The news from South Dakota this week is that the legislature there has passed a bill, and the governor has signed it, which forbids abortions anywhere in the great state of South Dakota. There are no exceptions for rape or for incest. This is simply a return to the days before Roe v. Wade was known. It is a return to medieval America.
All of this brings to mind the first stanza of a poem/song called “The Waggoneer’s Lad.” As it turns out, at the time this song was written, probably around 1800, wagoneer was spelled with two “g”s. The first stanza of this song/poem, goes like this:

“Hard luck is the fortune of all womenkind,
They’re always controlled, they’re always confined,
Controlled by their parents until they are wives,
And slaves to their husbands the rest of their lives.”

The name of the author of this poem and song has long since disappeared. It has been around so long that people have forgotten who wrote the lyrics and who wrote the music, and so it has become traditional.
In my estimation, humble as it is, the song reflects the treatment of women throughout much of the rest of the world. I have an interest in this in that, like every other man I know, I am the son of a woman. My four sisters were women. My wife and daughters are lovely women. When I worked for AT&T, which had at one time one million employees, about 85 or 90% of those people were women. So in effect, I have an interest in what happens to women.
When the song says they are always controlled and confined by someone else, I think of Saudi Arabia where women are forbidden to drive and to vote. I think of other Arab lands where women are confined to black clothing that is generally referred to as hijab, which conceals their figures and covers their faces. I think also of the female genital mutilation that takes place in much of Africa. I think of places where women are forbidden to vote. And it is clear in many cases that women are regarded as second class citizens.
In China, for example, female babies are often destroyed. As a result, there is now growing up in China a generation of male children who will someday need wives and whose preponderance may cause them to lash out in conquest at other countries in search of wives. That may include the United States, too.
The list of abuses is endless, from those who are denied the vote to those who are told how to reproduce themselves. In many cases, women are not much more than baby-making machines.
It might be remembered that women were only given the vote in this country in 1921. Prior to that time, they were denied the right to cast a ballot. Today, for example, the Southern Baptists will now permit women to be ordained, but they are not ever to be the chief pastor in any of those churches. And this is a democratic country? And this is a Christian country?
I suppose the only reason for this foul arrangement is that men are stronger and can enforce their will. They can enforce their will through physical force as well as through monetary matters. It is an unfair arrangement from the beginning. The current mood in this country is toward the conservative side. That means more restrictive legislation against women. In the orthodox Jewish faith, some people consider women as temptresses. Are we to consider all our women as temptresses? I doubt it.
On matters involving women, it should be noted that I am a liberal in all respects. It is my view that women should have complete control over their bodies without interference from politicians. It is also my view that if two women wish to live together in a lesbian arrangement, that is fine with me. It bothers me not at all and it does not affect my marriage or any aspect of my relationship with other women. As a man, I see no reason to inflict pain and suffering on at least half of the human race.
Well, you see those yokels out there in South Dakota have me aroused. I am angry at anybody who attempts to impose his will on people who are not as strong as they are. And that is exactly what this issue is all about. Fairness in our dealings certainly includes every woman.
I am sorry to tend to agree with the first line of “The Waggoneer’s Lad” which holds that “hard luck is the fortune of all womenkind.” Perhaps the day will come when we will change that and I hope it arrives before I depart to be with the angels.
E. E. CARR
March 6, 2006
Essay 179
Postscript: When this essay was composed, it was written by an angry author. After a week or more of reflection, the anger has not receded. It has not receded because women continue to be the victims of malicious politicians and the clergy. As unfortunate as it is, those are the facts that women must deal with.
~~~
Read Pop’s follow up essay here. I think he’d be pleased that the social tides in this country are tending increasingly liberal these days. He didn’t live to see gay marriage get legalized, but that’s just one of many steps in the right direction that we’ve started to take. We’re nowhere near the finish line yet, but progress is progress.