studies that show no gender difference tend to not be published. Finally, differences in brain structure have shown little differences in behavior. So all that noise about girls and boys need to be educated separately (so that girls can be taught in a manner similar to their “nature”) is a lot of bunk. If studies using fMRI machines are so problematic, why pay attention to them? Because studies using the term makes the bunk sound more “scientific.” So say goodbye to the concept that male brains are “hardwired” differently than female brains. Then what should be said to the parents who insist they’re raising their daughter in a gender-neutral manner, yet the child insists on frilly pink outfits? The child wants them because in this culture there is no such thing as gender-neutral, even by the parents. As soon as parents find out the gender of their child they treat it differently. At birth parents of boys are “proud” and have dreams of sports and parents of girls are “happy” and have dreams of dance class. Now try to buy the newborn a gender-neutral onesie. And after that the child encounters a world where the gender of a person appears to be the most important attribute. That is so pervasive that by age 3 or 4 children become very good gender police, good at dishing out “jeer pressure” to other children violating the norms. And while girls may now get approval for playing with boy toys, boys are still discouraged from playing with girl toys. Even so, try to treat people without regard to gender. While children learn about gender at a very young age the concepts – and the brain holding them – can change. And every time a man announces it is his turn to pick up the kids from school the concept of which tasks are male and which are female are adjusted a tiny bit. I had reported that Ohio Republicans were looking for ways to overturn the abortion rights amendment voters just approved. Laura Clawson of Daily Kos has more details of what they’re looking at. Some Republicans are complaining the election was stolen and voters were influenced by foreign billionaires (George Soros was naturalized back in 1961). Another group says the amendment didn’t specify what laws it overturns, so it overturns none. Others say the language is vague so needs us to pass supporting (redefining) legislation. Yeah, there will be a lot to litigate over what all this means. So the last idea is to pass legislation that says the judiciary is not allowed to rule on this amendment. Only the legislature could decide what modifications to existing laws need to be made. And, yeah, that’s a power grab. Should Republicans be so anxious for a power grab? In a pundit roundup for Kos Chitown Kev quoted Mary Ziegler of Slate who wrote that abortion rights might be overcome by state supreme courts – and Ohio’s has a 4-3 conservative majority. So any ambiguity will be resolved in favor of abortion opponents. This roundup also includes, down in the comments, a cartoon by Bill Branhall of the New York Daily News. It shows an elephant on the ground with lumps on its head from being battered by a “Ban Abortion” sign. A woman stands over him, saying, “It’s the autonomy, stupid.” Clawson reported:

In the wake of another bad Election Day, Republicans are once again lamenting that they just haven’t found the right message on abortion while they continue to push unpopular policies on abortion. They remain convinced there’s some secret sauce that will allow them to ban abortion without a public backlash, perhaps by talking up how they’re going to add some exceptions to their abortion bans.

But voters understand a 15 week ban becomes a 12 week ban, which becomes a 6 week ban. Clawson looked at some of what Republicans are saying and does a good job of showing the flaws in their strange reasoning. Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported that in the wake of the Virginia legislature flipping to Democrat because of the abortion ban Gov. Glenn Youngkin promised to pass, Rep. Bob Good declared the flip was because the proposed abortion ban wasn’t stringent enough. Red voters didn’t turn out. Never mind that polling shows that only 24% of Virginia voters want a more restrictive ban and that any sort off abortion ban is great for turning out Democrats. Eleveld also noticed how panicked Republicans are over the abortion issue and how much they’re flailing in trying to form a winning message. Some candidates are saying better to be silent on the issue. Others are saying they don’t want Democrats to define them on this issue so better to be clear on exactly where they stand – such as wanting a national 15 week ban, the one that made Youngkin’s life much harder. In contrast, Eleveld reported Democrats are pushing abortion protections in more states, knowing how much the issue turns out voters and how that is an advantage for themselves – and Biden. Aiming for abortion rights votes in 2024 are Arizona and Nevada (both swing states), Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Greg Sargent of the Washington Post writing about Youngkin:

But the GOP governor’s comeuppance isn’t just about the durability of abortion rights as a political winner for Democrats. It also shows that right-wing culture-warring on education — built around a “parents’ rights” agenda limiting school discussion of race and gender — has utterly lost its political potency, allowing Democrats to respond with their own affirmative liberal cultural agenda.

