katie roiphe/rosalind coward

dhorne at bc.sympatico.ca dhorne at bc.sympatico.ca
Mon Jun 21 19:12:48 PDT 1999


At 11:08 AM 6/21/1999 -0700, you wrote:
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>Jim asked Kelley
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>>Did you really have three child
>>abusing neighbours? What neighbourhood was that?

Could have been mine. Naw. Just kidding. Here's my list. Three of my close friends have been raped. Two other of my close friends were sexually abused. One [I'm happy to report] just got her doctorate. The other [I'm unhappy to report] killed herself a few years ago. My favourite prof [best teacher I ever had] turned out to be chronic spouse abuser, three at last count. His fourth wife was a grad student of feminist persuasion. The first time she got hit, she picked up a nearby single malt bottle and broke it over his head. One of my former students was abucted by her axe welding ex and later had her head bisected in the back of an SUV. The perps? Males all.
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>and later posted an article from Rosalind Coward that had this:
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>>Around me, I saw fathers who were very hands-on and trying just as
>>hard as women to work and be good parents. These men were making huge
>>changes but they were being given little credit for their efforts. No
>>wonder that last week academic research was published showing that
>>contemporary fathers feel under enormous strain.

Well, who doesn't feel strain these days? Two worker families tend to feel strain especially with drugs and violence and economic uncertainty and......... But there is no use denying that some men are uncomfortable with feminism and its perceived results. Not unexpected. When power relationships change people who feel that they're losing power tend to react with fear and resentment. Boy...how profound was "that"! Maybe I should turn my attention to solving problems in the Balkans.
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>Jim, what neighborhood does Coward live in? What academic research is she
>referring to? Do you accept her sweeping generalizations that, at least in
>this article, are mostly supported by anecdotes? If so is this consistent
>with calling Kelley (mistakenly I think) on making a generalization from
>the list of abuses she posted?

Saying all feminists believe the same things is exactly the same as saying that all marxists believe the same thing.Pretty damned silly. As far as marxism goes there are half a dozen versions current in our immediate circle. As far was feminism goes there are a half dozen versions current in our immediate circle.

Are men inherently violent? No. They are socialized to be violent. Write on the blackboard five hundred times: Biologial determinism sucks.

You are what your society makes you. Has there ever been a year in recorded history in which the world has been totally at peace? Has there ever been a year in recorded history when women haven't been brutalized just because they're women? Probably not and probably not. Sigh. We have a long way to go.

That...would be a.....three.

David H.


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