History of Feminism
Related: About this forumWhen Misogynist Violence Makes Headlines
I can analyze stuff that makes me feel angry beyond my own capacity to imagine, but expressing that kind of anger is so treacherous. Some occasions call for it, and this is one. These incidents are the tip of an iceberg, making the news because schoolgirls were targeted instead of individual women. Men assault women all the time, in virtually every circumstance sick minds can imagine. This is a stain on the honor of all men, though the desensitization enforced by our culture makes many men oblivious, except when something spectacular happens. So oblivious that men pay to see women getting roughed up sexually, calling it free speech. Incitements to violence are hate speech. Why is it legal to incite violence against women, but not minority groups? John Lennon wrote a song, after Yoko Ono got him to see some things. Woman is the (N word) of the World, he sings, better scream about it.
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Yes, men have terrorized women for thousands of years. Mostly it happens in private, or in war, so its kind of an open secret. Women are a conquered people with no obvious means to fight back. Men generally see this state of affairs as natural, so dont understand why feminists are so angry about it. After all, some laws were passed, that should be the end of the issue, as many men see it. No, those laws were politically motivated, half-assed attempts to buy women off without really changing anything. Women have made the best of those laws and broken down barriers all over. In that respect, society has progressed, but not without fierce resistance. Many men hate the idea of having to compete fairly with women. Those guys need to grow up.
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This is the foundation of hierarchical culture, this wholly undeserved power men wield over women, because they can, and they like the feeling. This is how degenerate our culture is, that men can like the feeling of owning and controlling a lover, and react violently when she looks out for herself. It doesnt matter that not all men are violent. It only takes a few suicide attackers to terrorize USA, so why should it take omnipresent violence to terrorize women? The threat is omnipresent, but women have been dealing with this for at least thousands of years, only recently gaining some legal standing. Nowadays virtually all feminism has accomplished is threatened by reactionary stacking of courts. This is feminism wrecking the culture, so men must fight back? This culture is too corrupted to survive. Maybe it needs wrecking, but not in the ways of Bush.
Some men yell feminism has weakened the moral fiber of the culture, or male character. Any character requiring preeminent status in a relationship is weakened beyond repair. This is such a fundamental contradiction in terms, it stands logic on its head. A decent relationship requires mutual respect and caring to make a partnership work. It can be much more, but without those I think any relationship is doomed, at least poisoned. So, bitter men, was yours doomed? Maybe you need to learn some lessons from your errors! Blaming women will get you nowhere. Venting is not a problem if it doesnt become obsessive. Then its no big jump to rape or murder. You can be reasonably angry at a woman who hurt your feelings, but blaming women for that is just plain dumb. You had no part in her deciding to hurt you? Give me a break. She was probably reacting to you hurting her, but that dynamic is irrelevant to you? Why? If you cared, you should care about that, and if you didnt, did you deserve her time of day? If you escaped from a devil, does that make all women like her? Hey, one con artist scammed me, another woman maybe used me, but I couldnt generalize from that to women Ive known personally, forget about all women! Women are so different from the ideas men hold about women, its not even funny.
http://angryscientist.wordpress.com/2006/10/09/when-misogynist-violence-makes-headlines-part-2/
ManyShadesOf
(639 posts)I'm curious about the Aspreger "spectrumy" aspects of male/female relations, being discussed in an ADD thread. How much dissociative, unemotional behavior that got patterned into society is related to bio/chemical gender differences? Chicken and egg I guess...
Thought provoking piece. Thanks.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)hey... that sounds interesting. i have a son that is ... well, something. i wont/havent gotten him tested. he is not at the level to need that. i round it off to a fuzzy brain. i was talking to one of his principals and used that term. she told me they are actually using it on some kids. never did the research on that. though we have dont lots of research, reading, and a lot of teachers and us have worked together to find tools for him that helps him along. an interesting subject. i wonder how receptive that would be in this forum.
thanks.
ManyShadesOf
(639 posts)I know enough "normal" people and some extreme ones, somewhere on the spectrum, to want to know more about it.
Need to read the whole article in your post later.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)can you link to what you are talking about? i would be interested in reading that also.
thanks.... if it is no problem.
ManyShadesOf
(639 posts)great time of year.
is it okay to post the link to GD? just got a very reasonable honest reply to a question about this.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)ManyShadesOf
(639 posts)a male is being very communicative about the lack of communication !! nice!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002780494
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)directing me to the thread. i have lots of men perfectly capable of "communicating", lol. but i like the concept of "male is being very communicative about the lack of communication ". sounds fun.
gotta go, lol
ManyShadesOf
(639 posts)hard for those who have empathy to relate to a lack of it as experience/nature, not a lack of willingness ..... or something.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)It enrages me that violence against women is so commonplace that it's reduced to mere background noise, which leads to people minimizing the oppression women live under, every single day. When members of other oppressed groups are assaulted and murdered due to their status as such a person, it's considered an outrage. When it's done to women... well that's just a sad fact of life, I guess. No reason to pay special attention to that.
Now I need to read Part 1. Thanks for this post.