Dworkin also quoted Amanda Marcotte of Salon who wrote that Moms for Liberty is now a toxic brand and that they lost all five open seats on the board of the Pennridge School District near Philadelphia. Clawson looked at Moms for Liberty’s poor showing and the general Republican culture war. It seems they are forgetting that parents of school children are no longer Boomers, but Gen-Xers and Millennials. They grew up on the other side of the culture war and are tired of it. To them trans people and same-sex couples are not scary. The books they read to their kids included LGBTQ characters. Also the later generations are much more racially diverse so running on racism is much less effective. The culture war could draw out the Republican base. But it is facing more rejection from swing voters. Clawson reported that New York Times reported Peter Baker wrote about how close Democrats were to not flipping the Virginia legislature. Baker reported on seats Democrats won by only 830 votes in a House district and 1,923 votes in a Senate district. Clawson pointed out that 830 vote win was in percentages 51.48% to 48.33%, which doesn’t sound so narrow. Also, Baker didn’t say anything about a Republican representative who won by only 228 votes (50.32% to 49.51%) or one who won by only 966 votes. Nor did he mention the Republican senators who won by only 1,684 and 1,528 votes. Baker could have said the Democratic win could have been bigger. Baker is part of a larger media effort to say no matter how well Democrats do they’re still in trouble. I last wrote about the Russian invasion of Ukraine back in October. There always seemed to be something more important to write about. On October 26 Mark Sumner of Kos wrote about the ATACMS rockets were now being used in Ukraine. Their use has gotten some hits and some misses. It has also prompted Russia to pull some of its aircraft farther back from the front. Sumner also mentioned the debate on whether Avdiivka, near Donetsk, is the new Bakhmut, the town Russia seems determined to capture no matter the cost. Maps in this post show Russian occupying land around three sides of the town. As a reminder how old some of these posts are, back on October 27 Sumner reported that a change in US House leadership puts aid to Ukraine at risk. Russian propagandists rejoiced. On the 29th Kos of Kos reported that the Israel/Hamas war benefits Russia because it distracts the US from Ukraine. It also throws a lot of international relations into chaos – does one support or condemn the Hamas atrocities and/or the Israeli atrocities? And that chaos benefits Russia. It also gives useful idiots in the US House an excuse to to pull back on support to Ukraine. On the 30th Sumner reported that after five months the counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia front has stalled. This is the area where Russia has “constructed thousands of kilometers of overlapping trenches, minefields, and fortifications.” On November 2nd Kos reported that Russia is ready to talk peace! Yeah, it’s a phony proposal because it talks about “necessary conditions,” meaning Russia gets to keep the territory it now occupies plus some territory already liberated. On the 3rd Kos reported Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhny had a candid interview with The Economist. An important part of the article is him saying the counteroffensive is at a stalemate. And it has been costly in terms of lives and destruction. What is needed is a technological breakthrough. Kos also reports that in a separate letter Zaluzhny stated what he needs for Ukraine to win. A continued supply of missiles and shells. Control of the skies (though Kos doubts they’ll ever have full control). More drones. Modernized electronic warfare – ways to jam communication and navigation signals and personnel to operate it. Also, the flip side – electronic protection from jamming. A better ground based GPS system to guide its drones. Mine breaching technology. And more training of personnel outside its territory. Kos says the whole world needs ways to neutralize drone threats. We need to be able to stop a barrage of drones at a political rally or sports arena. This is a Pandora’s box that has been opened and needs to be shut quickly. Kos concluded:

It is laudable that Zaluzhny was this open and candid about Ukraine’s challenges and needs. This war won’t end quickly; there is no quick-fix solution. But his requests here are reasonable and realistic, and will build the force—and technological edge—Ukraine needs to finally win this war.

On the 6th Kos reported President Zelenskyy’s new challenge is dealing with everybody calling for negotiations with Russia. Yes, part of that is international response to Zaluzhny’s declaration of a stalemate. And yes, Zelenskyy is now annoyed with his top general. A pause in the action to allow for more training of Ukrainian soldiers also gives Russia time to build more defenses. And a settlement leaves a “frozen conflict.” Russia is very good at creating those. A frozen conflict helps Russia in that it justifies leaving “peacekeeping” forces which oppress the local population. And since NATO and the EU don’t want to admit members that have existing territorial disputes that could keep Ukraine out of both. Also, Russia, despite its massive amount of land, is obsessed with adding more territory. On the 13th Sumner reported on the expansion of Ukraine’s efforts on the other side of the Dnipro river from Kherson. This is the region west of Zaporizhzhia. Russia thought the wide river would protect it. But Ukraine has crossed it at several points. They are improving their position, but have not yet pushed Russia far enough back to safely build a pontoon bridge to bring tanks and such across. As for Avdiivka Russia is slowly gaining ground at a high cost of men and weapons. And on the 14th Kos was able to say the Kherson counteroffensive is a real thing. Ukraine holds the entire southeast bank of the Dnipro River. They aren’t ready for that pontoon bridge yet. But this part of the front is less heavily defended – Russia thought the river was enough defense. Once Ukraine gets through the minimal defenses they have a clear path to both Crimea and Melitopol, the major logistical hub on the back side of the Zaporizhzhia defenses. So maybe the war isn’t completely at a stalemate.