The Woman-Hating Right

Don't let a female Vice Presidential candidate fool you - the Right holds onto base sexist views, both men and women alike.  Watch the video below because no one says it better or funnier than Steven Colbert.

Colbert on Women's Health

What he doesn't say explicitly is that these views are based on an extremely sexist view of women.  What the commentators are saying is: women can't be trusted.  We can't trust them to make smart decisions, even when those decisions are about their own bodies.

They are also saying that women's health is not important, in fact, it is not even part of healthcare.  Birth control, breast feeding - these are not healthcare, they're the frivolous privileges of women.  Because you know, abuse counseling is to pedicures as...no it just doesn't work.

I would say the whole thing is hypocritical - that the government shouldn't get involved with women's reproductive health to give them birth control, only to tell them they can't have an abortion if they have an unplanned pregnancy.  But it's not hypocritical because the same thinking underlines both positions: women can't be trusted.