Sunday, March 12, 2006

Pluto, The National Center For Men, & "The Male Roe v. Wade"

Pluto, The National Center For Men, & "The Male Roe v. Wade"
mumin_bey@yahoo.com

12:41 AM 3/12/06 Sun

In the last hour I heard a very interesting radio broadcast; "The Jerry Doyle Show" had on the topic of a court case being fought by the National Center for Men, an outfit that is a Men's and Father's Rights advocate. The case they are fighting, has been dubbed "the male Roe v. Wade" and is based on the plight of a 25 year old man up in Saginaw, MI; apparently, the man is fighting a court order to ante up $500/mo in child support payments on the grounds that he was duped into believing that his ex-girlfriend could not get pregnant. The NCM has long been looking for a "test case" to bring before the nation's high courts, looking to challenge what they consider to be a blatant violation of the Equal Protection Clause - they argue that if women can have access to a wide array of choices and options regarding pregnancy, including abortion (where the fathers of the aborted have absolutely no say whatsoever as to the outcome), then it only follows that men who have good reason to believe they were duped into paternity, should have the "right to choose" to opt out of that paternity.

Doyle's position was simple yet harsh - fellas, if you play, then you pay. Period, end of issue. Doyle, in classic Conservative fashion, stressed that men simply must be personally responsible for their decisions and actions, and the consequences those decisions and actions eventuate in. As far as Doyle is concerned, it doesn't matter if indeed the woman lied or not - if you're a guy and you lay down with her, then you pay if she comes up pregnant.

But the many men who called his show, had a different point of view; the vast majority of the male callers-in said, that it's fundamentally unfair for women to have the choice to abort - to get rid of their consequences resulting from ill-considered decisions - and yet hold men's feet to the fire if it's proven that they were duped into believing that they sired a child when in reality they didn't, or, in the case under discussion, was lied to about the fertility status of a lover, only to find that she could get pregnant afterall.

It is VERY interesting that NO WOMEN CALLED THE SHOW. None. ONLY MEN. Which kind of blows some holes in the notion that "men don't communicate". For his part, Doyle openly questioned whether the ladies not calling in had anything to do with the possibility that this whole issue might have struck a nerve of ugly Truth.

The only female voice on Doyle's show - a guest named Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse - pointed to a very ugly truth: that it was foolish to believe, that only women would be effected by the Sexual Revolution. Men would want some benefits, too, and that means among other things, the ability to "dropout" of the scene when it came to stepping up to the plate and being a dad when it was a social and economic disincentive to do so. She said that the entire late 60s and 70s movement and atmosphere, of which Roe v. Wade was at the center, led to a great number of dramatic consequences, prime of which was a dissolution of marriage. She argues that such events have greatly weakened American Society.

I find the show very interesting in light of a recent essay I wrote regarding Russia's "Baby Bust" Problems, where I discussed that country's problems demographically, their staggering low birthrate, their equally devastating deathrate, and so on. In that essay, I referenced other essays I wrote, centering on the astrological Pluto and its role in Human Sexuality and Procreation. Of particular note and interest in light of the subject matter, I said the following regarding Pluto and Men:

"Continuing on with the social issues - we have to consider the fact that Capricorn is one of the most male signs of the entire Zodiac; he forms one arm of the most important axis in Astrology, the Parental Axis, Mother (Cancer) and Father (again, Capricorn). Keep in mind, that back in the early part of the 20th Century, Pluto in Cancer didn't just reside over the "Greatest Generation" but also ushered in what we would call today the Women's Movement. Since then, as we all know, women in American society, in Western society overall, have made tremendous gains.

But at a cost; many families have fallen apart at the same time these rights and the like were taking place. In particular, the role of fathers and breadwinners have greatly diminished since the idyllic era of the 1950s. With Pluto in Capricorn, all that will change - you'll see more women than ever before opting out of Corporate America to raise kids at home; you'll see more of a demand for fathers to be involved with the raising of the kids and so on. As Capricorn not only represents big business but also the common worker, there will be a renewed interest in seeing to it that the average working man has the means and wages to take care of his kids. Men's Movements will take centerstage, as groups like NOW and the like go on the wane, and this will have effects on the way things are done in the courts with respect to divorce proceedings, custody rights and paternity. Marriages will go up, particularly among those who are a bit older than one would expect for marrying. It's, as one writer put it "Return of the Guy" - and he's kickin' ass and taking names."

