Alas, a Blog | Feminist, anti-racist, pro-fat, plus whatever else we feel like talking about.

India: Women Rebel Against Attempt To Impose "Taliban" Style Morality

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Ampersand

An interesting, one-step-backward one-step-forward story from India.

Shock mounted across the country Wednesday as several television stations showed video footage of female police officers slapping and punching young women. The incident took place in a public park in Meerut City, about 60 kilometers east of New Delhi.

The women had been rounded up in the park with their male dates. It was part of a police operation named “Operation Romeo,” which was supposedly aimed at discouraging the sexual harassment of women.

The police conducted the operation in full view of television cameras for nearly two hours. About eight women were rounded up, some of them by male police officers, but the slapping and punching was done by female officers.

Across India, many people saw the action as something quite different, and expressions of condemnation poured in from legislators and women activists. […]

Brinda Karat, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a prominent supporter of women’s rights, expressed her outrage at what she described as misplaced priorities.

“How dare they do it? They cannot take any action against the criminals who are raping women, the extent of violence against women in nonconsensual assault is so huge, on that they don’t want to take any action, and on young couples who are spending some time together in a public place…. They want to beat up those women. We will never accept it,” she said.

In Meerut City, students held angry street protests, and burnt effigies of police officers.

The students denounced attempts by the police to turn Uttar Pradesh into what they called a “Taleban” style region.

In the face of such anger, police officials quickly distanced themselves from the operation, blaming lower-level officers and calling it a shameful incident. Two women police officers were suspended and an inquiry was promised.

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, International issues, Whatever | 9 Comments

Christmas Song Repaired

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Ampersand

Phil just called and sang me this – “the advantage of hanging out with children,” he said. I’ve never heard this one before.

Dashing through the snow
On a pair of broken skis
Down the hill we go
Crashing into trees (ow! ow! ow!)
The snow is turning red
I think I’m almost dead
That’s why I’m in this hospital
With a pole stuck in my head!

Bill O’Reilly’s gonna get them!

Posted in Whatever | 15 Comments

Another Update on the "Guilty of Insufficiently Traumatized Behavior" Case

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Ampersand

(Previous posts on this topic here and here).

The Oregonian reports that Judge Peter Ackerman is feeling a bit defensive:

BEAVERTON — A municipal judge on Monday delayed sentencing a woman convicted of filing a false rape report until after her appeal is heard in Washington County Circuit Court.

But Judge Peter Ackerman took the opportunity to defend his conviction of the woman and criticize media attention surrounding the case.

“I’m a little disgusted by the coverage of this case,” Ackerman said during the hearing. “The facts were what the facts were.”

When Ackerman convicted the woman Dec. 2, he said he relied in part on the testimony of a Beaverton police detective and friends of the girl, who said she did not appear to be traumatized in the days after the incident.

Advocates for rape victims criticized that reasoning. But Ackerman said Monday that the woman’s lawyer should have offered expert testimony to counter prosecution witnesses.

In retrospect, yes, it would have been good if they offered expert testimony (and I bet they will at the new trial). Nonetheless, the lack of expert testimony doesn’t rescue Ackerman’s ruling from being bad logic. The idea that there is a “correct” way that real rape victims must act, and that failure to act that way is proof of a malicioius false accusation, does not pass the smell test.

Commenting on the expert witness argument, Pinko Feminist Hellcat writes:

Did I miss the part of the trial where there were expert witnesses for the prosecution? An ignorant cop, a catty friend, and her dopehead, child-molester dating mother aren’t experts on rape trauma–and as law geeks love to remind us, the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

It’s good that Ackerman is feeling the heat. Hopefully, he won’t be so quick to rely on stereotypes and false assumptions the next time he rules in a rape-related case – and, even more importantly, let’s hope other judges have heard of the controversy and made a mental note to check unfair assumptions about rape vicitms at the door. If rulings like his were ever to become a norm, it would be stupid for any rape victim to ever come forward to the police.

Be sure to read this post at Preemptive Karma – the blogger actually attended the sentencing hearing. (No sentence will be carried out until after the appeal, however). And this post at Pandagon. And this post at The Balancing Act. Quote of the day, from Balancing Act:

If she hasn’t seemed traumatized yet, then I am sure this will knock some sense into her. Mission accomplished?

