How mindset is key to understanding what is happening with Women’s Rights
I could never have suspected that June 2022 would last so long. So many things went wrong for women, a backlash. Perhaps it was low-hanging fruit. Perhaps we didn’t see it happening. Perhaps we did, but like good little women, we declined to see it.
Roe v. Wade was overturned. And the backlash to the #metoo movement is in full swing. The war on women (regardless of biological gender) has suddenly ramped up.
All of this is a result of the war of mindsets: fixed and growth being the two ends of the spectrum. Most of us tend to operate in the mixed middle of the spectrum, I believe, but it’s the lunatic fringe that is leading this war on women. It’s more than a war on women — it’s a war of diametrically opposed mindsets.
Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets
It’s no surprise that our troubles come down to, in part, how we as individuals think. The growth and fixed mindset are at the two ends of the spectrum of how we see the world.
The liberal thinker is generally more comfortable with ambiguity. This tolerance can work against them, though, because it makes it harder to act decisively. I know that as a liberal minded person, I dislike rapid decision making. I like time to deliberate and weigh the attributes. This is a growth mindset.
Conservative thinkers, on the other hand, tend to prefer cut-and-dry answers. It isn’t unusual to see a conservative thinker double down on their beliefs, because changing them would involve engaging in ambiguity. Decisions are fast and binding. This is a fixed mindset.
Perhaps this is the reason that modern Democrats, who employ growth mindset more than do modern Republicans, are seen as the ‘do-nothing’ party. Somehow, the liberal Democrats continue to be surprised at the decisive and sweeping actions of the conservatives right wing government members, who have far too much control for their actual numbers in the United States.
Our gift of deliberative decision-making is also a curse. We simply don’t have all the time in the world to deliberate, and we need to stop acting as if we do.
The SCOTUS decision
Since Justice Alito’s opinion draft was leaked earlier, we have known what the SCOTUS were intending to do. I even wrote about an article about this last year. Trump is correct: he orchestrated this. He willingly takes credit for it. This victory has reenergized his ultra-conservative right wing base.
So, now what? The biggest idea that the mainstream Democrats have is to vote. And while it’s important, it’s not the only thing. Now is the time to mobilize. Push back. Voting is important. Being seen is important. Representative Judy Chu knows this, and was willing to be arrested to prove her support of abortion rights.
I know a bit about being seen and the power of counter-protesting. I lived in Kansas in the 1990’s. I was in my 20’s. During that time, there was a lot of anti-abortion activity courtesy Operation Rescue, particularly the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests. Operation Rescue was known for physically blocking entrances to abortion clinics, and in 1991 organized to block all three clinics in the city of Wichita. Thousands of activists poured into Kansas to sit in front of cars, in front of doors, and verbally assault women entering clinics.
They drove in grey vans decorated with aggressive graphics. In particular they targeted Dr. George Tiller and his clinic, since they did late-term abortions if it was found that the fetus had severe or fatal birth defects. Additionally, he aborted healthy fetuses if two physicians agreed that giving birth would cause severe physical disabilities or death to the mother.
In 2009, Dr. Tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion activist. This activist had no doubt learned of Dr. Tiller through the early targeting.
Lawrence was the liberal blue dot in the state of Kansas. I lived there for much of my tenure in Kansas. I would spend my time counter-protesting as Operation Rescue drove into town a few times and were met with a peaceful but unfriendly crowd. They were not welcome, and they knew it because we showed up.
Along with this group was the Fred Phelps gang. They were more interested in homosexuality, but abortion was fair game, too. Anything was, if we’re honest. They would regularly stand in public squares and street corners in Topeka and scream at cars. One time I was with my friend, and as we drove by, I flashed a peace sign as my friend said, “Peace, man!” and a Fred Phelpsian yelled, “Shut up, bitch!” We had her daughters in the car so we left, but that doesn’t seem very Christ-like behavior to me.
Another time they were at Kansas University, protesting an appearance by Greg Louganis. I was part of the crowd outside the auditorium, shielding the event. Later I would find out that at Louganis’s suggestion, Fred Phelps was mailed several teddy bears.
All of this to say that I have been blessed with a growth mindset and cursed with a big mouth. Blame/credit my educated, liberal parents. I believe in the freedom to choose — including abortion, sexuality, and gender. I have worked hard to cultivate a growth mindset. I am always learning.
The credibility of the Supreme Court has been destroyed, thanks to the previous administration. Trump stacked the court while warning of the Democrats’ intentions of doing so. He rightly says that he delivered on his promises. According to his own speech at a rally, he installed 300 federal judges and 3 Supreme Court judges.
He delivered on his promise. The implications will ripple for years to come, since judges are a lifetime appointment. They shouldn’t be. Maybe we need to expand the court, and get rid of the filibuster. We need to show up and demand these things — it will not get better if we do not. We need to be angry.
We will never see eye to eye on when a fetus is a human. No one ever has. As someone with a growth mindset, I see a fetus as not quite a human, but has potential. Fixed thinking requires a binary — it either is or isn’t. It is with this thinking that the pro-birth movement has flourished.
Whenever a growth mindset is employed, there will be pushback. Trump was a direct result of Obama, for example. Hillary was an easy scapegoat, and even perhaps an early harbinger to the backlash of the #metoo movement. Some people do not want change, and will fight to protect the status quo. Some people aren’t ready. Some people are scared. Some people are using this fear as an opportunity to wrest further control away from women.
Backlash to #metoo
The second significant thing to happen in June was the infamous Depp-Heard courtroom drama. This set back the #metoo movement, and is also indicative of the fixed-mixed-growth mindset continuum.
I have no doubt that Depp was abusive in an altogether toxic relationship. He is an addict, and this behavior is common. His goal in the trial was to annihilate her character, and he did. I doubt she will ever work in that town again. The public helped him blackball her, and with no small amount of glee. This abusive relationship was seen as binary — either he was the villain or she was the villain. There is no in-between.
The real world rarely works like this. We all know this. They both behaved badly, and our fascination with the trial led to the public needing to choose sides. They sided with Depp decisively, and cast further aspersions on the #metoo movement.
I have no doubt that Amber Heard had toxic behaviors in their brief, tumultuous marriage. I also have no doubts that Johnny Depp had plenty of his own. What dismays me is the publicity of what should have been a private affair. Depp’s need for this publicity is toxic, and resulted in a largely fixed mindset on the part of even the most liberal thinkers.
That, my friends, is a toxic behavior we should not condone or participate in.
Divorces are often not civil. People are hurt and angry. This was no different, except it struck me that the outsized public attention to their courtroom revenge drama caused the destruction of a person.
It’s too bad that Amber Heard couldn’t have been the ‘ideal’ domestic violence victim. I wanted to side with my beloved Johnny Depp, but I realized that the whole recent debacle was a one-sided character assassination. I suppose he felt the same way about her op-ed, but this was one hell of a way to get revenge.
They both behaved terribly. They got revenge on each other publicly, and now both are the worse for wear. Neither emerged smelling like roses. And the public stinks worst of all for participating in their drama.
I can’t wait to see what July brings. Locusts?
