I was pleased to read this opinion piece in The New York Times. In it, Bob Herbert discusses George Sodini's recent murderous rampage in the context of a larger society that encourages the hatred of women. He writes:
"We have become so accustomed to living in a society saturated with misogyny that the barbaric treatment of women and girls has come to be more or less expected.
We profess to being shocked at one or another of these outlandish crimes, but the shock wears off quickly in an environment in which the rape, murder and humiliation of females is not only a staple of the news, but an important cornerstone of the nation’s entertainment.
The mainstream culture is filled with the most gruesome forms of misogyny, and pornography is now a multibillion-dollar industry — much of it controlled by mainstream U.S. corporations.
One of the striking things about mass killings in the U.S. is how consistently we find that the killers were riddled with shame and sexual humiliation, which they inevitably blamed on women and girls. The answer to their feelings of inadequacy was to get their hands on a gun (or guns) and begin blowing people away."
Of course, we Know-Nothing Feminist Harpies have been Hysterically Screeching these things for years. Maybe now more people will listen to this message, coming as it does from (a) a The New York Times columnist who is (b) a man.
2) Hey, "God" Is a Real Jerk!
Via Towleroad, a pastor in Minnesota has interpreted a recent tornado in the area as a "gentle but firm warning" from "God"/"Jesus" regarding the Lutheran Church's re-consideration of the ban on gay clergy.
I always find it so unfortunate when people project onto "god" the human traits of anger, pettiness, and general assholery. It certainly doesn't convince anyone who isn't already horrified of such a "god" that such "he" is worthy of worship.
3) Re-thinking "Real" History
Renee at Womanist Musings reminds us of an inconvenient truth. Namely, that the venerable Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father And All That, was a rapist.
When I was in school, I never learned that in my Real History classes. Did you?
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