Moderation Note: This thread is not intended for discussion of anti-feminist theories that false rape accusations are really very common (use this thread for that), or male rape victims, or the trauma of men who are falsely accused, and similar topics. Let’s try not derailing this one.

Posted in Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | 26 Comments

Alas, a Moderation Policy

Posted on December 22, 2005 by Ampersand

NOTE: This post is now outdated. Click here to read the current policy.

(MRA, anti-feminist and right-wing guests, after reading this page read this post as well, please!)

I have a goal for the comments on “Alas.” A bunch of goals, actually.

I’d like the discussions here to be respectful. By that, I mean not merely refraining from swearing at each other all the time, but actual respect for other posters, which means treating everyone you deal with as if they were as wonderful and important a person as you yourself are.
I’d like “Alas” to not become a space where there’s nothing to be found but feminist-bashing and responses to the feminist-bashing. That doesn’t mean that posters here must agree with feminism or feminists; nor does it mean that feminists are exempt from having to respect others. It does mean that posters who in my judgement are dripping with contempt for feminists and feminism will be shown the door – even if they’re being polite on the surface. (And yes, this does create a bit of a double-standard. I can live with that.)
I’d like the right-wing, anti-feminist and non-feminist critics who post on “Alas” to be treated with respect, rather than being bullied or shouted down.
I’d like it if posters who choose to debate, attacked arguments, rather than attacking other posters. In general, following the principles of argumentation described here is a good idea.
I’d like posters here to use good formatting (remember to put in paragraph breaks every now and then!) and clean, readable prose.
I’d like it if the discussions on “Alas” were not as stupid as the discussions I’ve seen on many other internet forums.
(Added April 7th 2006). I don’t want the discussions on “Alas” dominated by anti-feminists or MRAs. Although I like have a small number of well-written opposing views on “Alas” for spice, it’s my intention that most of the discussions here be dominated by feminist and lefty views. For that reason, brand-new MRA and anti-feminist posters might not be approved to post even if as individuals they are perfectly reasonable and polite.
In other words, when I decide whether or not to let a new poster through, I decide that based not only on the quality of the individual poster but also on a desire to maintain a certain balance to the comments on “Alas” as a whole.

Please note that beginning today, nearly all of my (Ampersand’s) posts will be cross-posted on the blog “Creative Destruction”. The comments at “Creative Destruction” are open to anyone who remains civil. So right-wing, anti-feminist, and MRA folks may be better off posting comments over there.

Those are my goals for comments on “Alas.” Posters whose presence, in my opinion, push discussions on “Alas” further away from these goals may be banned at any time. Posters who in my opinion help move “Alas” closer to those goals will be given slack.

Please note that these are not “rules,” so please don’t attempt to play “rules-lawyer.” People aren’t banned based on breaking rules; they’re banned based on my perception that they’re moving “Alas” discussions away from what I’d like “Alas” discussions to be.

* * *

IMPORTANT: If you might be described as an anti-feminist, a right-winger, or a men’s rights activist, then please read this link before posting.

* * *

So that’s it – that’s the “Alas” moderation policy. I don’t claim to have consistently followed it in the past, but I’ll be trying to follow them from now on.

Here’s a few additional notes:

On moderation: I will sometimes try to moderate by asking posters to cool down. However, due to limits on my time and energy, moderation is only done in a “random spot-check” fashion. This system will of course lead to unjust outcomes, in which I criticize post A but fail to criticize post B which was ever so much more offensive. Such is life.

A note to right-wing, men’s rights activist (MRA), and anti-feminist guests: Please understand that although I encourage debate, “Alas” is not intended to be a forum for relentless feminist-bashing. As well as avoiding obvious personal attacks and insults, anti-feminists who want to post on “Alas” would be well advised to avoid snide side comments like “I know that everyone here thinks it’s okay for men to be attacked,” and other such faux-polite comments that actually indicate contempt.

Is my moderation patriarchal? Some feminists may criticize me for moderating feminists (and, specifically, female feminists) at all. I am male, with male privilege; who am I to tell women what they can say and how they can say it? Isn’t that an expression of male privilege?

It’s a point that I’ve thought hard about (and which has made me very hesitant to ban even the rudest female feminist posters). But in the end, I’m not persuaded that setting goals for civility on one small blog, is the same as limiting women’s speech generally. Any woman (or man, for that matter) who doesn’t like my approach to discussion can easily find dozens of other feminist blogs and forums.

