Rape Is Rape
Posted by Michelle Moquin on August 21st, 2012
Good morning!
With all the talk about Akin’s disturbing, out of touch, ignorant “legitimate rape” comment ( Thanks you /SB for broaching this topic- I did read it yesterday morning), I thought that I would post this today.
This isn’t the first time I have heard of a woman who was required to marry her rapist. But this young girl, after telling her mother that she was being beaten by her rapist/future husband, decided to take rat poison and kill herself.
And like the stories I posted the other day that were not given much media attention, stories such as this one, do not get much attention either. So, I am bringing it to light.
16-year-old Amina Filali Who Was Forced To Marry Her Rapist, Commits Suicide
March 14, 2012 · By itsbits
16-year-old Amina committed suicide last Saturday after being forced to marry her rapist.
Under Moroccan law, any man who rapes a minor will be forgiven of all charges, as long as they marry their victim. Last year, Amina was walking the street when she was accosted and raped by a man who was 10 years her senior. When she finally reported the incident, their parents agreed to a marriage to protect her family honor.
After submitting to the marriage, Amina confided to her mother that she was subjected to violent beatings from her husband; her mom simply asked her to be more patient. As a final resort to escape her violent marriage, Amina injested rat poison and ended her life.
With a huge public outrage, the victim’s father, Lahcen Filali told reporters that the marriage was suggested by the court officials, “The prosecutor advised my daughter to marry, he said ‘go and make the marriage contract.”
An online petition has been formed to call an end to Article 475 of the Moroccan code which reinforces the practice of marrying rapists and their victims.
*****
Readers: Ya know, Todd Akin would probably tell the young girl Amina, to “shut that whole thing down”, marry the man and get over it. I would like to see how Todd Akin, would react if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got raped in that virgin (?) ass of his. How would he feel? How would he like it if someone said to him, “Well…c’mon just shut it down. I know your ass is sore and you feel violated but really, just go to that part of your brain and shut it down. Forget about it.” Easy right?
Not so easy – that I am sure of. I could go on and on getting into the dirty details of rape, and try to paint a not so pretty picture for Mr. Akin to visualize. But I am not so sure I could do that. I probably couldn’t paint a picture so horrific as it truly is because I have never been raped, thankfully. I could never in my wildest dreams imagine the horror of what it must be like to live through such a violation. Nor would I ever say anything off the cuff when it comes to rape using the expression “legitimate” rape as if to imply there were any such a thing as “illegitimate rape”.
So I will give the floor to Eve Ensler, a rape survivor, who can talk from experience…and who will have no problem getting Mr. Akin to imagine…
Dear Mr. Akin, I Want You to Imagine…
Dear Todd Akin,
I am writing to you tonight about rape. It is 2 AM and I am unable to sleep here in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am in Bukavu at the City of Joy to serve and support and work with hundreds, thousands of women who have been raped and violated and tortured from this ceaseless war for minerals fought on their bodies.
I am in Congo but I could be writing this from anywhere in the United States, South Africa, Britain, Egypt, India, Philippines, most college campuses in America. I could be writing from any city or town or village where over half a billion women on the planet are raped in their lifetime.
Mr. Akin, your words have kept me awake.
As a rape survivor, I am reeling from your recent statement where you said you misspoke when you said that women do not get pregnant from legitimate rape, and that you were speaking “off the cuff.”
Clarification. You didn’t make some glib throw away remark. You made a very specific ignorant statement clearly indicating you have no awareness of what it means to be raped. And not a casual statement, but one made with the intention of legislating the experience of women who have been raped. Perhaps more terrifying: it was a window into the psyche of the GOP.
You used the expression “legitimate” rape as if to imply there were such a thing as “illegitimate” rape. Let me try to explain to you what that does to the minds, hearts and souls of the millions of women on this planet who experience rape. It is a form of re-rape. The underlying assumption of your statement is that women and their experiences are not to be trusted. That their understanding of rape must be qualified by some higher, wiser authority. It delegitimizes and undermines and belittles the horror, invasion, desecration they experienced. It makes them feel as alone and powerless as they did at the moment of rape.
When you, Paul Ryan and 225 of your fellow co-sponsors play with words around rape suggesting only “forcible” rape be treated seriously as if all rapes weren’t forcible, it brings back a flood of memories of the way the rapists played with us in the act of being raped — intimidating us, threatening us,muting us. Your playing with words like “forcible” and “legitimate” is playing with our souls which have been shattered by unwanted penises shoving into us, ripping our flesh, our vaginas, our consciousness, our confidence, our pride, our futures.
Now you want to say that you misspoke when you said that a legitimate rape couldn’t get us pregnant. Did you honestly believe that rape sperm is different than love sperm, that some mysterious religious process occurs and rape sperm self-destructs due to its evilcontent? Or, were you implying that women and their bodies are somehow responsible for rejecting legitimate rape sperm, once again putting the onus on us? It would seem you were saying that getting pregnant after a rape would indicate it was not a “legitimate” rape.
Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that you are on your bed or up against a wall or locked in a small suffocating space. Imagine being tied up there and imagine some aggressive, indifferent, insane stranger friend or relative ripping off your clothes and entering your body — the most personal, sacred, private part of your body — and violently, hatefully forcing themself into you so that you are ripped apart. Then imagine that stranger’s sperm shooting into you and filling you and you can’t get it out. It is growing something in you. Imagine you have no idea what that life will even consist of, spiritually made in hate, not knowing the mental or health background of the rapist.
Then imagine a person comes along, a person who has never had that experience of rape, and that person tells you, you have no choice but to keep that product of rape growing in you against your will and when it is born it has the face of your rapist, the face of the person who has essentially destroyed your being and you will have to look at the face every day of your life and you will be judged harshly if you cannot love that face.
I don’t know if you can imagine any of this (leadership actually requires this kind of compassion), but if you are willing to go to the depth of this darkness, you will quickly understand that there is NO ONE WHO CAN MAKE THAT CHOICE to have or not have the baby, but the person carrying that baby herself.
I have spent much time with mothers who have given birth to children who are the product of rape. I have watched how tortured they are wrestling with their hate and anger, trying not to project that onto their child.
I am asking you and the GOP to get out of my body, out of my vagina, my womb, to get out of all of our bodies. These are not your decisions to make. These are not your words to define.
Why don’t you spend your time ending rape rather than redefining it? Spend your energy going after those perpetrators who so easily destroy women rather than parsing out manipulative language that minimizes their destruction.
And by the way you’ve just given millions of women a very good reason to make sure you never get elected again, and an insanely good reason to rise.
#ReasonToRise
Eve Ensler
Bukavu, Congo
♥♥♥♥♥♥
Unfortunately there are others out there besides Akin who feel the way he does. Sickening but true.
Many years ago I knew of a woman from design school that was raped when she was very young. Years later in therapy she discovered who her rapist was when she began to have flashbacks of him. When she finally confessed it to her parents, her father told her to put it out of her mind and forget about it. And I have to say, her mother who was “lock step” (that’s a nod to you Sabrina) pretty much said the same same thing. And yes, they are republicans and no doubt still holding onto their twisted moralic ways and bad mouthing our beloved man in the white house.
(Yes, in case you didn’t notice, I just made up a word. It’s been awhile since I have delved into that pleasure, but it flew into my brain, so here it is: Morals + Moronic = Moralic)
I will end with a by adding to /SB’s comment last night: We women have the numbers when we vote en masse – If women don’t shut down the republican party strictly from our majority body count, we can expect that the republican party will shut down women’s bodies and try to throw us back into the dark ages.
Remember this…If men (not all) could do what is done to women in so many parts of the world, lay down crazy laws such as the one I just posted above from Morocco, and try to control us and our bodies, believe me, don’t ever doubt for a minute that they wouldn’t.
Zen Lill: I knew I would get a laugh out of you.
Wills: Well said.
Радка: Thanks to you and all the Girlz of Bulgaria. All the good luck you can send is appreciated. I am certainly doing my best. Let’s HOPE it’s good enough.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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August 21st, 2012 at 7:15 am
Michelle, I have lived in the South all my life and I can tell you that Akin’s statement will change nothing. White women here are for the most part stupid.
The men spoon feed us god like we spoon feed our babies pablum. They decide what god says and tell us to obey. We just shut up and swallow like hungry babies.
Don’t expect much to change it won’t.
Charlotte
August 21st, 2012 at 7:30 am
It is incredible what we women of the South have to put up with. I live in Alabama and there is a bill being proposed that will allow rapists to sue doctors who do not do invasive ultrasound & provide abortions to rape victims.
Yes, we may as well be living in one of those middle eastern countries because we women have given the men here permission to do anything they want with our bodies.
Frances
August 21st, 2012 at 7:35 am
I live in Pennsylvania and it isn’t much different here. We get the Right telling us that we don’t need the government making health care decisions for us, but the government forcing a woman to have a foreign inserted into her vagina is okay.
Are we white women really that stupid? Why do we continue to support that party?
Amanda
August 21st, 2012 at 7:39 am
Michelle, I just knew you would use the Akin misspeak as a reason to attack those of us who are against abortion. Those women who complain about the ultra sound procedure are mistaken.
What this is doing is allowing the mother as much information as possible before she makes probably the most difficult decision of her life,
Mary
August 21st, 2012 at 8:00 am
Mischa, yes you were right on the laughs and the head topic became lively, I’m not adding anything, I recall you urging me not to say anything too personal here once : ) and that info is only privy to the person on the receiving end of that exchange, though the experience of the 73 yr old woman resonates with me. I love that story telling and I’m so sorry I did not remember your name/# from comments yesterday, your and /SB’s made me smile.
Back to you, commander, again today you made me ‘LOL’ with Akins virgin (?) ass, hahaha…I would say his A-hole is so tight he would be able to relate to Eve Ensler’s ‘imagine that’ scenario (love this woman!) very easily.
