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• Friday, April 13, 2007 10:13 AM

  Terrible Twist

  I thought this was a nice entry; terse, even-handed and clear in its point.

  This is the trend as I see it:

  Man makes hateful, sexist remark.

  Women confront man.

  Man gets his panties in a terrible twist over the nerve of women confronting him.

  You know, if words don't matter and women are overly sensitive and their reality is a fantasy, then why do men bother responding?

  You respond because confrontation matters, even and especially on the internet. Nobody likes to be confronted about their prejudices.

  And what does it say that Kos and company feel the need to take up this issue? Do they feel solidarity with the men who suggested slicing open and raping Kathy Sierra's throat? I seriously doubt it. You know, they're just tired of women complaining. They don't want to hear it anymore. That's fine. I'm not interested in your comfort level. The fact of the matter is that some men commit violence against women. It's global and it transcends class and culture. You think we're making this up and you think, even if we weren't, it's not important; That's what patriarchy is, dumbkopf. It's the authority to decide what does and does not matter in our society.

  Women know the truth. We know that rape jokes and mutilation fantasies are indicative of something bigger than the specific context under which they're originally made. It's not random to us. We know that for every man who makes those comments there are ten more just like him that agree with him and at least one who's willing to follow through. That's why it's worth our time and effort to speak out, to confront men about this problem.

  So I, for one, am willing to keep confronting you and repetitively bring up this issue until men get some understanding of what it is that's troubling about the hate speech and the men who defend it. You're tired of hearing about it? Well, we're tired of being an acceptable target.

  And, incidentally, I am as passionate a believer in free speech as anyone in these forums. But I also believe that everyone has a right to the consequences of their actions. It's something worth thinking about.

  —drinkwater Read drinkwater's other letters
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