If your post is put into moderation: Probably you shouldn’t take it personally. The anti-spam program uses a big list of words that automatically get a comment put into the “needs approval” pile. (The words or bits of words that trigger auto-moderation can be totally unexpected and hard to predict. For a while, every time someone wrote a comment using the word “socialist” it was automatically put into moderation, because the word “cialist” was on the list!)

Anyhow, once a comment is in moderation, it stays there until I approve it. And if I happen to be busy or asleep, that can unfortunately take a while . Sorry about that – but it really IS necessary. Blame the free market for creating spam.

* * *

That’s it! None of this is written in stone, however, so if you have critiques or suggestions please feel free to pipe up.

Posted in Site and Admin Stuff | 356 Comments

Misogynistic Rape Laws In Pakistan

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Ampersand

An interesting article in Voice of America discusses the state of women’s rights in Pakistan. In some ways, women’s rights are flourishing, especially in the cities, where women’s relatively rapid economic advancement is driving a lot of local women’s rights activism. At the same time, rural areas are remain reactionary, supporting woman-hating practices like forced marriages and “honor” killings.

One focus of Pakistani feminist activism is “the country’s most controversial Islamic law, known as the Hudood Ordinance,” which activists are trying to have overturned.

Under the ordinance, women who fail to prove rape claims are charged with committing adultery, a criminal offense.

Trial lawyer and women’s advocate Jamila Aslam says the laws protect rapists and punish the victims.

“You find most women will not report the rape because they don’t expect to get justice. They go to the police station. Chances are if she’s pretty, she’ll be raped by the policeman. Second, they’ll say, oh, you’re a culprit because a sexual act has been performed. It’s a man’s world out here,” added Ms. Aslam.

She says the law has sent more than 20,000 mostly innocent women to prison.

But religious groups in Pakistan strongly oppose any changes to the law, saying it protects core Islamic values.

Unfortunately, the police and the president are firmly, and sometimes violently, misogynistic. The courage of women’s activists in Pakistan is stunning. From the International Herald Tribune:

“Teach the bitch a lesson. Strip her in public.” As one of the police officers told me, these were the orders issued by their bosses. The police beat the woman with batons in the full glare of the news media, tore her shirt off and, though they failed to take off her baggy trousers, certainly tried their best. The ritual public humiliation over, she and others – some bloodied – were dragged screaming and protesting to police vans and taken away to police stations.

This didn’t happen to some unknown student or impoverished villager. This happened to Asma Jahangir, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion and head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the country’s largest such nongovernmental group. The setting: a glitzy thoroughfare in Lahore’s upmarket Gulberg neighborhood. The crime: attempting to organize a symbolic mixed-gender mini-marathon on May 14. […]

In Washington and London, Musharraf presents himself as the face of enlightenment; in Pakistan there is another face. The Bush administration, Musharraf’s chief backer, should realize that its friend in the war on terror came to power in a coup, continues to hold office without facing Pakistani voters, refuses to schedule a vote, and bans women from running in mixed-gender races. Those who stand for the values of human rights and democracy that the Bush administration calls universal are seen as the enemy within and are beaten on the streets.

The website Fiscal Study has put together a good collection of short articles about women’s rights in Pakistan (from which I swiped the photo at the top of this post). If you’ve got a few minutes, it’s well worth reading.

What’s striking to me is that Pakistani culture isn’t a monolith of misogyny, which is how it’s sometimes portrayed. The Pakistani women’s rights activists are as much a part of their culture as the misogynists are, and the feminist protestors pictured at the top of this post are as important an image of Pakistani womanhood as the more often seen photos of veiled women. The US should be looking for ways to support feminist activism in Pakistan, rather than just supporting a misogynistic head of state.

Posted in International issues, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | 17 Comments

Various Links and Open Thread

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Ampersand

What I’ve been reading lately…. Please leave comments about, well, anything. And as always, feel free to post links, to your own stuff or to other folks’ stuff.

The Fifth Carnival of Feminists Is Up!

How Magazine Covers Are Retouched
This enjoyable site graphically demonstrates, with bef0re-and-after clicking, how much the cover photos of fashion magazines are retouched. It’s pretty impressive – the breast makeover is particularly ridiculous looking. Curtsy: The F-Word.

