Women At Risk

[Rosemary House]

Bob Herbert comments on the recent killing of three Pennsylvania women by a man who hated women and wanted them dead. Herbert's analysis is fearless: "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. 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."
Read the whole article in the New York Times:

[Rosemary House]

Thank you my dear. And I guess the whole point of a patriarchal system that has lasted since the dawn of time is that it is amazingly powerful and pervasive. Twenty years ago it was quite cool and even obligatory in political/artistic/academic circles to be proudly feminist. But then women were told that the battles were all won and any more discussion, complaint, controversy gradually became taboo. Feminism became ridiculous. Hence the log-line on this site - for women (and men!) who dare to call themselves feminists. It is always the same thing - if someone makes a racist/sexist remark in conversation and you complain, you are accused of being sadly behind the times, way to serious, stupidly contrarian, Lighten up! It's just a joke. It is bullying indeed and suddenly you are so far away from a reasonable discussion you just have to give up. But I think part of society's never ending attempts to ensure that women continue to be available as merchandise, as a highly saleable, highly profitable commodity, is to also make us think we are alone in our weird concerns about the way this is all going! But we are here to say, no, we're not alone! There are others who think the same way....

[Missiz]

Hey,

Somehow I missed this post. Thanks for putting it up Rosemary. I have of late been increasingly eaten up by exactly what we are talking about here and in other fora started by Jacqueline, myself and others. I have been getting pretty depressed by my feeling of being ALONE in this perspective, with so many people responding with what is, essentially a suggestion that I "lighten up".

in Ariel Levy's Raunch Culture book, she describes a scene at a dinner to honour HBO president of Documentary and Family Programming, Sheila Nevins, who made the "25 Smartest women in America" list along with the likes of Susan Sontag.

During the Q&A, a woman asked her about the late-night show "G-String Divas", which includes "tips" from strippers and hookers, sandwiched between extended T&A sequences. The exchange went like this:

Q: "Why would a woman - a middle aged woman with a child - make a show about strippers?"

A: "You're talking fifties talk! Get with the Program! I love the sex stuff! What's the big deal?"

Q: (shaken) "Why is it still the case that if we're going to have a series about women on television, it has to be about their bodies and their sexuality?" [my note: this show is not about their sexuality, but about their job to act out a male sexual fantasy. But anyway...]

A: Why is it that women will still go after a woman taking off her clothes and not the injustices in the workplace? I don't get it! As if women taking off their clothes was disgusting and degrading. Not being able to feed your family is disgusting and degrading!"

Q; "But..."

A: (interrupting) "Everyone has to bump and grind for what they want. Their bodies are their instrument and if I had that body, I'd play it like a Stradivarius!"

Q: "But..."

A: (interrupting again) "The women are beautiful and the men are fools. What's the problem?"

Q: "But you are not answering my question."


Not many people want to have the question asked and will use this kind of bullying tactic to silence the questioner. I have to say that I am so grateful for the 48th, which feels to me like one of the few safe spaces where I can express my opinions and concerns about what feels like a regression from where we were twenty years ago in terms of open dialogue and support.

So thanks Rosemary, Jacqueline and all the rest here. It makes a difference.

[Rosemary House]

Thanks Jacqueline. You have put it very well. I just saw this on Mona Eltahawy's blog, Egyptian feminists, and will put it up on the Main I think:

"To appreciate the absurdity of what it can mean to be a Muslim woman today you need a few fools.
Enter stage right: German judge Christa Datz-Winter whose claim to infamy was her refusal to grant a fast-track divorce to a German Muslim woman who had complained that her husband beat her. The judge said both partners came from a “Moroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife,” and she cited passages in the Quran that she said sanction physical abuse." Something, hey?

[Jacqueline Hynes]

Great post Rosemary-It's really astonishing that I have been reading similar articles for years now about the need to view misogyny as an issue to be dealt with as opposed to being a commentary on how women are viewed. And I think Bob Herbert is right about our tolerance and acceptance of it as a society. We expect women to be treated this way because they have been for so long. It's not a surprise and that worries me. We are very good at adjusting as a society and that may be one of our problems.