As redundant as it sounds, the Republicans’ “long” primary process has turned into a circus full of plenty of performers to keep us all entertained. You’ve got Mitt Romney as the ringleader, changing his speech every show to suit the audience. Newt Gingrich is the veteran clown and Rick Santorum is the strongman who lifts fake dumbbells, trying to look like he is carrying all the weight. Ron Paul might as well be the seal, balancing on a ball in the background that nobody really thinks will make it through the entire routine.

The reason it’s a circus is because the discourse just seems to be unbelievable. First they spoke about gay marriage, then money and now the big controversy is about abortion and birth control; all topics that usually come up in politics, granted, but topics that now have been taken beyond the pale. As for gay marriage, why don’t we all just start marrying pigs, too, Santorum? Money? Poor people don’t need our help, there is already a net there for them, right Mitt? And you’re right Gingrich, God didn’t make women to have those babies just so we can kill them with abortion and birth control. Every answer seems more far-fetched than the last, and it seems that now birth control and abortion are just heating up.

Ah, birth control. It’s the pill that millions of women pop happily, the shot they willingly get and the IUD they can just forget about. In a world where Americans can scorn people of Third World countries who have more children than they can afford, our government is trying to make it so we go toward just that goal. Men begin to think they also have wombs and are absolutely capable of making and therefore know all there is to know about these things. When women are barred from meetings, where they’re supposed to be making these decisions due to bias, it seems to be that their bias might be becoming acceptable.

It’s funny how a nation built on religious freedom is now trying to make itself into a Christian nation. Unfortunately, it is working, and creating a country where women are supposed to be subservient to men. Really, the primaries are a distraction from the wonderful misogyny going on around the country. The war on women, as the media is affectionately calling it, isn’t just Rush Limbaugh and the legally defined rape that is the Virginia nonconsensual ultrasound; it’s quite a large majority of men in charge and men that we are supposed to listen to.

A lot of abuse has been aimed at Rush from liberals, and conservatives have been replying that liberals have no ground because Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a very bad word, which begins with the letter “C.” There is no ground for either of these men to be saying anything like this about any woman, whether they are in the public eye or not. We, as a people, aren’t supposed to be supporting any man who decides to call any kind of woman anything like this. A man like that should be considered an insult to our species, and not an entertainer. We take him off the air for being a despicable human being.

So bring on the attacks, because women have to strike back, at liberals and conservatives alike who decide to undermine them. Let women in to meetings that involve them, and maybe the men making these decisions should listen to their voices. If they don’t, women need to start shouting.