Letters to the Editor
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men hating women
Joan,
It strikes me that perhaps the root of this problem is young males hiding in adult conversations. For all the different ways of talking about this stupidity, it seems rather ordinary bad behavior from your ordinary half-dumb 18 year old.
Perhaps this is a variation on the New Yorker cartoon: 'on the web no one knows you're a dog.' Would not these miscreants reveal themselves if you could only get a look at them? Not to judge them in any racial or religious sense, but just to see if they have pimples?
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truthfully spoken,
and well put. And yet . . . . . .
Was it simply due to an editorial error that you would appear to defend a misogynistic, abusive, and troubled male writer, such as Dr. Paglia, under the guise of misogynistic victimization?
Odd.
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This I believe...
I believe that women do not sweat. I believe women do not fart. I believe they do not commit domestic violence.[1] Women do not sexually abuse children.[2] Women do not kidnap children.[3] Women do not make false allegations of rape.[4]
And therefore, I believe that women never post anonymous letters on the net with all sorts of hate speech and threats of violence in them.
[1] 38% of DV is against men. http://www.glennsacks.com/new_doj_domestic.htm
[2] Google female teacher student site: fark.com http://www.google.com/search?q=female+teacher+student+site%3Afark.com
[3] Mothers more statistically likely to kidnap their child than fathers. http://www.glennsacks.com/family_abduction_prevention.htm
[4] http://glennsacks.com/blog/index.php?tag=false-allegations
http://www.deltabravo.net/faq/falsefaq.php
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The article was great except for the line...
"We have the smartest audience in journalism. Our letters have by far been a net gain for Salon."
As a longtime subscriber/reader, I know you aren't going to go out of your way to insult readers by saying we're not smart, or that the letters have actually reduced the collective IQ by 20 points...but come on now. Don't spit in my face and tell me it's raining...We're no smarter than the readers on any number of progressive media sites, and the letters are at least 50 percent of the same nonsense and bile you could find anywhere. A net gain? Please. The letters are car wrecks; I read them to see just how awful they can get.
Anonyomous letters are pointless...newspapers make you put your hometown with your real name, and they call you to make sure it's really you. There is no reason Salon shouldn't hold readers to at least that tiny standard. And as far as the hateful bile that passes for 'comments,' there are so many legitimate reasons to dislike people...if you're going to rely on sex, race or sexual preference, that's just being so lazy...but that is the American way.
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Hate My Ass
Hilarious.
I once took my blog down (The Macho Response) because a bunch of women went mad over what I said about Oprah. What was the result? I thought about it and decided to act just like I would with a guy - and got even harsher.
I recently wrote a comment on a blog about how messed up it was the San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, slept with his best friend's (and campaign manager's) wife and what did a woman write back?
"I guess you're not getting any."
Nice - and straight to the only subject that seems to matter to women nowadays:
The Vagina Monologues. (Emphasis on the word "monologue".)
This idea that men will just sit back and be attacked, in the name of feminism, is silly. Ladies, I've got news for you:
Attacking the last generation of men is one thing, but attacking this one - that's fought for women's rights and, now, expects you to be fair - is beyond the pale.
Have you ever read Spin Sisters by Myrna Blyth? It's the book the former editor of The Ladies Home Journal wrote to detail how women, today, are taking the Victorian Era strategy of manipulating facts to appear to be victims - at the same time they're taking over colleges and becoming screaming attack dogs. It's written by a woman - a friend of Oprah's, and Hillary's, and Katie's, and Rosie's (well, maybe not Rosie - she says she's a bitch). I recommend it, highly, before you go completely hysterical, stewing in your own (Godess-like) juices.
If this is the world you want to create, then don't forget what Frank Zappa (kinda) said:
"You want to be equal? Take your lumps like everybody else."
I ain't feeling it.
P.S.
Injustice anywhere is wrong - and that goes for if it's happening to this woman - but, sure as hell, you look like you're crying wolf when you don't seem to notice it anywhere you don't mind it.
Like in The Vagina Monologues.
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Where to start?
I keep trying to write something, but I am just so sad that the issues aren't even clearly understood. We live in a violent woman-hating culture where men hold most of the power - and no I don't hate men, what I hate is our patriarchal misogynist culture and the soul-crushing gender roles both men and women are supposed to adhere to. So of course it's no surprise that violent language and threats are unleashed on women who write on the web, and of course it's no surprise that gay men are treated with the same kind of violent language - the smartest gay man I ever knew was also the best feminist I ever knew (hi, Earl Jackson!), and he understood that homophobia wouldn't exist without misogyny. And the people who write about how women are just as nasty to men - how puzzling and shocking, at best. Have they ever checked the stats on physical violence done to women in this country? Ever few SECONDS a woman is raped, beaten, murdered - do you truly, honestly believe women do as much violence to men? I'd love for you to prove me wrong - show me the stats. So why are people surprised at the linguistic violence? It's just one more example of a woman-hating, men-hold-the-power culture. People won't change until culture changes - culture won't change until people change - we have to address it from both angles at the same time. And please don't give me that "it's genetic, it's hormonal" caveman crap either - we are the one animal who has language, culture, imagination, and the power of self-creation and self-definition, and this is just as strong as, if not stronger than, any alleged biological imperative. Maybe what we really have to change is our relationship to social, political, and personal power, and how we choose to express that. Any woman, man, or child who feels compelled to devalue another or wield power over another to the detriment of that person for any reason has a serious problem that does not just belong to them. The original motivation behind "PC" was simply to get people to acknowledge that language has power, and that the words we choose to use help to create our social reality, and that we should take responsibility for the words we choose to use and understand the consequences of those choices. If I choose to call black people a hateful name, then I have to claim my share of the responsibility for creating a racist, hateful society. It is well-documented that the conservative right tainted the whole PC thing with their hysterical propaganda - and it's certainly self-evident that they well understand the power that language has to create reality. Some of us want rights and opportunities and a decent life for everyone, not just rich people and not just white people and not just men and not just women and not just Americans - EVERYONE MEANS EVERYONE, period. Sheesh. The cycle of hate has got to end sometime, people, or it will end us. Make your choice, and then be prepared to live with it - and die with it.