New Anti-Prostitution Bill Targets Johns
Interesting article in the Washington Post about a new federal anti-prostitution bill, which is aimed at reducing demand. “…In addition to funding shelters for ex-prostitutes and sponsoring a statistical survey of prostitution, it would authorize $25 million a year to law enforcement to reduce demand. Techniques would include using female decoys, posting pictures of johns on the Internet and establishing “john schools” to reeducate sex clients.”

Harold Pinter Speech On American Wrongdoing
Historical Conflict posts excerpts from a recent Harold Pinter speech, which (at least in the bits quoted) concentrates on the ills the US has done in Central America, and on the seemingly infinite American capacity to ignore and forget any harms done by the US.

Statistics I Used In An Earlier Post Under Question
The excellent Doctor Science brings up some statistics contrary to the ones I cited in this post about the “Boy Crisis.” The good Doctor also provides a link to this report from the American Council on Education (.pdf link), which is where the stats I used apparently came from (the report concludes that race and class, more than sex, is where the most crucial educational disparities lie). For a discussion of the statistics, read the comments at Rachels Tavern.

Teen Pregnancy Down
Gruntled Center reports that teen pregnancy rates are dropping. He also cites a study which found that half the drop is because of better birth control; a quarter because of increased abstinence; and a quarter because non-abstinent teens are having sex less often than they used to.

The Grossest Pet Story Ever
Scroll down about a screen and you can read it. But it’s really gross. Curtsy: Grand Mental Station.

UMASS Student Questioned by Federal Agents For Studying Mao Tse-Tung
From the article: “I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the official Peking version of the book,” Professor Pontbriand said. “Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because that’s what triggered the visit, as I understand it.”
UPDATE: Turns out this story is a hoax – the student made it up.

Professor Files Complaint Against A Muslim Printer Repair Guy Who Wrote A Homophobic Email
I hate homophobia, but homophobes should still have free speech rights – including the right to respond negatively to an unsolicited pro-queer email. This professor (who is, I cringe upon reading, the head of the Women’s Studies Department) showed appallingly bad judgement in filing charges.

Darwin Wins In Dover

Susan Faludi is Cool
“My goal is to be accused of being strident.” – Susan Faludi.

Pentagon Threatened By Queer Kissing
From the article: Several groups are criticizing the Pentagon after press reports claimed it has been spying on civilian groups, including student groups opposed to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel. […] A “don’t ask, don’t tell” protest at the University of California at Santa Cruz that featured a gay kiss-in was labeled by the Pentagon as a “credible threat” of terrorism. (Hat tip: Shakespeare’s Sister).

Patriarchy Shaken in Small Croatian Village
From the article: Women in a Croatian village have seized power from their lazy menfolk in local elections.

After their success, the women of Lozisca on the island of Brac vowed “to let the men back into our beds, but never back into politics”.

They won all seven seats on the local council after deciding they were sick of seeing the village men doing nothing for the community. (Curtsy: Shakespeare’s Sister.)

Video of Shirtless Jocks Lip Synching “Turn Around, Bright Eyes”
I find it strangely compelling. Be sure to watch their version of Love Lifts, as well. Hat tip: Robert.

Fat Phobia In Small Children – What’s a Liberal Mom To Do?
Two interesting posts from LA Mom (here and here) about the disturbing emergence of anti-fat bigotry in her son.

Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers and Walt Disney
Really interesting article about how the creator of Mary Poppins agreed to let Disney make the movie – even though Disney, of course, made changes she found appalling. Also, it turns out the end of the movie was intended by Disney to be anti-suffragette – I had no idea.

Middle-Ground Proposals To Reduce Abortion
Gruntled Center has two proposals that he thinks both pro-lifers and pro-choicers can support: The “95-10” plan, which attempts to reduce abortion by reducing the demand in non-coercive ways, such as providing more on-campus resources (such as daycare) for college students with children.

From Gruntled Center: The 95-10 proposal has the ambitious aim to reduce the number of abortions by 95% in ten years. The program starts with better education about birth prevention, the pregnancy support that is already available, the extent of the national abortion rate, and counseling and daycare on campus, an issue I wrote about recently. The act would then make existing adoption tax credits permanent, ban jacking up insurance rates for the “pre-existing condition” of pregnancy (as if it were a disease), and increase funding against domestic violence, as murder is the leading cause of death for pregnant women. The 95-10 proposal does not end with the child’s birth, though; the act would fully fund the Women, Infants, and Children program, and require the successful State Child Health Insurance Programs to include pregnant women and their babies.

