Charming little publicity stunt, courtesy of Socialist politician Marleen Temmerman. From the news (emphasis mine):
Marleen Temmerman told the De Morgen newspaper that negotiators should abstain from having sex until a new coalition government was formed.
The socialist politician, who is also a renowned gynecologist, said she was inspired by her time in Kenya.
“After a year of talking, women’s movements called on the negotiators’ wives to stop having sex until an agreement was reached. A week later, a deal was on the table,” she said.
Senator Marleen Temmerman is frustrated and told HLN that, “No, it can’t continue like this. Instead, let’s close the legs.”
Let’s close the legs?! First of all, there are no women negotiators in these talks? Second, why call on wives? This strikes me as the age old assumption that women do not really enjoy sex (so, of course they will be willing to withdraw it) and instead, only engage in it to please their male partners. Also, what about gay or lesbian politicians? So much wrong in this “proposal”.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.