Reply #48: blah blah [View All]

[iverglas]

Woman, straight, victim of violence.

Self-defense is a feminist issue. ... Self-defense is a violence against women issue.

Nope. Violence against women is a feminist issue.

Self-defense is the issue of *every* group that historically has violence perpetrated on it (see: Battle of Hayes Pond, Deacons for Defense, and a myriad of other examples...)

See: conflation, logical fallacy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflation

Individuals are one thing, groups are another. The collective rights of groups, and the collective actions of groups to exercise those rights, are quite distinct from the actions of individuals.

Indeed, individuals suffer rights violations stemming from their status as members of groups. That does not mean that every action taken by individuals to address offences against them is an exercise of a collective right. Individuals just don't get to decide how collective rights will be exercised.

For anybody who shoves a pistol down his/her pants to draw a parallel between him/herself and Deacons for Defence, or the Black Panthers, or the peasants revolting against some cruel overlord, is just ugly.

You do not speak for your group any more than any other self-appointed individual speaks for any other group. You may represent a body of thought within your group, but your faction is opposed by others, with varying shades all round. Each has as legitimate a claim to represent the best interests of the group as have you.