Slut

I’ve never understood the popularity of Rush Limbaugh.  I’ve always found him loud, pompous, and graceless.  So, it didn’t surprise me in the least this week to learn that Limbaugh had once more jammed his foot firmly in his mouth. 

The occasion for Mr. Limbaugh’s latest faux pas was the congressional testimony of one Sandra Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University, in support of the White House’s proposed contraception mandate for healthcare providers.  Limbaugh, in the midst of his long-winded invective over her appearance, called Ms. Fluke a “slut.”  He’s since apologized, albeit feebly, and almost certainly in response to being dropped by several of his sponsors.

I know next to nothing about Sandra Fluke.  In fact, like much of the rest of the world, I’d never heard of her until a few days ago.  However, Rush Limbaugh’s savaging of her reputation for the entertainment of his listening audience underscores yet again the erosion of civility in our culture.  Nowhere is this decline more evident than in the static-filled intellectual wasteland navigated with the AM radio dial.   

Conservative talk radio is gangster rap for pissed off middle-aged white males.  It’s their primal scream, their cri de coeur, the death rattle of dying privilege.  Rush Limbaugh’s persona is tailor-made to appeal to his audience, who look upon him as the arch-avenger of their long-nursed grievances.  Limbaugh was in rare form the other day, even hauling out his shopworn “feminazi” epithet to hurl at Ms. Fluke.  

It doesn’t take a discerning eye to read the subtext of Limbaugh’s message.  Like other men seeking to parry (or roll back) the gains made by women, Limbaugh promotes feminine virtue as an instrument of social oppression.  If women have access to birth control, this means they might actually have sex!  And if they’re having sex, you know what that makes them.   Limbaugh’s claim of satirical intent rings hollow when you actually read or hear what he said.  He’s clearly angry at the thought of a woman who doesn’t know her place.

It’s no surprise this subject arouses Limbaugh’s ire.  Feminists have advocated contraception since the movement’s early days.  The efforts of pioneers such as Margaret Sanger, Marie Stopes, and Katharine Dexter McCormick to divorce childbearing from sex were part and parcel with their desire for equality.  Readily available contraception was the surest way women could free themselves from the social confines of kinder, küche, kirche.  

Indeed, the advent of reliable birth control is often credited for the success of second-wave feminism during the 1960s and 70s.  However, the benefits of safe contraception are enjoyed not only by women but by society as a whole.  If the advantages of personal liberty don’t convince you, consider the matter from a cost-benefit standpoint.  When you weigh the social costs of unwanted pregnancies, the gains from funding family planning services, including birth control medications and devices, make it fiscally pragmatic.  It’s almost…conservative…in its simplicity. 

It’s quite doubtful any arguments along this line would ever convince Rush Limbaugh or the dittoheads of this, but that is no reason for people of sense to stop making them.  I, for one, am thankful Sandra Fluke has the courage of her convictions.               

© 2012 The Unassuming Scholar