Letters to the Editor
Rachael F.
Published Letters: 157 Editor's Choice: 17
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Grr, argh
[Read the article: "Her face was nothing but red"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"But nobody in misogynistic Hollywood would give him a chance, and his show about that girl vampire hunter never made it to the air."
What the hell does your disdain for Joss's (excellent, groundbreaking, exceptionally well-written) television show have to do with this post? You're the only one who sees whatever point you're trying to make, it seems.
Joss is a feminist. Yes, a real, honest-to-god, male feminist. And he shows it.
Robert Franklin, the reason (most likely; I don't know the man or talk to him regularly) he doesn't rant about a man being stoned is because it's not common. Not nearly so common as the same thing happening to a woman. Men are never the victims of honor killings, and this particular stoning is big news precisely because it's a man who's being executed...and it's such an unusual event.
To ask for equal time for one killing in the face of hundreds or thousands is like when Fox news insists that it's only "fair" to give equal airtime to the crackpots who don't believe in global warming. There are 900,000 scientists who believe the data, and about 10 who don't. So the "yes" crowd should actually get 90,000 times the airtime as the "no" crowd. The same effect is manifest in this case.
Let me try and explain this yet again (knowing that the trolls and woman-haters won't get it because they don't want to):
I'm a real California feminist, despite having been very lucky in life to have interacted, for the most part, with men who don't have any negative preconceptions about women. But this I know - just because I've been lucky doesn't mean it's never happened, and it doesn't mean I don't get how hard the world is for women in general. Even in this country, which is among the most enlightened as to gender equality, women are still often seen as intellectually inferior, or emotionally inferior, to men.
A woman can't be president because she's too emotional. Women aren't as good at math and science as men are. Women care too much about their families and not enough about their careers, and thus they'll never achieve equality in the highest ranks of academic science. You know these attitudes exist - even if you don't participate in promoting them.
Women still make 80% of what men make for the same exact work. And women still do over 70% of the household work and the childrearing, work which goes completely unpaid. These statistics are real, like global warming, whether you choose to believe them or not.
It's not equal. And it's half of the population who live as automatically inferior in the eyes of our society, even if it's subtle. It's getting better, but if we stop insisting on it getting better, then it might slide back the other way. And this includes getting outraged over the far more horrific offenses against women's basic humanity that occur in much of the rest of the world.
Try to imagine how it would feel to know a significant proportion of humanity, even in the society you live in, thinks you're stupid just because you weren't fortunate enough to be born with a Y chromosome. Contrary to what certain posters here would like to believe, most feminists aren't man-haters, and don't see men as naturally inferior. I love men. As I say, most of the men I've known have been great. It's not about YOU.
And Joss Whedon is a misandrist? Really? Could have fooled me.
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Also, because I like this
[Read the article: "Her face was nothing but red"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And parts of it apply - from the site itself:
"Activism is not a pissing match. Either you’re in this because you want to make others aware and to help people, or you just want something that makes you feel like you’re better than everyone else. We’re here for the former. It doesn’t matter when someone wakes up and tries to do something positive–what matters is that they’re attempting to make a difference. Nothing discourages others from becoming active more than some jackass criticizing them for not doing it sooner. We have no tolerance for people who want to put down others for their efforts, so take your negativity elsewhere, please."
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True
[Read the article: "Her face was nothing but red"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And if I implied it never happens, I apologize. But the vast majority of "honor" killings are of women, and that's why the focus is on the women. By all means, let's eliminate them completely, on both sides of the gender divide.