Not cool Internet, not cool

People are rearranging items in Hobby Lobby to present pro-choice messages. These aren’t the actions of allies. These are the actions of people who are too damn privileged to know and recognize they are making a worker’s job more difficult. When I saw the first photo, I smiled and thought a Nelson like “ha!.” But people have to work there, and these people are getting screwed by the Supreme Court so maybe we lay off them and take on their bosses.

Jezebel’s Callie Bensman highlighted some of the actions of Jasmine Shea, who was also featured on Feministing and Policy Mic’s Nathaniel Peck. Peck is quoted as saying, “It just seemed like a perfect opportunity to stage a kind of silent protest, and change to use Hobby Lobby’s own products to do it was just too serendipitous to pass up,” he continues, “I certainly don’t want to encourage other people to ransack their local Hobby Lobby, but who am I to tell other people what to do with things like stamps, stencils, lawn signs, window decals and other items that can be used to spell things out in the aisles?”

Who indeed? Jezebel went on to provide a store locator. I’m not the only one pissed and having retail flashbacks. Melissa McEwan over at Shakesville wrote a post on it earlier in the week. McEwan runs down the problems with this can of “action” which essentially is the exploitation of workers and making their already tough job even worse. In most cases, I’m willing to guess that McEwan is right and management never hears about the “action” instead some low-wage, underpaid, underinsured folks fix the displays before their management team can reprimand them for letting this disarray occur.

My feminism has empathy for people stuck in these jobs. My feminism includes economic, social, and class equity. People who are participating in these “actions” need to ask themselves what their feminism and liberalism are all about. I mean if we’re angry that these employees are losing access to some medical coverage based on gender discrimination then we need to rally around them. If we’re pissed that the Supreme Court believes corporations have more rights than people then we need to rally around the employees. But if you’re pissed that the Pro-Choice movement took another hit then you should think about why you’re pro-choice. I’m over the FOR THE MOVEMENT mentality. Real people are being screwed, and we shouldn’t be contributing to that.

Low-wage workers can’t just quit their job and find a new one with better benefits. These people are stuck there. If you have a problem with Hobby Lobby take it up with corporate. Go into store and ask for comment cards. Be polite. Call customer service numbers at corporate. Be polite.

McEwan ends her post with an excellent quote: “If your activism aligns itself with the very people you’re ostensibly trying to protest, and you end up hurting the exact same people, you’re DOING IT WRONG.” Wrong indeed.