There’s a case blowing up in the news lately that’s getting a lot of media attention, both traditional and social. Apparently two cops in New Mexico making a routine traffic stop decided that the man they pulled over was “clenching his buttocks” which made them think he might be hiding drugs in his colon.
The police took the man into custody and had his abdomen x-rayed. No drugs. Allegedly, the police then had the man's anus searched by a doctor for drugs, twice. When they couldn’t find drugs that way, the man was forcibly given three enemas. Finally, he was sedated and given a colonoscopy.
In all of the probing, exactly zero drugs were ever found.
The general outrage, from both men and women, has been palpable.
Not that he’s a lighthouse of justice, but here’s the headline of an editorial about the matter from Glenn Beck’s website, written by Beck himself:
This actually happened in America: New Mexico man forced to undergo anal cavity search after routine traffic stop
Following the editorial is a string of comments full of fury, with not one person, that I’ve been able to find, on the side of the cops. Here’s just a sampling of folks’ indignation:
Everyone involved in this absolutely horrendous ordeal deserves to be fired and barred from holding any type of job where they have to deal with the public. They then need to be prosecuted for assault and battery. I hope Mr. Eckert sues the crap out of the police department and the "care" facility. Wake up people - your government is out of control. Time to hold feet to the fire and refuse to put up with this kind of abuse.
Assault and battery? They need to be prosecuted for rape.
That's right. They penetrated his body.
He was legally molested.
WTF LEGALLY MOLESTED. There is no such thing a legal molestation. He was Totally and by any law ILLEGALLY MOLESTED and anyone involved needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Yet in eight states in these Great United--Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas--legislation has been proposed by state senators and representatives--people voted into office--to require that women undergo transvaginal ultrasounds before they can obtain an abortion.
Has there been outrage? Sure. But not the across-the-board outrage that there should be. Nobody thinks it’s okay for the cops to search a man’s anus, but stick a wand in a pregnant woman’s vagina? Well, that’s kind of different, isn’t it? I mean, if she’s pregnant, somebody’s obviously already been in there once. What’s the big deal if a doctor roots around in there a little more?
This shit has got to stop.
Fundamentally, we understand that a man’s body is his own, to be done with as he pleases, to be penetrated only when he says it’s okay. We don’t have that same understanding of women’s bodies.
Women’s bodies are vessels. Vessels for babies, vessels for pleasure. Vessels to be filled. Vessels to be invaded. Parents--and I mean parents of both genders--have got to start teaching their daughters that their bodies belong to them. That they are their own. That they belong to themselves. Not a boyfriend, or a girlfriend or a husband or even a doctor. Not for reasons of shame or virginity, but for reasons of dignity and worth. And parents need to teach that concept to their boys as well.
And kids need sex education. Proper, real, sex education that teaches them how to avoid pregnancy. Boys need to be taught not just not to rape, but to respect a woman’s boundaries. That he can have access to that vagina only when birth control has been discussed and decided upon and she has given her explicit, well-thought-out permission. Not an “I guess so,” or some sort of half-assed consent because she’s afraid he’ll leave her if she doesn’t. Women have got to be taught that "I guess so" isn't a phrase that should come out of her mouth, and men need to be taught that "I guess so" doesn't mean "Yes." Because it benefits both men and women when women have control of their own bodies.
Finally, more women have got to run for office. We need more women politicians, judges and police officers. That’s how public policy will become more women-friendly and women-centric. Women must come out in great numbers to vote, and we have got to start voting the right people into office.
That’s how we’re going to finally gain ownership of our bodies.
Assault and battery? They need to be prosecuted for rape.
That's right. They penetrated his body.
He was legally molested.
WTF LEGALLY MOLESTED. There is no such thing a legal molestation. He was Totally and by any law ILLEGALLY MOLESTED and anyone involved needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. NO QUESTIONS ASKED.
Yet in eight states in these Great United--Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas--legislation has been proposed by state senators and representatives--people voted into office--to require that women undergo transvaginal ultrasounds before they can obtain an abortion.
Has there been outrage? Sure. But not the across-the-board outrage that there should be. Nobody thinks it’s okay for the cops to search a man’s anus, but stick a wand in a pregnant woman’s vagina? Well, that’s kind of different, isn’t it? I mean, if she’s pregnant, somebody’s obviously already been in there once. What’s the big deal if a doctor roots around in there a little more?
This shit has got to stop.
Fundamentally, we understand that a man’s body is his own, to be done with as he pleases, to be penetrated only when he says it’s okay. We don’t have that same understanding of women’s bodies.
Women’s bodies are vessels. Vessels for babies, vessels for pleasure. Vessels to be filled. Vessels to be invaded. Parents--and I mean parents of both genders--have got to start teaching their daughters that their bodies belong to them. That they are their own. That they belong to themselves. Not a boyfriend, or a girlfriend or a husband or even a doctor. Not for reasons of shame or virginity, but for reasons of dignity and worth. And parents need to teach that concept to their boys as well.
And kids need sex education. Proper, real, sex education that teaches them how to avoid pregnancy. Boys need to be taught not just not to rape, but to respect a woman’s boundaries. That he can have access to that vagina only when birth control has been discussed and decided upon and she has given her explicit, well-thought-out permission. Not an “I guess so,” or some sort of half-assed consent because she’s afraid he’ll leave her if she doesn’t. Women have got to be taught that "I guess so" isn't a phrase that should come out of her mouth, and men need to be taught that "I guess so" doesn't mean "Yes." Because it benefits both men and women when women have control of their own bodies.
Finally, more women have got to run for office. We need more women politicians, judges and police officers. That’s how public policy will become more women-friendly and women-centric. Women must come out in great numbers to vote, and we have got to start voting the right people into office.
That’s how we’re going to finally gain ownership of our bodies.
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