- On Pluto In Capricorn... 6:04 PM 8/15/05 Mon

Pluto has yet to enter Capricorn, but we Mundane Astrologers have long known that Outer Planets coming to the end of their transit of a Sign will often give a "glimpse" of what the next transit will augur. It seems that my comments above, may indeed come into full bloom when Pluto finally enters the Realm of The Goat.

Still, it's important to point out that Pluto is in Sagittarius, the Sign of Courts - and a Male Sign in its own right. That Men's Groups would focus their attention and resources on court challenges regarding a "man's right to choose" would make perfect sense at this time.

In fact, if one were to sit back and thumb through an ephemeris, one can astrologically track the social changes men in American society have gone through, by way of Pluto's Sign-transit shifts. When Roe v. Wade came down, Pluto was in Libra amd before that, Pluto was in Virgo, when Betty Friedan wrote "The Feminine Mystique" and the National Organization for Women was born. Clearly, these are Female Signs, Virgo and Libra, and the passage of Pluto through these Signs would witness deep, profound changes for women (and we can include the Pluto in Cancer period as well).

The TV movie, "The Burning Bed" starring sex symbol Farrah Fawcett, came along with Pluto's passage into Scorpio, along with other portrayals of men in their worst light, such as Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" and the Julia Roberts vehicle "Sleeping with The Enemy". Themes dealing with Rape, Spousal Abuse and particularly Incest, all with a finger pointing at Dad, were the order of the day while Pluto went through Scorpio. And there was, of course, the issue of HIV & AIDS, depicted powerfully in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" - but what the film, and subsequent venues failed to point out, was that in the main, gay men were adversely effected, as opposed to the general population (and this holds true to this day, although, as we all know, the hetero community, read, women, has been effected as a result of the "downlow" phenomenon, as well as intravenous drug use). Regardless of whether straight or gay, men focus on sex far more than most women do. Pluto is, afterall, a Male Sexual Planet. Gangsta Rap was born, the bane of Feminist existence everywhere, it's posterboys being Snoop-Dogg, Tupac & Biggie. An extension of Hip Hop, an art form that was created and marketed by young men, desperate to be heard, on how they saw the world around them.

With Pluto's passage into Sagittarius, we all witnessed the Million Man March, an attempt on the part of the men in the African American community to come to grips with the role they played in the state of affairs of Black USA, to, in the words of MMM organizer, the Minister Louis Farrakhan, "atone" for past misdeeds (clearly a Sagittarian theme, "doing the right thing"). In the White community, similar undertakings took place under the auspices of "Promise Keepers" an Evangelical movement of men trying to take back their rightful place in the family and society. And, of course, who can forget the massive issues, still ongoing, in the Islamic World, with regard to the young and male population, all too eager to die for the cause of Jihad.

And now, with men in American polity having taken enough of being viewed with scorn by the media, being chumped in the home, being took by the family courts, are fighting back. The current Saginaw case, is only the beginning. Once again, the great thinkers of American intelligensia, feminist and non alike, didn't give much thought to the longterm ramifications of broad, wide-sweeping policies like Roe v. Wade - if you give women "choice" than you by definition, give men "choice", too - the choice of those men to act on imperatives that aren't necessarily the best of what men can and should be. And no matter what one's position on "Choice" is, one would have to agree, that you cannot advocate for the right of the Courts to decide in favor of one party their right to have choice, and deny another party theirs. For all its faults, Marriage - between one man and one woman - has shown itself to, for most people, most of the time - work, especially when it comes to dealing with the all important issue of raising children. Marriage brings benefits to both men and women, and when we began to tamper with that arrangement - break it down, put it down, tear it apart - people see the handwriting on the wall, and instead seek other incentives.

Things really heat up Jan 25 2008. The Reckoning, is upon us...

Salaam,
Mu

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