Hate crimes
Y'all might have heard the news on this by now:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/02/amish.shooting/index.html
And I'm pretty sure everyone has heard about this already:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/30/school.standoff.ap/index.html
And those are just the school shootings, which of course receive the most headlines. How many more women and girls have been killed in the last week, by people who targeted them just because they were women? How many more have been raped but managed to avoid being killed? The vast majority of rapes (and murders) are committed by people who know the victim, but stranger-rapes do happen, as was the case here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/09/22/student.slain.ap/index.html and here http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/16/text.message.rescue.ap/index.html and I could go on and on pulling up examples, but you get the idea.
And in every single one of these cases, the perpetrator is described as 'perturbed' or 'deeply disturbed' and etc. And they never mention the common thread:
Crimes against people who were targeted based solely on the color of their skin, are now considered hate crimes.
Crimes against people who were targeted based primarily on their religious beliefs, are now considered hate crimes.
Crimes against homosexuals that were targeted based solely on their sexual orientation are beginning to be considered hate crimes.
When will the legal system acknowledge that many crimes against women, crimes in which they were targeted solely because they are women, also qualify as hate crimes?
That's the first real step in acknowledging what feminists have been saying for years: that our culture encourages men to hate and despise women simply for being women; to see them as less than 'people', less worthy of basic rights and respect than men. The first step in changing that mindset is officially acknowledging it exists.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/02/amish.shooting/index.html
And I'm pretty sure everyone has heard about this already:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/30/school.standoff.ap/index.html
And those are just the school shootings, which of course receive the most headlines. How many more women and girls have been killed in the last week, by people who targeted them just because they were women? How many more have been raped but managed to avoid being killed? The vast majority of rapes (and murders) are committed by people who know the victim, but stranger-rapes do happen, as was the case here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/09/22/student.slain.ap/index.html and here http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/16/text.message.rescue.ap/index.html and I could go on and on pulling up examples, but you get the idea.
And in every single one of these cases, the perpetrator is described as 'perturbed' or 'deeply disturbed' and etc. And they never mention the common thread:
Crimes against people who were targeted based solely on the color of their skin, are now considered hate crimes.
Crimes against people who were targeted based primarily on their religious beliefs, are now considered hate crimes.
Crimes against homosexuals that were targeted based solely on their sexual orientation are beginning to be considered hate crimes.
When will the legal system acknowledge that many crimes against women, crimes in which they were targeted solely because they are women, also qualify as hate crimes?
That's the first real step in acknowledging what feminists have been saying for years: that our culture encourages men to hate and despise women simply for being women; to see them as less than 'people', less worthy of basic rights and respect than men. The first step in changing that mindset is officially acknowledging it exists.