I Will Not Raise My Child to Kill Another Mother's Child
Whatever you might think about Code Pink or direct action, you can't argue with how incredible this quilt is. Thousands of women from over 11 countries sent in these little cozies to be stitched together--the resulting quilt reads "I will not raise my child to kill another mother's child." It's an enormous, gorgeous spectacle if there ever was one. I'm just wondering which museum is going to snap it up.
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I love this, and I'm all for saying NO to war. But please, can we say NO to PINK?
Aw, what's wrong with pink? It's just a color like any other. :P
I know a few people that are members of Code Pink and have dedicated their lives to the anti-war movement. I even have pics of one of my friends holding up signs behind Condi Rice and General Petraeus.
i am all for peace, and if pink gets us there, then brava!
Code Pink rocks. And this quilt is amazing!
i do NOT like the war, and I do NOT Code Pink.
That is so striking. I didn't know about Code Pink, the slumber party action, or Julia Ward Howe until reading about this in the "Thank You Thursdays: Julia Ward Howe" Feministing post, so thanks for the education and photos.
Whether or not you like the color pink, or Code Pink, that quilt is gorgeous and evocative. Dissent is patriotism, ladies and gentlemen. :)
What is wrong with Code Pink? I don't know much about it.
Is it because they use the color pink to represent femininity or something else?
a few things I don't like about Code Pink:
1. they are anti-military, not anti-the Iraq war.
2. they go after the soldiers and their families.
3. i am for silent protesting, not screaming things at people. i think yelling at people during protests does the exact opposite of your goal -- if your goal is to reach out to people. You only push them away more.
4. from what I've seen on youtube -- they are the leftist equivalent of the garbage we witnessed at McCain/Palin rallies.
5. they don't respect people's choices: ie: blocking the entrance at the marine recruitment office? excuse me?? and attempting to disrupt Palin's speech - if people want to attend a Palin speech and be excited, let them. Isn't liberalism and feminism about choice?
voluntarydeviant, I think you're taking the actions of a few and wrongly applying it to the mission of Code Pink. According to Code Pink literature, they support the troops. I have trouble with the assertion that NOT supporting militarism is a bad thing, but that's another story.
As for going after soldiers and their families and screaming protests, I don't doubt that this has happened in some instances but again, it's not part of the organization's mission. I've protested side-by-side with Code Pink members and they were always perfectly respectful, peaceful, non-violent, and open-minded. I've always been quite charmed by them. Surely there are less charming members but neither should be assumed to be representative of the whole.
That said, I think this is a neat project.
If soldiers had any guts, they'd refuse to kill defenseless people overseas, all in furtherance of "patriotism." (Why is "ours" called "patriotism," while "theirs" is "nationalism?") There are soldiers who did refuse. They were willing to go to jail rather than serve an unjust cause. Those are the only soldiers I feel anything for.
I have many men (yes, all men) in my family who have served in wars. The only ones for whom I have any respect are the ones (like my dad) who now believe it is wrong. He's a Vietnam vet who fought long and hard against Bush and his wars.
And don't give me that "oh, poor economically disadvantaged kid went into the military to get college money." You know what? I have over $50K in college loans to pay back. My husband and I have lived all but the last two years of our 17 years together far below the poverty line. We have an autistic 8-yr-old son whose education and therapy are extremely expensive. Do I have the right to walk down the street and kill someone for their money because we have had a hard time financially? No, I don't. Putting a uniform on it and calling it "service" doesn't change the fact that soldiers do the same thing. My 16-yr-old daughter won't join the military because she's been taught to know better.
I don't have much use for Code Pink because I think a lot of what they do reinforces stereotypical "feminine" behavior (hence the name and imagery). If they have anything to say about militarism and the people who perpetuate it, however, I'm behind them 110%.
Besides, this sounds like the mythical "hippie spitting on the vet" or "man-hating feminist burning her bra" apocrypha to me.
war in itself is not wrong. or should i send you the powerpoint of concentration camps? millions of people about 60 years ago sure were glad there were soldiers willing to kill Nazis for them.
My 16-yr-old daughter won't join the military because she's been taught to know better.
Lovely.
Change 'join the military' to 'be a lesbian' or 'go to college.'
Change 'lovely' to "Your face is like a balloon" or "I love waffles".
I don't understand what changing that commenter's words is supposed to illustrate or argue...
"My daughter won't be a lesbian because she's been taught better."
"My daughter won't go to college because she's been taught better."
"My daughter won't join the military because she's been taught better."
I'm saying that all of these things sound exactly the same to me.
PS: I do love waffles.
I honestly just don't understand what you're saying here. Are you arguing for or against something? Are you agreeing or disagreeing with something? Supporting or problematizing something?
I love waffles too.
"they don't respect people's choices"
I like them better already.
This is not direct action. This is very very symbolic.
Oh ffs. In the real world, countries need to defend themselves.
And yeah, women are all pink and flufy and you have to have kids to be a real woman, or some such crap.
I'm not into this.
Mothers don't send children to war, generals do. Generally speaking, rich men are responsible for sending people's children off to war. Oh, but let's make all the death into some weird commentary on the failures of mothers.
It all seems misplaced. And fuck quilts.
Sure mothers (and fathers and grandparents...) send children to war. When we raise children to believe that serving in the military is the best or only form of service, we're encouraging them to go to war.
It's not a commentary on the failures of mothers, it's commentary on US militarism. I think the intended message is that it's okay to teach children that war is wrong and that killing people "for your country" is still killing. I can't believe they meant to say that mothers of soldiers are failures. Fine line, I guess.
Yeah...I'm sick of radical knitting, subversive quilting, and clever needlepoint. Also labia cookies, naughty cupcakes and burlesque. It's like, yes, you have transgressive domestic skills. I get it.
Read "In Search of Our Mother's Gardens" by Alice Walker. Quilts have a much richer womanist/feminist history than Stitch and Bitch.