“Women have no rights, Don, except what men allow us. Men are more aggressive and powerful, and they run the world. …”
…
“Men and women aren’t different species, Ruth. Women do everything men do.”
“Do they?” .. She mutters something that could be “My Lai” and looks away. “All the endless wars …” Her voice is a whisper. “All the huge authoritarian organizations for doing unreal things. Men live to struggle against each other; we’re just part of the battlefields. It’ll never change unless you change the whole world. …”
…
“For Christ’s sake, Ruth, they’re aliens!” [when she asks to go with them]
“I’m used to it,” she says absently. …
from “The Women Men Don’t See,” James Tiptree, Jr.
*
“Intelligence simply hasn’t evolved there,” they reported. “Social structure is at the level of crude incubation ritual with some migratory clanning. Frankly, it looks unnestworthy. A pesky lot of mammals have clobbered up the place with broken shells. Of interest only to students of pseudo-evolution.”
“Many government webpages that have the word “climate” in them have been removed in recent days, particularly at EPA, where on Jan. 27, all information about climate change was removed from its homepage and other prominent areas of its website, burying it deep in sections that are harder to find.”
“Is there a moral or logical justification for a creator to weild capricious power of life and death over his creations?” from “Stones of Significance”
So I watched American Tragedy (purporting to explain the American tragedy of school shooting) last night—actually I fast-forwarded through a lot because it was so superficial and, thus, boring, ignoring the elephants in the room.
As soon as a boy enters puberty, his body goes into testosterone overload and almost overnight, he sees females as fuckable or unfuckable. End of story. So, Mom, all of the love you give—doesn’t matter. You don’t matter. Anymore. End of story.
Most cultures exacerbate this tsunami by insisting that real men are cold and aggressive. The boy’s father is shown only three times (at least, I saw him only three times):
(i) once simply standing beside his wife, the boy’s mother—as if that proves he’s a good husband and father; he’s a breadwinner, he has a job, he’s making money for the wife and kids; apparently that’s all that matter (how convenient, as he’d be doing that anyway, without wife and kids—he’d still have to pay rent, buy food and water …); we never see the man interacting with his wife, let alone talking with her about matters of substance; we also never see him interacting with his son, let alone talking to him about matters of substance
(ii) twice I saw the man’s face: it was completely devoid of warmth, and marked by a frown, no doubt permanent, suggesting seriousness and disapproval, possibly anger; anything else is unacceptable for a real man
(iii) the only time I saw enthusiasm, perhaps even joy, was when he was watching a football game on tv—that’s the only time men are allowed enthusiasm, perhaps even joy
(One of the women interviewed said the problem is both guns and mental illness, but she failed to see that we raise our young boys to become men, who are by definition mentally ill.)
So of course young boys become cold and aggressive; all the good stuff is flooded over by testosterone and shamed out of them by dead dads and jocks; no surprise, they want to kill themselves and others.
Hopefully every high school has at least one male teacher who is a decent human being, one male adult who has survived puberty and the relentless cultural pressure to become otherwise. Such teachers should start ‘Decent Human Being’ clubs for the boys, so they have a community right from grade nine all the way to graduation, a community that will help them. Because boys clearly need help. To maintain their humanity, to become decent human beings.
When we talk to/about men and condoms, we say ‘Use protection’, but when we talk to/about women about various options, we say ‘Use contraception’. The difference is NOT insignificant.
In the second case, we’re talking about preventing conception, about not becoming pregnant, about not becoming a parent.
In the first case, we’re talking about protection from disease. THAT’S what men are concerned about. Not becoming a parent. (I guess because they have no intention of being a responsible one.)
(And, what, they assume that any woman who has sex with them is having sex with dozens of men and so is infected? From one or more of those dozens of men, I’ll point out. And they assume that women are promiscuous because they themselves are?)
"We License Plumbers and Pilots - Why Not Parents?"At Issue: Is Parenthood a Right or a Privilege? ed. Stefan Kiesbye (Greenhaven, 2009); Current Controversies: Child Abuse, ed. Lucinda Almond (Thomson/Gale, 2006); Seattle Post-Intelligencer (October 2004)
"A Humanist View of Animal Rights"New Humanist September 99; The New Zealand Rationalist and Humanist Winter 98; Humanist in Canada Winter 97
have been previously published in Canadian Woman Studies, Herizons, Humanist in Canada, The Humanist, and The Philosopher's Magazine - contact Peg for acknowledgement details.
ImpactAn extended confrontation between a sexual assault victim and her assailants, as part of an imagined slightly revised court process, in order to understand why they did what they did and, on that basis, to make a recommendation to the court regarding sentence does not go … as expected.
What Happened to TomTom, like many men, assumes that since pregnancy is a natural part of being a woman, it’s no big deal: a woman finds herself pregnant, she does or does not go through with it, end of story. But then …
Aiding the EnemyWhen Private Ann Jones faces execution for “aiding the enemy,” she points to American weapons manufacturers who sell to whatever country is in the market.
Bang BangWhen a young boy playing “Cops and Robbers” jumps out at a man passing by, the man shoots him, thinking the boy’s toy gun is real. Who’s to blame?
ForeseeableAn awful choice in a time of war. Whose choice was it really?
Exile (full-length drama) Finalist, WriteMovies; Quarterfinalist, Fade-In.
LJ lives in a U . S. of A., with a new Three Strikes Law: first crime, rehab; second crime, prison; third crime, you’re simply kicked out – permanently exiled to a designated remote area, to fend for yourself without the benefits of society. At least he used to live in that new U. S. of A. He’s just committed his third crime.
What Happened to Tom (full-length drama) Semifinalist, Moondance.
This guy wakes up to find his body’s been hijacked and turned into a human kidney dialysis machine – for nine months.
Aiding the Enemy (full-length drama and short drama)
When Private Ann Jones faces execution for “aiding the enemy,” she points to American weapons manufacturers who sell to whatever country is in the market.
Bang Bang (short drama 30min) Finalist, Gimme Credit; Quarter-finalist, American Gem.
When a young boy playing “Cops and Robbers” jumps out at a man passing by, the man shoots him, thinking the boy’s toy gun is real. Who’s to blame?
Foreseeable (short drama 30min)
An awful choice in a time of war. Whose choice was it really?
What is Wrong with this Picture?
Nothing. There’s no reason women can’t be the superordinates and men the subordinates. But life’s not like that (yet).
Minding Our Own Business A collection of skits (including “The Price is Not Quite Right,” “Singin’ in the (Acid) Rain,” “Adverse Reactions,” “The Band-Aid Solution,” and “See Jane. See Dick.”) with a not-so-subtle environmental message
Rot in Hell A soapbox zealot and an atheist face off…
