A while ago, I did a post about the Bodies exhibit, titled "I'm Not An Animal." The corresponding quiz was "What the hell do I mean by the title of this post?"

One answer was that I was going for an Elephant Man theme. Which makes sense. Weird-looking bodies on display, like the Elephant Man, hence, the famous line from the movie about him, (Although that line was "I am not an animal.")

What I was thinkng of, though, was the Sex Pistols song "Bodies." The chorus of the song is "Bodies/I'm not an animal".

The tune is about abortion. Specifically, a mentally challenged woman who is impregnated repeatedly as the men around her take advantage. Besides the fact that it's an awesome song that should be played at eleven, it brings up quite an interesting topic. I searched a little for the history and meaning of the song, and found a really insightful article about it. That article can be found right here. (It seems like the page doesn't always load up, so, please, keep trying if it doesn't work at first.)

The author delves into the meaning of each line of the song. He pretty much sums everything up with "Without question, the right of all women to safe, readily available abortion must be defended on all fronts, perhaps doubly so by men."

I totally agree with this.

(Isn't it funny how the dust from the divisive Bronson issue finally settles, and then I go and talk about abortion?)

I was thinking, though, did the song's author, John Lydon, use the "I'm not an animal" line, not only because it fit, of course, but as a tribute to the Elephant Man's line as well? Well, the movie The Elephant Man was released in 1980. The song, as any good punk knows, came out in '77. But, still, I thought, Maybe the "I am not an animal" line was already famous, the catch phrase of the actual "elephant man," Joseph Merrick? But I haven't found any evidence that the line wasn't just thought up by the screenwriter.

Ironically, the author of the article linked above mentions the Elephant Man when talking about the song!

But unless someone can prove A. that The Elephant Man's famous line was either an actual sentence he was known for saying or that it was written somewhere, perhaps in a book about him, before 1977 AND B. that Lydon specifically took that line from Merrick or a writer who attributed the line to Merrick, nobody gets any points for this quiz.

Still, I like how this all tied together, as I'd been meaning to do a post about abortion rights, what with what's going on in South Dakota right now. The governor of SoDak, as my college roommate from Sioux Falls used to call it, signed into law a bill that makes it illegal for a woman to get an abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. In other words, if you are, say, a 15 year old girl, and your uncle rapes you, and you become pregnant, you are punished--for doing nothing wrong--by having to carry a baby in your womb for nine months and then give birth to it. Failure to comply makes you and your doctor a criminal. In the United States of America. In 2005.

It's time to put down the flag and stop talking about other people "hating freedom," and start allowing people to actually have it. Yes, South Dakota, even people without a dick.

Fortunately, people are fighting back.


Quiz Apple Pi: What the hell do I mean by the title of this post?