I must say through all the readings of yesterday that 3 stood out for me: #64 Terri, this is the ignorance of the white women of the south that Charlotte is describing above, it’s all over the country and it seems like the south has a real hold on it with their women, bc I know women here in CA that are Christian and they adhere to willful ignorance regarding other women and ‘where they should be’ just like Terri. Where should they be, Terri, at home barefoot and pregnant where there adoring hubby wants them? Do they no have minds of their own? & why is it assumed that they were where they should not have been if they are raped?
I’m sorry, did not write down # of comment re: stress and rape and hormone, I have done research on this one also, it’s googlable (my new word, nod to you, Misch, I like yours today) psycho-neuro-immunology&/or endocrinology and yes, the body will protect and serve by releasing certain hormone under certain conditions, i.e. a woman stressing about WANTING to get pregnant and continued worry about NOT getting pregnant (key word coming up here – pay attention) MAY create a stressed hormone mix that just isn’t conducive to getting pregnant. That is of the stress of NOT getting pregnant when a baby is very badly WANTED. AND, I will add, even that is still very much in a research stage, bc it isn’t proven out totally yet.
Those of us, like me, that believe the mind is a serious strong muscle to exercise, can help with overcoming pain, psychic or physio, though to make a statement like that (Akin and yesterdays commenter) when the scientific back up isn’t there is just IGNORANT and one like Akin should never make ‘off the cuff’ remarks about a subject he knows little about. I’m quite sure he googled nothing before opening his big fat pie-hole.
…& More ignorance from #74 Pat, really, cops saved this man and all of us by protecting him/us by shooting him in the head? That’s news…and marijuana is not the great satan, IGNORANCE is.
Btw, ignorance is bliss and most women is the US live in that state, they’d rather rail on Obama like their hubbies bc the economy sucks, gas is going up again, not realizing that it’s rethugs who started this (think GWB) and it’s rethugs blocking any kind of forward growth/movement for the better right now. They don’t care about women who are global sisters and how do you get them to care when they hide behind G-D?
…and aside – (Scott and /SB totally agree on others beliefs, do it in your own home, it’s a private relationship anyway).
I’ll end with, the story above makes me very sad for women around the world who have to bear this kind of treatment, it’s barbaric, and #76, Carla, I feel for you, your story made my heart heavy.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:07 am
My doctor told me that he was forced to by law to give me the ultra sound treatment. I was raped twice that day. He had to give me Valium intravenously to relax my vaginal muscles to get that thing into me.
When I returned home my mother said that she wished they had tried more to prevent me from taking the life of my baby.
I yelled at her that I was raped by a serial rapist. She just sat on the couch and cried saying her heart was for the life I had taken and that she would pray to God for my forgiveness.
I packed up my bags and left that day. We haven’t spoken since. We women have allowed men to own a part of our bodies no different than the part men of the Middle East own.
The only difference is that we went to the polls and gave it to them.
Alison
August 21st, 2012 at 8:13 am
When will women learn that men enact these barbaric laws because it is about them. They don’t care about the mental or physical stress they put women through.
If the law will make their lives more convenient, that is all that is important to them.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:20 am
Okay women let’s not allow the Left to bullrush you into voting for Obama. I have been a member of the Republican party for more than 30 years.
It is a very good party. We believe in less government and less taxes for everyone. The tax and spend Left will bankrupt this country. So we differ on when a woman should be allowed to get an abortion. But we can agree that this tax and spend administration of Obama has to go.
Vote the Republican ticket even if you live in Missouri. We need a Republican Senate majority in Washington. This is a crucial first step in that direction. Don’t allow a misspoken line from the candidate to stop this Republican momentum.
Ruby
August 21st, 2012 at 8:28 am
Michelle, I live in one of those Middle Eastern countries often maligned by commenters on your blog. Yes, the men here treat us like sheep. We are herded into whatever place they wish to put us.
We are used as they see fit. We are without the right to determine what we can do with our bodies.
BUT, we are in this position AGAINST our will.
Those of you who put us down, in America are hypocrites because your women suffer in much the same way BUT they ask for it every time they go to or don’t go to the polls.
American women GIVE their men over and over again the right to control their bodies and lives.
We pity you.
Talibah
August 21st, 2012 at 8:32 am
Its said that rapists in United States have paternity rights. I know for sure it exists in Maryland and Delaware, so it seems possible..
35 Year old man rapes 13 year old girl 10-20 times
This is a case of a 35 year old man raping (10-20 times) a 13 year old daughter of his girlfriend.
Ruth
“According to court documents, Osterman is partially right. Under state statutes, a parent’s rights must be initially protected until such a time a court can consider cause for the termination of parental rights.
This is true even in a case such as this one, where the father is a convicted sex offender whose child exists solely because of his assault of an underage girl.’
===================
As Stacy said, the law is about the needs and rights of men. What it does to the woman is incidental to the men when they are writing these laws.
Tell me again why we continue to give them our votes.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:34 am
I also know that there are states which will always grant both parents visitation rights, regardless of how abusive one of them might be. One parent could have sexually asaulted or physically abused the children, and the courts would still force contact between them.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:36 am
Ruth#10 states that the 13 year old was raped. Is this a situation of statutory rape where the 13 year old was fully complicit in the act and wanted to have the baby of the HEBOPHILE?
