And now a public service announcement.
At the moment, all kinds of hell are raining down on Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann on Twitter over remarks Moore made on Olbermann's show regarding the rape allegations against Julian Assange. This all started when blogger Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown called Moore and Olbermann out, and escalated after Olbermann engaged and Moore ignored it. Although I agree that both Olbermann and Moore were way out of line, I have stayed out of the fray, primarily because there is a lot of slime and bullshit being slung around by both sides, and I honestly do not have the energy, patience, or Copious Free Time to engage with two angry mobs right now.
But then, today, Sady posted this:
And now I’m being accused of working for the CIA. Also on no fucking evidence, as it turns out. I’m being called names, and screamed at by hundreds of people every day, I’m being harassed, I’m being threatened, I’m scared for my physical safety to the point that I’m looking up dudes and seeing exactly what ‘stalking’ consists of in case I have to press charges...
And I knew I had to say something. We all have hot-button issues that compel us to speak out, and this is one of mine. Simply put:
If you are being stalked, if you are being threatened, if you are in a situation where you are in fear for your safety, it is time to buy a gun. Get a 12-gauge for the house, and if you live in a jurisdiction that actually gives half a shit about women's right to defend themselves, get yourself a handgun suitable for concealed carry. In fact, get one anyway. Check out Second Amendment Sisters' list of instructors, or find a friend who can spend a few hours with you at the range, or just walk into one of your local gun ranges and tell whoever's behind the counter that you're being threatened and you want to learn to defend yourself. Learn how to draw and fire at close range, and make a plan for how you'll use the layout of your home defensively if an attacker tries to confront you there, and practice like you're gonna play.
You want to know what the patriarchy is? News flash: it has fuck-all to do with a buttertroll alt-media whore or his mainstream media enablers. The patriarchy is scaremongering do-gooders who try to convince you that "if you have a gun your attacker will just take it away from you and shoot you with it," when the truth is that an eleven-year-old girl can evade and run off a group of armed intruders with a rifle she first picked up mere days before, without ever firing a shot. (That happened last week, by the way.) The Man is exploiting your fear to keep you down, but you don't have to take it. Self-defense is a human right, a women's right, a gay right, a civil right. Anyone trying to frighten you into giving up that right, regardless of how progressive they may otherwise purport to be, is not your ally. neo-prodigy can tell you all about bullshit allies, and I'll paraphrase his beatdown to "helpful" meddlers because the brother knows how to preach it:
It's not about what you want. It's about the world we live in. Until sexism and violence against women is a thing of the past. Spare your Sensitive Liberal Dude tears, check your privilege, and sitcho ass down. Because you're now becoming part of the problem.
I left a comment very much like the two paragraphs above on Tiger Beatdown earlier today. Several hours and many other comments later, it's still in the moderation queue, and I sadly suspect it will remain there, unposted. I'm not kidding about the sad part. Sady's blog gets a lot of traffic, and a huge amount of it is in the demographic of people who need to hear this -- women who have been hurt, women who are afraid, women who express their gratitude that someone understands that they've been raped. Women who need to know that is not merely okay to fight back, it is right to fight back, with whatever amount of force is necessary. Women who aren't getting that message as part of their diet of feminist blogs and mainstream patronization. Women who have the sacred right to protect their lives and their loved ones, and who might need to hear that from someone else before taking the initiative to learn how.
If the patriarchy is about men trying to take agency away from women, then being able to defend oneself effectively is the most radical of radical acts. You already know Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann aren't going to defend you. You already know that the police and the media aren't going to defend you beforehand and they aren't going to make it any easier after the fact. But you can do what isn't expected of you: take back the power. Stand tall, take courage from your moral and legal rights, and answer intimidation with confidence in your knowledge that no one can silence you. If necessary, answer it with lead.
"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
But then, today, Sady posted this:
And now I’m being accused of working for the CIA. Also on no fucking evidence, as it turns out. I’m being called names, and screamed at by hundreds of people every day, I’m being harassed, I’m being threatened, I’m scared for my physical safety to the point that I’m looking up dudes and seeing exactly what ‘stalking’ consists of in case I have to press charges...
And I knew I had to say something. We all have hot-button issues that compel us to speak out, and this is one of mine. Simply put:
If you are being stalked, if you are being threatened, if you are in a situation where you are in fear for your safety, it is time to buy a gun. Get a 12-gauge for the house, and if you live in a jurisdiction that actually gives half a shit about women's right to defend themselves, get yourself a handgun suitable for concealed carry. In fact, get one anyway. Check out Second Amendment Sisters' list of instructors, or find a friend who can spend a few hours with you at the range, or just walk into one of your local gun ranges and tell whoever's behind the counter that you're being threatened and you want to learn to defend yourself. Learn how to draw and fire at close range, and make a plan for how you'll use the layout of your home defensively if an attacker tries to confront you there, and practice like you're gonna play.
You want to know what the patriarchy is? News flash: it has fuck-all to do with a buttertroll alt-media whore or his mainstream media enablers. The patriarchy is scaremongering do-gooders who try to convince you that "if you have a gun your attacker will just take it away from you and shoot you with it," when the truth is that an eleven-year-old girl can evade and run off a group of armed intruders with a rifle she first picked up mere days before, without ever firing a shot. (That happened last week, by the way.) The Man is exploiting your fear to keep you down, but you don't have to take it. Self-defense is a human right, a women's right, a gay right, a civil right. Anyone trying to frighten you into giving up that right, regardless of how progressive they may otherwise purport to be, is not your ally. neo-prodigy can tell you all about bullshit allies, and I'll paraphrase his beatdown to "helpful" meddlers because the brother knows how to preach it:
It's not about what you want. It's about the world we live in. Until sexism and violence against women is a thing of the past. Spare your Sensitive Liberal Dude tears, check your privilege, and sitcho ass down. Because you're now becoming part of the problem.
I left a comment very much like the two paragraphs above on Tiger Beatdown earlier today. Several hours and many other comments later, it's still in the moderation queue, and I sadly suspect it will remain there, unposted. I'm not kidding about the sad part. Sady's blog gets a lot of traffic, and a huge amount of it is in the demographic of people who need to hear this -- women who have been hurt, women who are afraid, women who express their gratitude that someone understands that they've been raped. Women who need to know that is not merely okay to fight back, it is right to fight back, with whatever amount of force is necessary. Women who aren't getting that message as part of their diet of feminist blogs and mainstream patronization. Women who have the sacred right to protect their lives and their loved ones, and who might need to hear that from someone else before taking the initiative to learn how.
If the patriarchy is about men trying to take agency away from women, then being able to defend oneself effectively is the most radical of radical acts. You already know Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann aren't going to defend you. You already know that the police and the media aren't going to defend you beforehand and they aren't going to make it any easier after the fact. But you can do what isn't expected of you: take back the power. Stand tall, take courage from your moral and legal rights, and answer intimidation with confidence in your knowledge that no one can silence you. If necessary, answer it with lead.
"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama