Dave Chappelle accidentally explains the absurdity of 'my body, my choice' - Washington Examiner

Dave Chappelle formed his entire brand through unapologetic comedy, and those hoping to see him lay into the identity-obsessed Left and cancel culture in his new Netflix stand-up, Sticks & Stones, will not be disappointed.

It has drawn criticism from both the Left and Right sides of the aisle, primarily for his bit making light of pedophilia and Michael Jackson’s alleged victims.

Others, however, appreciated the special for its wide-ranging social commentary — Chappelle addresses everything from divisions in the LGBT community to the Kevin Hart/Oscars scandal — and his unwillingness to censor himself just to please others.

While Chappelle often misses the mark — his bit about Michael Jackson tells us less about our society than Chappelle’s nonchalance toward those traumatized by child abuse — his sarcastic take on abortion offered a rare insight into hypocrisy amid the pro-abortion position, whether or not he meant to do so.

Oddly, Chappelle transitions from defending alleged creepy comedian Louis C.K. to implying that the #MeToo movement led to a rash of anti-abortion legislation across America:

What the f--- is your agenda, ladies? Is sexism dead? No, in fact, the opposite happened. I said it was going to get worse, and they said I was tone-deaf. But eight states, including your state [Georgia], have passed the most stringent anti-abortion laws this nation has seen since Roe v. Wade.

Then, he repeats a line that pro-abortion advocates often accuse Republican lawmakers of privately believing. “I’m not for abortion," he says. “I’m not for it, but I’m not against it either. It all depends on who I get pregnant.”

Chappelle has spent his entire stand-up career defending his right to talk about what he wants to (he can say “faggot” even though he’s not gay, for example) but now he pivots to telling only a certain demographic of people how to think. He may be more embedded in identity politics than he’d like to admit:

I don’t care what your religious beliefs are or anything. If you have a dick, you need to shut the f--- up on this one, seriously. This is theirs, the right to choose is their unequivocal right. Not only do I believe they have the right to choose, I believe that they shouldn’t have to consult anybody, except for a physician, about how they exercise that right.

If it’s true that men don’t have a right to talk about abortion, though, something else must be true. He explains:

Gentlemen, that is fair. And ladies, to be fair to us, I also believe that if you decide to have the baby, a man should not have to pay. That’s fair. If you can kill this motherf---er, I can at least abandon them. It’s my money, my choice. And if I’m wrong, then perhaps we’re wrong. Think that shit out for yourselves.

Oof. It’s a harsh joke, but one that’s not entirely illogical. If a woman can choose what to do with her baby with no input from anyone else, should a man really be responsible for caring for the child only when a woman has decided it’s worth keeping? No pro-abortion advocate would publicly make this argument, but it's difficult to tell men that their input is unwanted until it arbitrarily is.

No matter how much of this bit Chappelle actually believes, or how much is tongue-in-cheek, he does a good job of pairing arguments from the pro-abortion side with some of their logical shortcomings. If men can’t comment on abortion before a woman has made her choice, their input may not suddenly be necessary afterward. On the other hand, as most anti-abortion activists ought to point out, caring for baby begins in the womb but doesn’t end there.

For all of the failings of Sticks & Stones, Chappelle still picks at subtle hypocrisies in our society. As Chappelle says about his pro-abortion stance, “if I’m wrong, then perhaps we’re wrong.” By "we," he may mean the entertainment industry in which he works, which is dominated by pro-abortion advocates. The United States itself is split pretty much 50-50 on the issue.

By joking about a father who doesn't want to invest in an unplanned pregnancy, Chappelle hints at a truth of the abortion debate: It doesn't center around the humanity of the child, but around individuals' visions of their own lives. Just like a deadbeat dad's "my money, my choice," the pro-abortion slogan "my body, my choice" is a simple assertion of will and power, untethered to ideas of right and wrong.

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/dave-chappelle-accidentally-explains-the-absurdity-of-my-body-my-choice

2019-08-27 15:38:00Z
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