Tilda Swanson is Awesome
I saw The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and liked it – it was a reasonably faithful adaptation of the novel. But I can’t say I loved it; it was loads of fun, but nonetheless felt uninspired. The best thing in it was Tilda Swanson’s astounding, scary performance as The White Witch. I’m not sure if it passes The Mo Movie Measure or not; it depends on whether or not discussing a deceased male God counts as discussing a man.

Lose Weight Or You’ll Be Forced To Date Black Men!
Back in August, Kim posted about the anti-fat diatribes of Dr. Terry Bennett. Now it turns out his standard speech also includes a racial component:

In the obesity complaint, Bennett is quoted as saying: “If your husband were to die tomorrow -who would want you? . . . Well, men might want you, but not the types that you want to want you -Might even be a black guy!”

Bennett explains that only a racist would find that racist. Via Pinko Feminist Hellcat and Echidne.

Congratulations to Lab Cat!
…Who has had a short story nominated for a Ray Bradbury award.

Posted in Elections and politics, Fat, fat and more fat, International issues, Link farms, Popular (and unpopular) culture, Race, racism and related issues, Sex work, porn, etc | 22 Comments

Researchers find widespread Barbie mutilation

Posted on December 21, 2005 by Ampersand

From an A.P. article:

LONDON – Barbie, beware. The iconic plastic doll is often mutilated at the hands of young girls, according to research published Monday by British academics. “The girls we spoke to see Barbie torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a ‘cool’ activity,” said Agnes Nairn, one of the University of Bath researchers. “The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving.”

Researchers from the university’s marketing and psychology departments questioned 100 children about their attitudes to a range of products as part of a study on branding. They found Barbie provoked the strongest reaction, with youngsters reporting “rejection, hatred and violence,” Nairn said.

“The meaning of ‘Barbie’ went beyond an expressed antipathy; actual physical violence and torture towards the doll was repeatedly reported, quite gleefully, across age, school and gender,” she said.

I find it interesting that Barbie is apparently hated and mutilated more often than other toys (including, one presumes, other female dolls). And I have to admit, I love the idea of gleeful little girls microwaving Barbies to death.

UPDATE: Be sure to read this post on Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty.

Posted in Whatever | 34 Comments

A Bit More on The Second Sex

Posted on December 20, 2005 by Ampersand

As I argued in a post last week, U.S. copyright law has enabled Knopf, the original publisher of the English-language version of The Second Sex, to prevent any new translations from being published. This is a problem, because the English translation Knopf uses is both inaccurate and incoherant.

There is an online petition asking Knopf (and its owner, Random House) to allow a new translation to be published. So far, only 137 people have signed it; “Alas” readers should be able to double that easily. So please, as a favor to me, if you enjoy “Alas” at all; take 20 seconds and go and sign the petition.

* * *

I just ran across an excellent (but very long) article on the subject, “While We Wait: The English Translation of The Second Sex,” by Toril Moi. The article includes some examples of bad translation, many of which require a background in formal philosophy to appreciate. Some, however, are obviously outragious even to non-expert readers.

Beauvoir: “En refusant des attributs fÃ©minins, on n’acquiert pas des attributs virils; mÃªme la travestie ne rÃ©ussit pas Ã faire d’elle-mÃªme un homme: c’est une travestie.” (DS, 2:601)

Literal translation: “One does not acquire virile attributes by rejecting female [feminine] attributes; even a transvestite doesn’t manage to turn herself into a man…she remains a transvestite.”

Knopf: “One does not acquire virile attributes by rejecting feminine attributes; even the transvestite fails to make a man of herself…she is a travesty.” (SS, 682″“83)

And here’s another one, from Knopf’s translation of de Beauvoir’s introduction:

Beauvoir: “La lÃ©gende qui prÃ©tend que les Sabines ravies ont opposÃ© Ã leurs ravisseurs une stÃ©rilitÃ© obstinÃ©e, raconte ausssi qu’en les frappant de laniÃ¨res de cuir les hommes ont eu magiquement raison de leur rÃ©sistance.” (DS, 1:20)9

Literal translation: “The legend that claims that the ravished Sabine women opposed their ravishers with stubborn sterility, also tells us that the men magically overcame their resistance by beating them with leather straps.”

