Letters to the Editor
Sandra M
Published Letters: 577 Editor's Choice: 139
-
Drunkeness is a mitigating factor defining rape, not exonerating it.
[Read the article: Blaming the victims]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If a woman is too drunk to give knowing and willful consent, then having sex with her is classified as rape. Yes, that's right - if she's really really drunk and says to a guy, "Yes, I want to have sex with you," and they go ahead, she can legitimately bring a charge of rape against him on the basis that, due to intoxication, she was not giving knowing, willful consent. This is the law. Just as lots of men wanting an easy lay unencumbered by moral or ethical consideations probably don't like this law, an equal or greater number of fathers of daughters *love* this law.
The reality, is, of course, that many laws do not serve to ensure a priori justice, but only enforce it ex post facto. Which makes another reality more urgent to attend to - and that is, the reality that *some* men will always look for ways to have easy sex with women; some men even prefer to have nonconsenusal sex with women. One of the easiest ways to accomplish these nefarious goals is to get a woman so inebriated she can't give knowing, willful consent, much less resist.
These realities are easy enough to deal with - it's not too difficult to not get too drunk/high, nor is it too difficult to ally myself with friends to look out for me when I know I will be drinking. I will always prefer to rely on such preventative measures, rather than equality and legalities, to protect myself. It is fair? No. But I consider that question secondary to the question, is it *worth* it? To which I answer, absolutely.
Of course it would be preferable to live in a world where no men wanted to have sex with a woman so inebriated that she wasn't an obviously willing and joyful participant Of course it would be preferable to live in a world where the number of men seeking to protect and defend me from predators far outnumbered the predators themeselve. Of course it would be preferable to live in a world where sons felt more responsibility to prevent rape than daughters did to avoid it. As long as I have breath, I'll work for that preferable world, but until that world exists, I'll count the cost of taking reasonable responsibility for my safety as time and energy well spent. Doing what I can to avoid being a victim is not the same as taking the blame for becoming one.
-
Women schoolteachers: increasinlgy likely to rape
[Read the article: Male schoolteachers: Role models or potential pedophiles?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sara' Richards's headline is irresponsible journalism: "Male schoolteachers: Role models or potential pedophiles?" Come on. Male schoolteachers are just that - male and schoolteathers. Neither their gender nor their occupation makes them more or less likely to be role models or pedophiles.
There is enough bad news in the world without using yellow journalism tactics to attract attention or incite controversy. Surely a less inflammatory headline could have gotten the same point across in a manner representative of the issues of the story.
I can't imagine Broadsheet wouldn't attack a headline like the one at the top of my posting as sexist and terrible in every way. Why is it ok when similarly repulsive sentiments are ensconced in a headline featuring men?
Feminism is no reason to create an arena for villification.
-
Laperotomy is not Latin for "easy"
[Read the article: "Too posh to push"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I had the C-section operation. When I woke up from hte surgery the pain was so intense I fainted. They revived me - I fainted again (they couldn't give me pain medication until my post-surgery blood pressure rose to a reasonable level). It took me 2 weeks to be able to walk without severe pain. It took me a month to get back to normal. Then the scar became infected. Whee.
The female body is built for natural delivery. It is not built to have a scalpel slice through skin, muscle, tendon and fat. Surgery hurts - bad. It leaves big ugly scars. It might be more convenient to schedule a C-section than wait for a baby to begin it's descent down the birth canal - but it's certainly not 'easier'.
-
this is sickening!
[Read the article: Barely legal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Where are the school administrators, PTA, parents groups - why aren't they making some sort of outcry about this? Who gives a shit if these parents think it's ok to whore out their kids in this soft core porn-esque manner; parents don't have the right to corrupt their children. If it was really about modeling, wouldn't there be head shots? Boys?
This is corruption, pure and simple. It made me ill looking at those little girls posing with their babyish come-hither expressions in skimpy and way way way too sexy swimsuits.
-
I agree with the King
[Read the article: A woman's place in the dugout]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and furthermore, Broadsheet would do well to adopt this self-same philosophy on a regular basis...starting with Caiglin Flanagan, please.