(no subject)
Yet another sad day in Pittsburgh as the city plans a candlelight vigil for the women killed and wounded by another maniac. I can't help but think, though, if the shooter had targeted another minority group, more people would be talking about racism, jingoism, or some other "ism" to classify his hatred. Instead, he targeted women, and that's somehow easier to deal with.
During the presidential primaries last year, I heard a political analyst talking about voting for Obama vs. Clinton. He suspected it would be easier for people to vote for Obama because voters can congratulate themselves on being so open minded about voting for a black man. However, few people would congratulate themselves for voting for a woman. Race is an issue in this country. I'm not suggesting it's not. But it's a subject that can get both genders, regardless of race, talking. Gender, on the other hand, doesn't bridge that divide.
Violence against women is nothing new. Misogyny is nothing new. While many people automatically say that those things are bad, I will be shocked if somehow this incident leads to an honest discussion about violence against women in our society. We still live in a culture where women who are raped are asked if they had some part in the crime. What did she expect, wearing that skirt and having that extra drink? She must have been asking for it, right?
In less than a few months, we've had a cop killer and a women killer murder people in our city. The world is a fucking messed up place.
During the presidential primaries last year, I heard a political analyst talking about voting for Obama vs. Clinton. He suspected it would be easier for people to vote for Obama because voters can congratulate themselves on being so open minded about voting for a black man. However, few people would congratulate themselves for voting for a woman. Race is an issue in this country. I'm not suggesting it's not. But it's a subject that can get both genders, regardless of race, talking. Gender, on the other hand, doesn't bridge that divide.
Violence against women is nothing new. Misogyny is nothing new. While many people automatically say that those things are bad, I will be shocked if somehow this incident leads to an honest discussion about violence against women in our society. We still live in a culture where women who are raped are asked if they had some part in the crime. What did she expect, wearing that skirt and having that extra drink? She must have been asking for it, right?
In less than a few months, we've had a cop killer and a women killer murder people in our city. The world is a fucking messed up place.