In the preamble of the Republican platform, the GOP asserts: “we believe political freedom and economic freedom are indivisible.” This should come as no surprise, as the Republican Party has a reputation for aversion to governmental regulation. Historically, it has been an important opposition to the Democratic Party’s platform, which some perceive as overzealous when it comes to such regulation. The two party system was designed, after all, to spur meaningful discourse around social and economic issues in order to come to balanced and productive solutions.
Of course, when the parties are at war with themselves, the meaningful discourse breaks down. Perhaps there’s no better example of this than with the right-wing hypocrisy surrounding healthcare - particularly women’s.
That is, the platform dedicated to deregulation in all aspects of political life wants to regulate a woman’s uterus.
Following the typical Republican mantra, the GOP preamble accuses, “The President and the Democratic party have dismantled Americans’ system of healthcare. They have replaced it with a costly and complicated scheme that limits choices and takes away our freedom.”
Yet, the Republican Party lobbies to take away the very freedoms that are fundamental to their platform when they criminalize a woman’s choice. Donald Trump has asserted there should be “some sort of punishment” for women who seek abortions. Mike Pence pushed a law in Indiana that bans abortion for disabled fetuses and forces women who’ve had abortions or miscarriages to arrange for burials or cremations. Notorious for her brand of anti-feminism, veiled by self-proclaimed feminism, Sarah Palin has stated that she does not support abortion, even in cases of rape.
This policy contradiction did not escape Lara Everly, a filmmaker who was inspired to create a video to protect reproductive rights. The video stars politically passionate actress Mimi Kennedy (Midnight in Paris), who plays a gynecologist tasked with diagnosing a young woman, played by Everly, with a reproductive system that has been taken hostage by conservative Republicans.
“The surrealist comedy is set in a future where Trump is elected President,” says Everly. “Even though we shot this before the locker room talk leak, I'm calling this my ‘pussy grabs back’ response, as it literally explores what would happen if Trump grabbed your pussy and wound up all the way inside your uterus. The video is my feminist fight club call to arms to vote and protect the freedom of our lady parts.”
The video was released last week on Refinery29’s comedy channel, Riot.
And it would be funny...if only it wasn’t so terrifying.