A Hebophile is someone who is sexually attracted to adolescents, meaning Teenagers of child-bearing years.
If it is a case that the 13 year old was having sex and wanted to do it, it is NOT rape, even if it is illegal and considered Statutory rape. As such, the Hebophile that knocked her up should definitely have parents rights.
If, however, this is a case of ACTUAL rape, that would be an entirely different matter.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:39 am
The conclusion to Ruth’s(10) posts is “The court order mandated that DHHS make every reasonable attempt to establish that Rubens’ rights were protected as the biological father…”
===================
DHHS – Dept of Health &Human Services
Ruben – the rapist
August 21st, 2012 at 8:40 am
Fuck you Ronald. A 13 year old CHILD cannot give consent.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:45 am
Sorry to disagree with you Ross. I have had sex with many 12 to 14 year olds. Have you ever considered why a whole subsection of our Grandparents were married between 12 and 15? And why a lot of people in said generation were having babies around then?
A 13 year old can give consent if they enjoy the sex and want to do it. If they seek it out, and if they take pleasure in it.
Society wants to create a belief that such behavior and mentality is created by “THE ABUSE”, when in some cases (And I’m not arguing all cases) the behavior existed prior to any encouragement from the adult.
As I said before, if the 13 year old slutted themselves out, it’s not rape. Oh, it would certainly be classified as that in a court of law, because definitionally it is Statutory rape regardless if the younger party submits and commits to the act…
but I’ve always felt Statutory Rape was bovine fecal matter used by angry parents to punish adults that violated their puritanical views of their teenage babies.
If it was coercion and force, then it was Rape. Rape is a different matter. If it was rape, there’s absolutely no reason that the Rapist should have custody rights or visitation rights. That’s only if it was actual rape.
Since I don’t trust the article Ruth is citing to be totally honest (At least not totally), I beg to question whether this is ACTUAL rape or STATUTORY (Meaning the younger party was complicit in the act).
August 21st, 2012 at 8:48 am
Ronald damn you are sick man. What rock did you crawl out from under?
August 21st, 2012 at 8:54 am
I have to agree with you on this. My daughter got pregnant at 13 by my neighbor, Henry, who was 41 at the time, a very nice man. She chased him until he could resist her no more.
When she got pregnant and cried rape. I would have none of it and I did not give my consent for an abortion. that was 23 years ago.
Henry has been an exceptional father while my daughter gave the child to me and never returned. To this day I don’t know where she is.
Silvia
August 21st, 2012 at 8:57 am
I’m sorry, Ross, but I have to disagree with you on this, the consent, in this context, is a societal thing. In many countries children as young as 12 can be married, therefore can have consensual sex. We live in society that sees this as wrong and have laws to uphold this.
But if a 12 year old wants to give me some pussy, that should be her right.
August 21st, 2012 at 8:59 am
Where are all these pedophiles coming from? There is no such thing as consent here, as much as you would like there to be.
You need to realize the power an adult has over a child. Children are intellectually, emotionally, and experience-wise unable to understand the consequences of their deeds. They will succumb to pressure and threats from adults.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:02 am
It is our responsibility to commit and submit to what society views as acceptable when we view an argument.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:03 am
Ditto, TLR. You certainly do if you choose to live under the laws of our society. Otherwise, it’s nothing more than an academic argument.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:06 am
Kline, What an interesting turn of a PHRASE! I, of course, did NOT choose to live under the laws of your society, but I am subject to them just the same!
As a responsible United States Citizen, it is my right and DUTY to dissent from the law when I find it unethical, immoral, or just plain wrong.
It is not my responsibility to blindly submit and cow-tow to the laws of a society merely because they HAPPEN to be laws.
Nor am I responsible to condone, promote, or encourage frivolous or unrighteous laws to be instigated upon the people.
So, Step off.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:12 am
Milene, I will not take your word for it that there was no consent, because you are clearly biased and incapable of conceiving of a situation where there was consent.
Which makes all of your arguments an appeal from Emotion, rendering your impetuous viewpoints debase and valueless as a cogent argument.
I date many women with young adolescent to early teen children. I cannot tell you how many of them have struck up a sexual relationship with me.
Many of the mothers if they discover the relationship are wise enough to allow the relationship to continue. Most often we continue our relationship and just include the daughter.
There is no rape. Just consenting human beings.
Steward
August 21st, 2012 at 9:15 am
Men will accept any proposition that will allow them to have their way with a female. Most could care less about her age.
Most men are life dogs. They will attempt to screw anything they can hold still long enough to rape.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:31 am
Please women, lighten up with your hysteria about the age of consent. Most females in the US are having sex way before the legal age of consent in their state.
Most of you know that you want a dick in that thing as soon as you can get it. Why all the pretense?
Besides, there are many countries that have young ages of consent, many of whom would not be classed as third world. For most of Europe it is between 14 and 16.
The Pope himself must like the young stuff. The Vatican has set the age of consent for girls at 14. The catholic priests like their male ass young so they didn’t make an exception for the boys.
Argentina, 13 for male, 16 for female…..why the difference?
