thread: 2005-05-16 : Violence
On 2005-05-17, xenopulse wrote:
Yeah wow, lots of points here.
Ed, I don't think we disagree. I'm simply providing some basic vocabulary. Sure there's a difference between manipulation with evil intent, and positive inspiration, but that's a different axis than the force-coercion-influence categorization, which I think is important to keep in mind.
Julie, I know what you're talking about. Lisa and I were watching Bill Maher on HBO a while ago. He had a woman there, a politician, who said she was ok with the Arabs not shaking her hand. That's just their culture, and I accept that they don't shake women's hands, she said. Well, if that's their culture, then their culture is WRONG. Fuck that. As Bill Maher then said, tolerance is wrong when it tolerates intolerance.
Ben, yes. Absolutely. Aggression without purpose, or with the wrong purpose, is, well, still wrong. Using your courage, standing up for what's right, that's what it's all about. I think your LJ post is right on.
And Chris, sure. If someone attacks/tries to rape my wife, I kill the motherfucker. Break his skull and make sure he never gets a second chance. However, we're both aggressors in that scenario. What separates me from him is the purpose for which I use my aggression.
I don't think we need to fall into the hole of gender-defined roles here, i.e., aggression being masculine.
Vincent, I'm not informed enough, but men can be raped as well. Actually, I always thought that the equivalent for a man of being raped is more like getting his balls torn off. Imagine how that'd feel. How horrible and lasting the effect is, even if you manage to get surgery and get the physical wounds healed at a later time. How it takes something away from you and hurts you in the most brutal way. That's as close as I can ever come to even remotely think about how it must feel for a woman to be raped. And that's why I always feel that burst of rage when someone makes one of those "she asked for it" comments—if a guy flirts and doesn't put out, and the woman tears off his balls, well then, I guess he was asking for it.
So overall, people can do horrible things to men and women alike who do not fight back, and in fact they do in parts of the world on a daily basis. Is rape separable from all other tortures and violations? I can't really say.
- Christian
