This is just beyond tears.
I’ve been reading the rare posts on this blog for a while – and they should all be read – but I seldom comment simply because words are insufficient.
I’m sure there are many more women and probably gays in similar circumstances.
All I can do is agitate for better VA funding and programs and speak up for tighter controls in the military.
And weep.
They interviewed a couple of military (Coast Guard / Marine) women who were raped as part of a promo for the new movie The Invisible War (Opening June 22 in theaters everywhere).
There is, of course, a Facebook page, too.
Not to mention: @Invisible_War and #NotInvisible.
When I am fucking a man I act and feel like a beast. A woman’s biology is no different from a man’s. It’s the patriarchy that makes it so.
“OTP – Occupy The Patriarchy” ~ me
An example of the striving of rational mankind against wild nature.
But even vaunted man is slave to his biology. We hate that. If not for that, we might achieve something. Alas, we are held back by our biology, personified as [projected onto] Woman.
I am glad to hear that you concede that a major purpose of the patriarchy is to ensure paternity.
We don’t have much choice about having to control women. They are very mysterious and may mate with other males behind our backs, muddying the paternity waters.
In no way was the passage above meant to imply that women are spiritual at all. It’s men that God saves! It’s men that strive to fulfill God’s commandments! It’s men that construct society!
Women are tethered to the earth, are tidal and emotional/irrational, and so must be tamed!
(Obviously I’m playing devil’s advocate here… But I don’t see how you can interpret what I said above to imply that women are spiritual – I said nothing of the kind).
…and yeah, it is all women’s fault! It can’t be man’s fault, can it? Nooooooo! (Still playing the devil’s advocate, in case it’s not clear).
That great misogynist?
Please, Raja, spare me any more patriarchal history.
“OTP – Occupy The Patriarchy” ~ me
So it’s all women’s fault?
This is pure patriarchal theory. Just remember that the patriarchal system is a mere blip in the history of humankind.
The only reason men want to control female sexuality is so they can ensure PATERNITY. And rather than taking equal responsibility for it, as in setting a good example, they force women to be the sole gatekeepers.
FYI, women are not entirely spiritual, loosed from the tides of nature either. We are all natural. It’s in our nature to want to CHOOSE our sexual partners. Rape (a symptom of the Patriarchy) however, completely usurps women’s natural basic instincts.
“OTP – Occupy The Patriarchy” ~ me
A popular subject illustrating the Power of Women topos is the image of Phyllis riding Aristotle.
It shows the much venerated ancient philosopher, Aristotle, having succumbed to his lust for the beautiful Phyllis, usually said to be Alexander the Great’s wife or mistress. According to a common version of the legend, Aristotle had earlier warned Alexander, his pupil, that the young man was paying too much attention to this woman. When the philosopher approached Phyllis with his own desires, she insisted, before she agreed to gratify them, that Aristotle put on a bridle and let her ride on his back around the garden. This he did, and Alexander and a companion is shown looking on. The basic moral of the story is quite clear: even so rational and learned a man as Aristotle can allow his desire for a woman to overcome his reason; he is thus reduced to behaving as beasts do.
“Women should not be enlightened or educated in any way. They should, in fact, be segregated as they are the cause of hideous and involuntary erections in holy men.â€
Maybe it’s the Camille Paglia in me, but perhaps this is part of it. We [men] are not Apollo, entirely spiritual, loosed from the tides of nature, and it bothers us. Women remind us that we [men] are natural, that we die, that most of our efforts are for naught. We hate that.
Or maybe not.
Men without principles, such that they’d join a corrupt military organization.
Synopsis
So what’s the cause of all this raping?
“OTP – Occupy The Patriarchy” ~ me
“OTP – Occupy The Patriarchy” ~ me
like you need to get out of your cloister and mingle with the lumpenproletariat. Maybe read Joe Bageant.
“people who are paying attention know what quality of folks we’re dealing with here” is all very well for educated intellectuals who do actually ‘pay attention’ (although what’s important to an uneducated, unemployed abuse victim might be different from what you pay attention to, you think maybe?).
A huge part of the country lacks education or opportunity, is severely propagandized and has a long tradition of military service. For them, joining up appears a viable option and they don’t find out what it’s all about until it’s too late.
She found out the hard way and my heart goes out to her. That yours doesn’t says more about you than about her.
And I wonder how you would fare in her shoes.
It is worth remembering that the Founding Fathers were all traitors.
by our respective conduct.
your responses are inhumane and make you no different than those you you despise.
Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart. ~ Phil Jackson
So what did she expect? What would you expect?
Do you feel all busted up about rattlesnake-handling holy rollies when they get bitten? Rattlesnakes are better people than who we’re talking about, you know.
disgusting.
Always keep an open mind and a compassionate heart. ~ Phil Jackson
but signing up for a full time goon organization is stupid.
At least since Vietnam, people who are paying attention know what quality of folks we’re dealing with here. Those who ignore reality do so at their peril, in this as in many other things.
what she was getting into when she joined up.
She was trying to get out of a bad situation and had been brainwashed to look at the military as heroic, so it seemed a viable choice.
And nothing – NOTHING! – justifies what happened to her and I personally find your blame-the-victim POV distasteful.
It is worth remembering that the Founding Fathers were all traitors.
with people (to use the term broadly) who opt into systematic violence, cruelty and brutality, then you might witness or even receive some of the same directed against you. Just like if you join a street gang, you could get beat up or shot.
I’m not saying what happened to her was just– only that it was quite predictable given the sorry cast of characters.
It’s almost as if things feminists have been saying for forty years were true or something.
because it sounds like you’re saying “she was asking for it” or “she should have known better.” In other words, it sounds like you’re blaming the victim… Was that your intention, or just poor choice of adage/words?
comes to mind.