China 14, all equal…..
Brazil 14…male, 18…female…..bigger difference?
Germany 14…male, 16…female
Japan 13, male 18, female
Spain 13 both
United Kingdom it is now 16 but there is legislation to lower it to 13 it was 10 during the 16th century.
not all third world countries
August 21st, 2012 at 9:32 am
As Todd Akin’s career implodes, make sure to be plugged in to Human Events. If you haven’t already read the latest from John Gizzi on what next if and when Akin resigns, you must. It’s a good primer on who the Missouri state Republican party will pick to replace him. And remember, he must resign before 5 P.M. to ensure that he doesn’t have to go through legal channels to take his name off the ballot, which will cost not only him, but the taxpayers of Missouri, too. Our legal affairs correspondent Ann Coulter also is calling for Akin to resign. Plus, it seems that Akin has asked for forgiveness in a web advertisement, per POLITICO.
Some headlines for you:
Times of Israel: Netanyahu determined to strike Iran before U.S. elections
POLITICO: Arizona super PAC hits Quayle with ad mocking dad’s gaffe
Wall Street Journal: Fred Barnes—How Ryan recasts the race
Daily Caller: Obama praised SCOTUS affirmative action ruling in ’03
Keloland.com: South Dakota Democrats recruit 92-year old for legislature race
Washington Post: Afghans to spy on their own to curb ‘insider’ attacks
Also — today is election day in Georgia and Wyoming. A close run-off race in Georgia’s 9th District is the focus today. An establishment candidate vs. a tea party-backed newcomer. Take a look at John Gizzi’s walk-up story and watch the results come in this evening at HumanEvents.com
Everyone have a great Tuesday and I’ll talk to you all tomorrow.
-Adam
August 21st, 2012 at 9:39 am
I’m really unhappy that no mention of men who have been raped are mentioned in this article. What’s wrong with this picture? Yes, men don’t get pregnant — tho’ they certainly are vulnerable to the panoply of STD’s. But the cruelty of men — mostly men but not all — who minimize the violence and trauma of rape are re-tramatizing men as well as women who know rape all too personally.
By being silent about the fact that men are raped, we perpetuate the silence, keeping a culture going that urges men to stay silent about their rapes and keeps police and medical institutions clueless as to how to respond when it is reported.
I love your blog, overall, Michelle, but you’ve disappointed me in this.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:41 am
After hearing the news stories and reading this excellent article, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be the child of a rape. What would I think when I looked in the mirror and knew the horror of my creation. Would I wonder if I would be like him…especially if I was a boy?
August 21st, 2012 at 9:42 am
The first thing that came to my mind regardgin Mr Akin, “How many times have you commited what you appear to consider illigitmate rape? How many times have you forced your desires on a woman who said no, was too incapicated to say no, or was too imtimitaded to say no?” Just wondering.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:43 am
Excellent blog, Michelle. All politicians and men should read this letter. Let us a women stand up and be heard.
Let us take our rights back and not allow closed minded, ignorant politicians define something they know nothing about but use as a political soapbox to gain votes.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:50 am
Obama is absolutely correct. Rape is rape. It doesn’t matter how the woman is dressed. It doesn’t matter if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It doesn’t matter if a gun or knife is used, or if she is drugged. If a man does not have a woman’s clear permission it is rape.
Yes, there are women who lie about being raped, and that is unfortunate. But we as a society cannot let those incidents take away from the women who are raped.
What Akin said was ridiculous, pathetic, stupid, and extremely insensitive. Any woman that votes for such a foolish man deserves the representation they get from him. And If he should win and I lived in his state I would move as quickly as possible.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:57 am
Pizza: A Healthy or Unhealthy Fast-Food Choice?
When you’re faced with the following fast-food options—McDonald’s, Nathan’s, Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut—and you just don’t feel like eating a salad or a grilled item from those menus, you might think, like I did, that pizza would be the healthiest choice.
After all, it’s not fried…there’s no artery-clogging meat on it (if you choose plain cheese or veggie)…heart-healthy olive oil often is mixed into the crust…and tomato sauce certainly seems like a healthful food.
Well, as it turns out, pizza isn’t the healthiest fast food…nor even the second-healthiest…
WHAT’S REALLY IN THERE?
I compared the nutrition facts of popular entrées from the fast-food restaurants mentioned above, and then I called Erin Palinski, RD, to talk about the pros and cons of each.
I chose serving sizes that seemed most realistic—for example, most people I know eat two slices of pizza in one sitting, not just one slice.
THE BEST OF THE WORST
Let’s take a closer look at some of the nutrition facts…
Calories: Palinski noted that all the food options I looked at are in the same ballpark calorie-wise, with the fried chicken having the fewest calories at 480 and the pizza having the most at 640.
Total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol: The hot dogs had the most total fat and saturated fat, which is no surprise given what we all know hot dogs are made of.
But, I admit, I was mildly surprised that the pizza had the least total fat—despite all that cheese!—and that the fried chicken had the least saturated fat.
I was pleased to see trans fat only in the hamburger and the hot dogs, and not much of it even there. In terms of cholesterol, I was surprised that the fried chicken had more than double the amount of any other option.
