Jezebel 
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New York, 5:47 PM
Mon Nov 23
43 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
If the tweet had been along the lines of "Having miscarriage, but had to come into office for this meeting. Don't know if I can make it through" or something else that made it sound like she was grieving and balancing that with work, the discussion would be totally different if it even got picked up.
Yeah, she overshared, but she is so not the first or last person to overshare at work. She is, however, a woman who publicly did not regret losing a pregnancy and I think that, more than the appropriate or not debate, is why she's catching so much flack.
11/06/09
Furthermore, a miscarriage can be a serious medical problem sometimes. While I don't want to hear every gory detail, I don't mind being informed that a coworker is having a medical issue whether it's a heartbreaking one or a relief. I would not be very upset to be told someone missed a meeting for a stomach flu, a miscarriage shouldn't be any more stigmatized. #twitter
11/06/09
If a woman experiences a miscarriage as a death, I understand bringing it up at work. She may need some time off or a little understanding about her lack of focus.
But Truck was psyched about her miscarriage, which makes it an over share. She tweeted about it on her professional account for the scandal and really can't complain when people get annoyed. #twitter
11/06/09
11/06/09
Here I'm wondering if the question even really is worth asking because in the end it depends: on you, on your workplace, on the circumstances... I shared more personal stuff with my co-workers at the small non-profit I used to work for than I would as a data entry technician for JPMorgan.
I personally would be much more interested in following up on the other question Trunk asked, which is: why is everyone so goldurned het up about a miscarriage, when the truly outrageous part of her tweet is the 3-week waiting period imposed on women seeking abortions in Wisconsin?
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11/06/09
My first thought was that maybe she genuinely doesn't realise how other people are going to react to the things she does and maybe doesn't process things in the way others do. #twitter
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11/07/09
I think like most things - if we talked about them more - maybe they would not be as painful.
And the word "miscarriage" - I hate that word. It implies that someone did something wrong. I was supposed to carry a baby and I messed it up.
Or "lost the baby". I didn't lose the baby - I know where it is.
Or "spontaneous abortion", which is the technical term. Makes it sound like your body just randomly kills babies or something.
I'm actually having a miscarriage right now. It takes a few days. I've had a shit week, and wonder if it would be better if I could tell people what I was going through. I don't know the answer. But having it be a "private" matter does feel like it is something that I need to hide.
Maybe hide them from having to think about my lady parts. But also maybe hide them from having to think about my pain. #twitter
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10/03/09
Secondly, there's nothing about her tone and body language that is either teenage or bratty. Yes, she's slightly hostile but she's been put into a position where a slight air of hostility is actually warranted. If she'd acted coy or flirtatious, or - god forbid - humbled by that pompous ass, she would have looked like a silly bit of fluff who doesn't have the courage to stand by her actions.
Thirdly, I don't have Aspergers Syndrome so I don't claim to be an expert but using that to explain Trunk's attitude smacks to me of the myth that people with ASDs don't feel emotions 'properly'. Yes, perhaps having an ASD helps Trunk to retain her cool under fire in some way, but I feel like her reason for not caring about her miscarriage and who knew about it was that she JUST DIDN'T CARE. Again, I can't be sure, as I never had it medically checked but I feel that I had a miscarriage a year or so ago and I really don't give a shit. If anything I'm really super pleased. And me - or Trunk, or anyone, male, female, transgender, intersex, or otherwise - saying that does not in any way take away from the serious pain that unwanted miscarriages cause.
Finally, and most importantly: despite what I said above, I really didn't know much about miscarriages before watching that clip. I didn't know how long they can last (I just thought I was having an inordinately long period), I didn't know that they weren't invariably agonizing (except perhaps in the first month or so), and I have certainly never witnessed anyone discuss them on national news before, despite the fact that so many women experience miscarriage at least once in their lives (whether it's 25 or 75 percent, it's still a lot of women). It's not just men like Sanchez that are getting an education about this kind of thing, it's women like me, who think of themselves as educated and informed feminists. If me and my ilk don't know then clearly we DO need to talk about this kind of thing publicly.
10/01/09
10/01/09
I had never heard of her before; now I am a huge fan.
10/01/09
This woman's tone and body language are those of a bratty teenager. Is there a way to advocate for women's reproductive rights without sounding like a 16 year-old daring her parents to give her a curfew?
I agree there is plenty of benefit to be gained from women sharing their experiences with miscarriage and abortion in a no-nonsense manner, but that doesn't have to mean being crass and obnoxious.
Women seem to be able to talk about their breasts (mammograms, mastectomies, lactation...) without sounding like crude, huffy little twats. When I hear women argue in favor of public breastfeeding they don't seem to feel the need to use coarse language or belligerent tones. So what's the deal with some pro-choicers who feel the need to combat "hushed reverent tones" with "brazen" and childish outbursts?
10/01/09
In fact, after getting called "young lady," I thought she handled herself quite respectably. I mean, calling a woman "young lady" is as offensive as if he had said "fuck you, lady," in my opinion.
10/02/09
10/01/09
First of all, we live in a society where the lines between the public and private sphere have been irreversibly blurred. As a consequence, there are people who are more comfortable sharing information that people wouldn't have shared in the past. whatever, i'm not following that stuff on twitter (i don't even have a twitter account, get off my lawn!) and i'm not posting it, but, as I said, whatever.
What gets my goat is this faux outrage from the info-tainment industry, (and yes, CNN is part of that, no matter how many times they want to call themselves a serious news organization. exception: Fareed Zakaria - serious business) these are same people who deemed that "ZOMG Tori Spelling was admitted to the hospital with stomach pain!" somehow qualifies as news. Or that the sister of a girl who is famous because of a sex tape (talk about your TMi!) is getting married. Or that the top 800 meter runner is transgendered. how is this any of my business? someone in the news decided it was, because this shit is all over the TV.
And now, they want to turn around and tell a woman who is talking about her own personal life that "young lady, we just don't discuss these things in civilized company." Give me a frakking break. this is an industry that thrives on oversharing and spreading it around.
And all Trunk has done was use this environment of oversharing to steer the conversation to a topic that she feels is important (and frankly, I agree). and if that was truly her intent, well, good on her.
10/03/09