On Pseudonyms

A couple of days ago, Andrea Mrozek, the faux feministe, mused on why pro-choice bloggers and commenters do not use their real names. She thought it might have to do with employment. You know, because Canada is such right-wing nut-job country, pro-choice people would be shunned. Or something. (Delusional much, Andrea?)

SUZY's 24-hour Fetus Fest took a more confrontational position.

The social consensus on legal abortion is so strong,that they have to hide behind a pseudonym to say what they say. #irony

I also think they're anonymous so they can spew any kind of libel they want about pro-lifers without fearing any legal consequences.

In other words, they're cowards. They don't have the guts to stand by their words.

http://www.bigbluewave.ca/2012/07/prolifeprowoman-asks-why-are-so-many.html

I commented at both blogs, citing small concerns about rape threats, stalking, murder, arson, and terrorism fetus fetishists are so quick to resort to.

Read the comments. I won't recount them here. It's the usual BS.

One thing amused me. Mrozek responded to my taunt about not having to worry what an employer thinks when one is paid by them to blog.

Her reply.

Andrea Mrozekon 13 Jul 2012 at 9:10 am
Oh, and please let the record stand. I don’t get paid to blog. When I started ProWomanProLife of my own free will, instigation, idea, I specifically told my employer that it would be independent of work, and they didn’t want to be affiliated with it, either. This was important to me, because I did not want to need to confirm, ever, anything, with a higher up.

From her bio:

Andrea currently works at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada as Manager of Research and Communications.

What is that, you ask?

It's a creature of Focus on the Family Canada, 'a Canadian affiliate of the American evangelical Christian organization Focus on the Family'.

The organization has funded efforts in the courts and in its media broadcasts to help "preserve traditional values and the institution of the family." It has focused its efforts on the following areas: same-sex marriage (and homosexuality in general), abortion, pornography, premarital sex and child discipline. Focus on the Family supports the continued legality of spanking as a form of discipline for children.

Focus on the Family Canada has also established the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada/Institut du Mariage et de la Famille Canada (IMFC). The IMFC is located in Ottawa, Ontario, near Parliament Hill, where the staff conduct and compile social policy research from Canada and around the world. The IMFC’s mission is "to positively influence public opinion and promote public policy that values human life, the pre-eminence of marriage and the institution of the family." Its involvement in social issues is not limited to activism, as it has intervened in court cases such as one case in 1999 where it supported denying same-sex couples the right to apply for alimony from one another. The organization had intervenor status in the precedent setting case of Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Canada (Attorney General), in which the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the legality of child spanking in Canada.

So, while there may not be a box labelled 'anti-choice blogging hours' on her pay stub, it's pretty clear her blog fits rather con-veeeeniently into her employer's mission.

And I do mean mission.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Wouldn't be a hoot if Mrozek were, let's say, *dissembling* in her day job and is actually, secretly pro-choice? Maybe I am Andrea Mrozek. Maybe deBeauxOs is Andrea Mrozek. Maybe ALL Canadian pseudonymous pro-choice bloggers are Andrea Mrozek!


UPPITITY DATE: JJ has some thoughts on the subject.