Friday, February 18, 2011

Rolling Stone tries to clarify Bieber's abortion positon

Anti-choice munchkin Justin Bieber drifted into talking about abortion in his Rolling Stone interview, coming down so far to the right on the debate he might have made Sarah Palin feel a bit queasy:

When asked where he stands on abortion he told Vanessa Grigoriadis, "It's like killing a baby." He was then asked if he believed in abortion for rape victims, and replied, "I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that."
Is anyone else having a queasy moment imagining - sometime in 2040 - Canadian Premier Bieber laughing at his days as a pop star?

The idea that rape happens for a reason and that, you know, if you haven't been raped there's no way you can actually feel disgusted at the idea that some people would force a woman to carry a baby conceived during an assault hasn't been going down too well.

Happily, Rolling Stone have rushed forward to clarify that Bieber had been slightly misquoted:
A rep for the publication says, "Due to an editing error, this story originally included an incomplete quote from Justin Bieber.

"The full quote, his response to whether abortions should be allowed in cases of rape, reads, 'Um. Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that.'"
Is it just me, or does the full quote still show him suggesting that being raped is all part of some grand plan, and unable to even allow the possibility that a woman might want access to abortion under those circumstances. Unless Rolling Stone also edited out the words "and would make me think again. Moving to a completely different subject, I was hearing that some spiders eat their partners. That sounds kind of gross" between "sad" and "but", I don't think it changes the tone or sense of what he said at all.


8 comments:

Jim W said...

Are we really analysing the political views of a 16 year old? Yup, a peculiarly successful specimen who controls an audience of impressionable teens. But still just a kid displaying as much naivety and lack of understanding as any 16 year old.

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

There's a large chunk of opinion that says people Bieber's age should be voting in general elections...

Toby said...

Yet they're not! I definitely don't agree with his position, but give the *kid* a break. Or on the other hand, are you genuinely trying to suggest that Justin Bieber condones rape, or somehow thinks that women bring it on themselves. What *are* you trying to imply?

Sometimes you try to hard at this.

play on said...

Lol this is just funny, a 16 year old thinks that women bring it on themselves

DJSpaceman said...

I would hope that most 16 year olds would know that rape is an atrocity, being the legal age of consent and all, so basing a defence of this viewpoint on his age is utter bollocks. "Everything happens for a reason" is the typical catch-all, cowardly, god-botherer excuse for turning a blind eye to anything that casts doubts on their self-righteous moralising bullshit.

Anonymous said...

his age would be a fine reason to not hold it against him when he's 24, but its no reason to not let him be made fully aware of the stupidity of it now

Anonymous said...

His age is no excuse. I certainly knew better at 16...

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

@Toby
I don't think Bieber condones rape, and I don't think anything in the piece suggests that - the actual guts of it is that Bieber said something ill-advised; Rolling Stone rushed to 'explain' with the full quote; the full quote doesn't actually make any difference to what he said.

I think, for what it's worth, it shows that Bieber has swallowed the position of anti-abortionists so wholeheartedly that when asked to take part in a thought experiment, his philosophy falls apart which demonstrates that he hasn't really thought it through that much. It would probably be better for Bieber if he was having this conversation in a common room rather than the pages of a glossy magazine, but that's where it's happened.

It's important because he happily allowed himself to enter his opinion on the abortion debate - and given that he has a large number of fans who in the next decade might find an abortion to be a matter of personal choice rather than a political abstract, Bieber's decision to take sides makes it important that he be challenged on that stance.

And as alex-1701 says, you'd have hoped that any 16 year-old might know that saying that, in effect, "if you get pregnant as the result of a rape, it's probably happened for a reason" is a loaded statement.

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