Sodium:
Wow, pizza, you are salty! That 1,600 milligrams (mg) of sodium in two slices accounts for more than half of the USDA’s recommended daily limit for an adult (2,300 mg), but that makes sense when you consider that all three of the main ingredients in pizza—crust, cheese and tomato sauce—are typically made with lots of sodium.
An interesting “winner” in this category—the tacos, the only choice clocking in at less than 1,000 mg of sodium.
Sugar:
The pizza again disappointed, with its 10 grams of sugar—that’s the equivalent of about 2.5 teaspoons of sugar. (And this is pizza, remember.)
The fried chicken? No sugar.
Fiber:
Tacos win again, with nine grams of fiber, nearly double the fiber content of any other food on the chart.
Pizza performs respectably in this category, coming in second with four grams.
The fried chicken? No fiber.
Protein:
In terms of protein, nothing beats the chicken—in fact, with 45 grams, it nearly doubles the protein content of the burger, tacos or hot dogs.
Pizza, again, performs pretty well, coming in second again with 30 grams.
FAST FOOD DOESN’T HAVE TO BE UNHEALTHY
Among all these choices, then, there is no clear-cut winner. But Palinski noted that if you had to choose one, the KFC chicken pieces or the Taco Bell tacos would be the best of the bunch because they are both relatively lower in calories and saturated fat than the other meals.
Plus, the tacos also have a relatively high level of fiber and relatively low level of sodium…while the chicken had no sugar and is high in protein.
It’s also important to realize, she pointed out, that if you normally eat entrées with a side dish (or two or three) such as fries, nachos, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, biscuits, garlic knots or bread sticks, then those could turn a relatively healthy option into an undeniably unhealthy meal.
Personally, I’m bummed that pizza didn’t come out on top. But Palinski said that pizza doesn’t always have to be an unhealthy choice.
If you order it at a restaurant, whenever possible choose a whole-wheat thin crust to keep the calories and sodium low and the fiber high…ask for fresh mozzarella (which is lower in sodium) or low-fat cheese…and throw on as many vegetable toppings as you like.
Then blot off some oil with a napkin and remove some cheese if it’s piled on. Even better—make pizza at home, where you can use healthy ingredients such as tomato sauce with no added sugar or sodium.
Source: Erin Palinski, RD, a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator based in Franklin, New Jersey.
She serves on the nutrition advisory board for the College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, New Jersey. http://www.ErinPalinski.com.
August 21st, 2012 at 9:59 am
Wow? Is there really an Alabama bill would allow rapists to sue doctors who do not do invasive ultrasound & provide abortions to rape victims.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:09 am
Just so you know all the religious leaders are rallying behind Todd Akin. You crazy bitches are going to rue the day you tried to tear apart this man.
That bitch McCaskill was way behind Todd before he misspoke on the forceable rape thing. You republican women who agree with your men that ABORTION is IMMORAL had better get behind this man or you will be killing babies for the left.
God is watching you.
Theo
August 21st, 2012 at 10:24 am
Legitimate Rapes?
A Shockingly Anti-Woman Agenda
The news today has been dominated by discussion of the shocking and offensive comments made over the weekend by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO).
Akin, who is also currently the Republican candidate for the Senate in the Show Me State, explained that victims of “legitimate rapes” are not likely to become pregnant and thus should not enjoy abortion rights:
“It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”
For the record, more than 32,000 women get pregnant because of rape each year in America.
While Akin walked back and later apologized for his comments, condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans alike was swift and fierce.
And today, virtually every leading Republican with the exception of Mitt Romney declared that Akin should drop his Senate bid.
Due to Missouri election law and Akin’s own declarations today, it appears that Akin is very likely to remain the GOP candidate despite financial abandonment from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Akin did find some defenders among influential conservative groups, including the American Family Association, Red State’s Erick Erickson (who is also a CNN contributor), Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and the Susan B. Anthony List.
The Anti-Woman Ticket
What’s perhaps even more shocking than Akin’s comments is the fact that a majority of elected Republicans appear to share his general views on parsing the definition of what counts as rape and what doesn’t, as well as his radical views on numerous other vital women’s health issues.
None other than vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-WI) has teamed up with Akin on a personhood measure that would ban abortion in all circumstances as well as outlaw common forms of birth control, a bill to redefine rape, and even a bill that would allow hospitals to let women die rather than perform a life-saving abortion.
The latter two measures were actually among the first measures passed by the House of Representatives after Republicans took over in 2011.
A closer look at the views of the Romney-Ryan ticket reveals the depths of its hostility toward women’s issues:
• In 2007, Mitt Romney said he would “delighted” to sign a national ban on abortion, which he described as “wonderful” and terrific.”
• Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have supported radical personhood measures that would ban abortion in all circumstances, as well as outlaw common forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization.
• They both also support the Human Life Amendment, which would overturn Roe v. Wade.The Republican National Committee will actually vote tomorrow on including this particular anti-choice measure in the official GOP platform.
