Coming in April: No Sex for Anyone

At around 400 BC, Greek women withheld sex to force their husbands to end the Peloponnesian war. At least that’s the story from Lysistrata, the play by Aristophanes about these events. Fast forward to the 2000’s and you see this non-violent strategy has been adopted in countries like Belgium, Columbia, Kenya, Liberia and the Philippines as a way to call attention to various social, political, and women’s rights causes.

Most recently, some American women now think a sex strike could make a difference in the political battle over women’s reproductive rights. Liberal Ladies Who Lunch, a social and political group founded in Austin, TX has launched a movement dubbed the “NO ACCESS SEX STRIKE” to encourage women to cut off sex with their male partners for one week, April 28 – May 5, 2012, to make their point. “If our reproductive choices are denied, so are yours”

“Access to affordable family planning is key to a woman’s liberty,” says Annette Maxberry-Carrara, the founder of Liberal Ladies Who Lunch. “But this is also an important issue for men. American men enjoy the benefits of women making their own choices about when to get pregnant. Men get the advantage of free, easy access sex with young women of child-bearing age. It wasn’t like that sixty years ago. If women can’t get reliable birth control, they will just have to keep their legs crossed to prevent pregnancy–even married women. I don’t think anyone wants that.”

Objections to the strike from men are expected, but Maxberry-Carrara was surprised by the women who have voiced their disagreement. “You would think I had asked them to abstain from sex for years. Women are screaming at me that their men support their reproductive rights, and they don’t want to deny them sex. So don’t. Nobody is forcing anyone to stop having sex. It’s a choice.” She continued, “But if you can’t avoid pregnancy or you have to give birth to a child you don’t want or can’t afford, then you don’t have that choice. That’s the point. The very outrage of these women proves that we have sex for pleasure. It’s not just a biological act for reproduction.”

The group encourages women to join their public event on Facebook, here’s the reaction on Twitter…