MY UTOPIA

Recently, as in just last week recently, I had to explain to Michael that sperm doesn’t contain all of the DNA to start a life form. I got full on text book with him, using words like oocyte and haploids but it wasn’t until I showed him an actual picture of what an oocyte looks like before fertilization and after that it finally made sense to him. I would consider Michael to be a ‘smart’ person. He teaches math, knows a bunch of math and very knowledgable about history. This subject of oocyte vs zygote was probably glossed over in any and all of the biology courses he encountered. It just wasn’t discussed in details that would cause someone to remember. Particularly those individuals who do not have biological science minds. Most middle school boys lose all focus as soon as the word ‘sperm’ is uttered and the rest is a lesson of holding in giggles.

The lesson one gets in class, very much like the one I gave Michael, is a simplified description of a very complicated situation. I mean, I didn’t even mention mitochondrial DNA or ribosomal RNA or histones or chromosome structures or all the other protein interactions involved. I honestly do not expect a lot of people to know about these things or understand it. But I do expect that the people making laws that govern reproduction and reproductive health to know just as much as, if not more than, I do on the subject. I expect that the person in charge of federal grant funding for basic biomedical research to know even more than I do on this subject and many others.

Any basic biological research regarding women’s health and reproduction have all been placed on grant funding holds because they fall into the DEI category. This means that any research benefiting women’s health will not receive funding. We will not be being seeing new and innovative treatments or screenings for breast cancer or ovarian cancer or cervical cancer or anything related to the word ‘vagina’. So ladies, if you are frustrated now with the lack of knowledge regarding perimenopause or the antiquated boob smash we have to endure every year, I suggest you start calling your senators and representatives. Many of us are all aware of how we have to advocate with our healthcare providers for our own health. Many of us have gone from doctor to doctor to doctor just trying to get one of them to listen to our symptoms and needs.

We are now going to have to work harder for own health.

DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. So when you say you’re against DEI, just say you are against diversity, that you strongly disagree with equality and inclusion. Just say that you don’t care about reproductive health or basic medical research that could save the life of your mother, sister, niece, yourself. Don’t just say abbreviation. Make it very clear and just say “I don’t agree with diversity, equity or inclusion.” Vice President JD Vance received a scholarship to attend Yale. It was a scholarship for people who are the first generation to attend college and who live below a certain income level. JD Vance used a DEI scholarship to gain an education. Maybe some federal funding will get shuttled over to researching how this hypocrisy makes sense.

Now I know that I’m preaching to a choir, but just maybe one person who didn’t really think things through before, sees that what is happening with our Federal Government is going to make their lives a little bit, probably a lot, less and join the fight to end this fascism.