Knopf: “In the legend of the Sabine women, the latter soon abandoned their plan of remaining sterile to punish their ravishers.” (SS, xxvi)

Moi, who has worked hard at talking to Knopf, also briefly discusses the publishing situation:

Ultimately, then, the answer to the question of why we can’t get a new, complete translation of The Second Sex does not come down to the finer points of translation theory or to Beauvoir’s or Parshley’s intentions: it comes down to publishing policy, and so, ultimately, to money. In their letters to me, Knopf/Vintage imply that it will cost too much to do a new translation, let alone a proper scholarly edition. There just is not a market for that kind of investment, they say. Yet they do not say that the current text is selling so badly that it is on the point of going out of print. It is obviously selling well enough to make the idea of letting another publisher do a proper edition look unattractive. According to Knopf/Vintage, we’re in a double bind: the book sells too well to go out of print but not well enough to warrant a new edition. The status quo can be prolonged forever; interested readers will just have to learn French. […]

My understanding is that Gallimard, Beauvoir’s French publishers, want a new English translation.39 Unfortunately, it appears unlikely that they have the necessary legal grounds on which to challenge Knopf. In May 2000 Continuum/Athlone in London asked Gallimard for rights to do an academic edition of The Second Sex. In March 2001, the Modern Library (another division of Random House) in New York inquired about rights for a new translation. Neither publisher received a reply. At the moment, then, there simply is no way around Knopf and Vintage. Although they have full knowledge of all the evidence to the contrary, editors at both imprints continue to insist that there really is no need for a new translation. There is no need to elaborate on what this tells us about the state of commercial publishing in America.

* * *

On a mailing list I read, there’s a rumour going about that Knopf has reached an agreement to allow a new translation, but so far no one has been able to confirm the rumour. In the meanwhile, I’d encourage people to sign the petition anyway, since it certainly won’t do any harm.

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, Free speech, censorship, copyright law, etc. | 23 Comments

Violence Against Women Act passes!

Posted on December 19, 2005 by Ampersand

Good news – VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act) has passed reauthorization in both the Senate and the House, with a 20% increase in funding. It will not have to be reauthorized again until 2010.

VAWA, among other things, funds grants to shelters and other programs assisting victims of domestic violence. It also funds some high-quality federal research on subjects like rape, domestic violence, and stalking, which although not the most important thing VAWA does, is one reason I’m such a big fan of it.

This Mother Jones article will give interested readers a sense of the stuff VAWA funds. If you’re really interested, you can also read over the testimony given at the US Senate Committee Meeting on VAWA.

Another interesting change: Men’s Right’s Advocates succeeded in getting some new language put into VAWA:

In this part, and in any other Act of Congress, unless the context unequivocally requires otherwise, a provision authorizing or requiring the Department of Justice to make grants, or to carry out other activities, for assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, sexual assault, or trafficking in persons, shall be construed to cover grants that provide assistance to female victims, male victims, or both.

I’m glad that provision has been added; I’m not convinced that VAWA was being generally applied in a way that excluded men (despite the unfortunate title, most of VAWA is written in scrupulously gender-neutral language), but having nondiscrimination explicitly stated in the legislation is still a good thing.

On the other hand, it worries me that some of the MRAs who are happy over this new language see it as the first step towards eliminating VAWA entirely. Here’s an exchange from a men’s rights forum:

RUSS: Actually I would like to see VAWA disappear, not just word-adjusted… government is intruding WAY TOO MUCH into people’s personal lives and defining too many situations which should be left to the parties involved as ‘criminal’… ”

DR. EVIL: Of course we would all like to see it disappear. You can’t stop a runaway freight train by snapping your fingers. We needed this to start the process of slowing it down. This is an important first step. There is more planned. We are on our way.

So much for the claim that MRAs aren’t seeking to defund shelters for women. (To be fair, perhaps the MRAs quoted above – despite Dr. Evil’s statement – don’t speak for all MRAs).

UPDATE: Dr. Evil has implied that he wants to eliminate VAWA but somehow replace the funding VAWA provides to shelters. So he’s anti-VAWA, but pro-funding-shelters. My apologies to Dr. Evil for my misunderstanding.

Posted in Anti-feminists and their pals, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | 79 Comments