How Time Flies

A few more finds from the basement.


First, this idealized vision of America: Dad, Mom, cat, two boys, and a little girl with Raggedy Ann doll watching Neil Armstrong step onto the moon from the comfort of their living room. One boy in blue, the little girl in pink. A classic bit of capitalist realism that feels pretty dated today, though I imagine it felt a bit dated even at the time.


This map, from January 1995, illustrates 1992 data. Check out Texas: Despite its large size and ruralness, it was then one of the states where only 20 to 40 percent of women lived in a county where there were no abortion providers. As of 2014, there are only 16 providers left in the entire state, of which eight are ambulatory surgical centers that meet the requirements of the 2013 state law (currently on hold pending court action), passed after Wendy Davis' filibuster. Those eight centers are located in just five counties.

I wonder what this map looks like today for the whole country?


Another flashback: This cover of Sojourner, a feminist newspaper from Boston, is from June 1992. The child holding the poster is at an anti-police-brutality protest after the Rodney King verdict.