Letters to the Editor
Linney Uston
Published Letters: 202 Editor's Choice: 4
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An opportunity to look within and grow
[Read the article: Duke charges to be dropped?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"But then I thought that maybe some loathsome people have responded to the Duke case by asserting that "women should never report rape." Did people actually suggest that? Or was my first thought correct?"
Seems like a weak straw-man to me.
I think it would be good idea if many of us would pause and reflect about what this whole Duke flap means in the big picture...
There are, it seems, many well-intentioned feminists out there who will swallow literally ANY story which involves female victimization.
When one is convinced that women are under siege from all directions, it tends to create a skewed view which singles-out and obsesses on atrocities until all else is overshadowed. This results in the apparent religious belief among feminists in the guilt of any man accused of a sex crime, regardless of circumstances, simply because a woman said so.
In fact, the word "gullible" comes to mind.
As a result, we are treated to the rather embarrassing spectacle of guilt being proclaimed by prominent feminists all over the place despite what any pesky mountain of facts happen to say. In my opinion, this suggests that many feminists are shamefully more concerned with scoring points against the patriarchy than actually caring about real victims.
I should say that this entire experience has been very instructive and eye-opening for me, and I hope that feminists will take this opportunity to look within and grow rather than worry if someone will sneer "I told you so".
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Cavalier attitudes all around
[Read the article: Duke players cleared]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Better that 10 men be sent to prison on false accusations of rape, than one true victim of rape decide to drop the charges.
Right?
I'm reminded of Catherine Comins, the official at Vassar College, who once said in Time magazine: "Men who are unjustly accused of rape can sometimes gain from the experience."
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Anonymous
[Read the article: Fear of female Democrats]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Men of quality are not threatened by women of equality."
Funny how no woman should be presumed to be anything less than "of quality", but a man needs to prove it.
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The Mosuo
[Read the article: Welcome to Woman Town]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Among the Mosuo people on the Tibetan plateau tradition dictates that women not only head their households and hold the purse strings but choose their sexual partners rather than marrying."
Yes, well I can speak from personal experience: I spent a week among the Mosuo some years ago.
The division of labor among the "matriarchal" Mosuo (who the author of this entry clearly admire) is roughly what you'd expect to find in a 1950s household, with women doing cooking and child-rearing and things inside the house with men doing hunting, construction and things outside the house. It is precisely this division of labor (according to my Women's Studies textbook) which forms the basis of how women are oppressed... yet it precisely what Mosuo women seem to prefer.
What's more, if you tried to convince them that American women are treated like second-class citizens, they'd laugh their heads off.
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This whole thing could've been avoided...
[Read the article: Black rappers made him do it!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Imus had called white males a bunch of ugly, beer-drinking rapists who smell bad.
Joan would've been the first to defend him for his courage.
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Feministing's macho defiance
[Read the article: Duke players cleared]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So the Duke women's lacrosse team voiced their "uninformed" support for the accused, while Samhita's "hang 'em, whatever the facts" is far more enlightened.
I have a feeling that the women lacrosse players at Duke were more "informed" than Samhita, who obviously knew all the answers before the trial could even begin.
Despite her age, Samhita is not an adult. Nether are her like-minded comrades. They should not be taken seriously by any thinking person who cares about fact-based reality.
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DEAR BROADSHEET EDITORS
[Read the article: "Bitches-and-hos" lesbian subculture]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Here's a neat topic for your next post, written by a former Salon contributor.
http://www.reason.com/news/show/119665.html
Any takers?
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Making distinctions isn't her strong point, is it?
[Read the article: Federal abortion ban roundup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"...it's constitutional for lawmakers (aka white men) to decide what kind of medical care we need..."
If I recall correctly, a bunch of those rotten "white men" decided in favor of Roe V. Wade back in '73... supported by amicus briefs filed by other terrible "white men"... to provide a legal basis for a medical procedure invented by awful, nasty, evil white men. (What a bunch of oppressors!)
If Bitch Phd is considered part of the cream of the feminist blogosphere, we are indeed fucked.
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The Economist
[Read the article: Women rising in Mexican drug cartels]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find it interesting that you'd link to that Economist article simply because the word "Women" appears in the headline.
I have a feeling you wouldn't be quite so interested in linking to their other items which pooh-pooh affirmative action, champion the cutting-back of social programs for the poor, endorsement of free-trade/IMF policies which devastate Third World countries, etc.
But hey, if one article superficially agrees with your belief that full-time moms are stupid twits who are letting-down the sisterhood, go ahead and link to it.