• Ryan has voted to defund Planned Parenthood and end the Title X family planning program and Mitt Romney has pledge to “get rid of” federal funding for Planned Parenthood and Title X should he be elected president.
• Both oppose requiring insurers to offer no-cost birth control coverage and they supported the Blunt Amendment, which would allow your boss to deny you insurance coverage for anything for any reason at all.
• Both would repeal the Affordable Care Act (as Ryan has actually voted to do dozens of times) and its numerous benefits for women.
• Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, while Romney has refused to take positions on these key pieces of equal pay legislation.
BOTTOM LINE: The GOP’s war on women runs far deeper than Todd Akin’s shocking comments. By selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has made clear that he sides with the GOP’s most extreme forces on the social issues important to women and their families.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:29 am
If you’re a women or a rape victim period and you vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket, you are an idiot.
They don’t care about aiding rape victims: they care about furthering their own interest and their interest is to their donors and their religions [though such a thing is blatantly unconstitutional].
August 21st, 2012 at 10:32 am
it has nothing to do with statutory rape, folks. it has to do with this politician saying that when a woman is “really” or “legitimately” raped, that her body has a way of shutting down the process, which is completely unproven, untrue and reckless as hell of a statement.
just brings further notice to the archaic and utterly selfish views of the republican men. their women are obviously just sheep if they win this election.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:34 am
Teressa#29, you may be more on point that many will admit.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:37 am
Look, guys, forget about all the legal subtleties and arguments and complications. It’s actually very simple: if she says “no” just once, drop it.
If you persist, the relationship won’t go anywhere anyway because no woman wants to be with a jerk. Not only that, but you could end up in prison.
If she says “no”, respect her, and zip up your pants. Your life will be better, and she’ll respect you for respecting her.
Besides, unless you’re some kind of sick pervert, sex is only fun when it’s with someone who wants to be with you, and that’s something you can’t force — or even persuade — anyone to do. They have to want you just because they do.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:39 am
I think that Republicans like Akin, Romney and Ryan fail to see women as human beings. For these guys women are objects, to be used and defined by men.
This is just another way in which these “guys” fail not only to see the reality of the world but also lack any kind of profound ethical values even while they talk endlessly about values.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:39 am
As to whether a woman has said no: what about the woman who is slipped a date rape drug or who drank a bit too much and physically can’t say no? If a man has sex with a woman in that condition, that’s still rape in my opinion, even though she technically never said no.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:40 am
How repulsive and disgusting are Sen. Akin’s “definitions” of RAPE. It’s shocking that women’s issues of healthcare – including contraception and the right to abortion, are now being redefined by these obnoxious males – who seem determined to weaken and decimate women’s entitled rights!
August 21st, 2012 at 10:42 am
Since when is rape of any kind not forcible! It’s clear many of the GOP leadership are a bunch sociopaths who will do and say anything to promote their own prosperity by supporting only the interests of their financial and corporate supporters who seek to gain control of the American government for their own ends.
Do we really think they’re paying inexhaustible amounts from Corporate and personal resources to buy these elections because their patriots? Think again.
They play up a romantic notion of a free and prosperous America but as you can see, if you have eyes to see, they have little regard for government of the people, by the people and most importantly for the people.
No, it’s not about rape, forced or otherwise. It’s about expense management of what they hope to be their latest corporate acquisition, America…..
August 21st, 2012 at 10:43 am
Again Republicans show that they care not for women’s rights. People need to wake up, critique the republican ideologies in reference to humanity.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:44 am
Agreed, Wayman#40… except that I’ve seen plenty of evidence to suggest Romney and Ryan are of EXACTLY the same belief system as Akin on this subject. (…and sadly, on many other disturbing topics as well.)
I’d like to think things like this might make some Republican women stop to think before voting and come to the sensible side… but wishful thinking generally gets us nowhere.
It’s hard to fix stupid, and even harder to fix evil, selfish, and brainwashed. The vast majority of GOP voters seem to fall into one or more of those four categories.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:45 am
What exactly in the heck is “legitimate Rape”?
August 21st, 2012 at 10:46 am
I think part of the problem is that there are so few women in Congress. Politicians on the whole are overwhelmingly male. Unfortunately many of the female Republican politicians back the male ones on this issue.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:47 am
They don’t care what rape is or isn’t, any more than they care about rape victims. They’re just trying to roll back all rights for women.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:49 am
The Republicans are making it hard for the rest of us to distinguish real Christians from those they would regard as Satanists because they use the former term and are never challenged.
Republicans it is time to clean your house and do it loudly and in public or don;t be surprised if the rest of us regard your religion as more prone to nastiness and hate than to forgiveness and love.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:50 am
I feel like I need to give a disclaimer when I identify as a Christian. I follow the teachings of Jesus, (to the best of my limited ability), not the cherry picking of Old Testament superstitions that support bigotry and hate.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:51 am
Gus, the problem is, when you’re a sociopath you can’t tell the difference.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:52 am
Oh Hell, I’ve already seen links to articles that supposedly support the “science” behind Todd Akin’s claim! He has support – this is what old white guys like him really believe!!
August 21st, 2012 at 1:06 pm
Thank you for highlighting this Michelle. I don’t know what the answer is, or what it is going to take. But it’s certainly a sorry state of affairs. I’ve always tried to stay impartial and value a person based on their merits, not their gender. But, you’ve certainly opened my eyes to some things that cannot be ignored. I never thought I would say that I devalue men in some way, but until OTHER men step up and stop the behavior of their own kind, how can I support them? It’s a troubling quandry.
(still thinking of about the sweet little O your mouth must make when… LOL)
/SB
August 21st, 2012 at 1:07 pm
(quandary) sorry
/SB
August 21st, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Social Butterfly how about when you hear the crowds of white folk clapping and cheering when romney or ryan claim that Obama said “you didn’t build that business.”
The white folk are so dishonest because they know that Obama didn’t say that, yet they cheer and rant as if they believe he said it.
Encouraging their LSOS candidates to continue lying.
How’s that for a troubling quandary?
August 21st, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Davy, it’s sick. Lying is the normal state of politics in the US seems. I might even go so far it’s ingrained in most of its population. If they aren’t lying to someone else, they’re often lying to themselves. Maybe they like being lied to. They seem to like being stupid.
The Citizens United decision and Prop 32 in California is a prime examples. Citizens United isn’t uniting any citizens, only the new ones, corporations. Prop 32 has failed twice but now it’s come back really as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s presented as reform against special interests but its anti-union and even stricter than what was written the last two times it failed. It’s a total lie.
But most people won’t know that. They are just too stupid. I know everyone blames white women here and I’m not saying they don’t share a big majority of the blame but stupid people are everywhere. They’ll see the lying TV ads peppered with the right key words and they think they are voting the correct way. But if they weren’t stupid, they’d do some research on their own and find out about it and not rely on the TV.
My mother and I were taking about Akin today and I was saying how its shocking, unbelievable really how someone in his position would be so ignorant and say the stupid things that came out of his mouth. But my mom said, most people are pretty stupid. Perhaps she’s right.
I think our government relies on being staying stupid. Both parties, all branches.
/SB
August 21st, 2012 at 9:46 pm
That was nice /SB, but white women control who gets the office, and they put the white boy in so consistently that the rest of the women of the US are stuck with having to have foreign objects rammed up their vaginas and to be forced to have the babies of rapists.
Young girls who are victims of incest will be forced to have those babies. Most of these victims of incest are not mature enough to be mothers, but they are going to be forced to have babies by their fathers, or brothers, or other male relatives.
SB you can make any argument that satisfies your conscious, but for the rest of us OTWs, it is a simple fact.
The Dumb as a Box of fucking Rocks white women are forcing us and our baby girls to have to suffer at the hands of these misogynistic men.
Irene
August 21st, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Social Butterfly, honestly it would be better if we could take away the vote of the white woman entirely. The the rest of the OTWs would have a chance to end the social tyranny being practice if the vote boiled down to white boys and them because we have white men who would vote with the OTWs.
Yes, the statistics show that more white men in ratio to the racist white boys works better than the ratio to the dumb as a box of rocks white women who march lock step with the racists white boys than there are white women would have the brains to vote their own best interests.
Imagine that. The real reason why the US is so fucked up is because of the stupid white woman. She is the one voting to have rape defined as legitimate, forceful or whatever the white boy decides.
Just saying
Karen
August 21st, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Oh and /SB lets not forget that “Young girls who are victims of incest will be forced to have those babies.”
And if I may add, white women have elected white boys who will force those young girls to have to allow their rapists to have visitation rights with the children who are the products of those rapes.
How again is this country different from the sick fucks that practice islam?
STUPID is not so much as the title of the republican party as it is of the group that insures that that party has viability and a seat at the decision table for american politics.
I am not for eliminating any group or race for any reason but I would like to suggest that we line up those white women who see eye to eye with the republican party with the male members of that party for a few sessions of legitimate rape and then have them explain to the rest of us just what that means.
Erica
August 21st, 2012 at 10:39 pm
Did you enjoy it? Did you ask for it? Those are the places where the logic for Legitimate rape, forced rape or even consensual rape come from.
Only white women need an explanation for those distinctions. The rest of the women of the world know that there is only one definition for having sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent or against her will that would be RAPE.
Social Butterfly, I would like to suggest that you direct your stupid comments to them. If a significant number are educated, the political scene in Washington and in every state in the Union would be totally different.
Imagine that? Just educate those inane sisters of yours and voila, the country is better over night, or at least after the very next election.
We would be sending all those hypocritical phony religious misogynists home.
Casey
August 21st, 2012 at 10:42 pm
Social Butterfly, I too am fixated on that sweet little O that Michelle’s mouth would make around my manhood. I’d actually risk sneaking into the US of the pleasure.
Ahhhhhh, but a Man can DREAM!
August 21st, 2012 at 10:44 pm
Social Butterfly my dream is to fell you next to me. This girl goes to bed every night wondering what you look like.
If your hands can do what your words do to me, I would be in heaven.
Aquila
October 4th, 2013 at 4:34 am
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August 30th, 2014 at 1:11 pm
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