Sage, of Persephone’s Box, tagged me with a meme – the idea was to steal a letter to MPs she’d written about stopping violence against women and encourage people to send it in. She had specific proposals, some of which I disagree with (really against longer prison sentances), but most of which were important steps.
I can’t take up Sage’s tag, because I don’t have any faith that anything Sage suggests will make a difference, and I don’t have suggestions of my own.
My great grandmother was a temperance activist. From what I know of her life, I’m fairly sure that as well as being a morality statement, she took this position because of the violence she had seen.
I think she was wrong; history strongly implies restricting legal access to liquor. But sometimes, when I’m yet again overwhelmed out how little I can do about violence against women, even among the people I know, and the enormity of the problem – I’m not so sure.
At least she suggested a solution. Everything I can think of that would make a difference, is so vague, so insurmountably large, that I never know where to start.
I don’t like this; it’s not my style. I tend to believe I know how to make change and I like fighting for a better society. But I just don’t know how women can change a world that doesn’t believe we are people.
PS I’d like to say a special fuck you to the World Socialist Webiste whose review of Volver said this:
Even Volver, which is one of his lighter works, touches on a range of painful personal themes—the loss of a loved one, marital infidelity, financial difficulty, etc., but from a far too comfortable angle and with a tidy resolution that tends to trivialize the events.
I don’t know much about that movie, but I do know that child abuse, and an abusive husband play a central role in the plot. While it’s rare to see such blatent disregard of the politics of violence against women, the attitude behind it is far commoner than I can cope with among left-wing circles.
*That state in tag where you cross your fingers and can’t be tagged – may have a different name where you come from.
Note for Commenters The comments of this post are limited to feminists and feminist-friendly posters. I’d love to hear other people’s ideas about what we could do.
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Maia, I’m sort of stumped here too, and all I can think of is the old canard, “Think globally, act locally.” Most of us are not in much of a position to sway nations (though we certainly should act collectively when we can), but we are surely in a position to influence the people around us.
Not to be silent or, worse, to be accomplices, when a woman or a child – really, when anyone – is subjected to violence, whether physical or psychic, especially inside the family. Not to tolerate that kind of treatment ourselves. To speak up, especially inside the intimate group, for anyone who is being beat up on. (This can take real courage.) To be very careful that we ourselves are not perpetrating violence of any sort on anyone else. For most of us, this will occupy a lot of our attention.
But there is collective action too. That rape is treated as seriously as it is now, while this is not perfect, is a great improvement from even a generation ago, and that has been a result of collective political action, writing letters, demonstrating, getting involved in elections. That child abuse is now seen as a genuine crime – this was not always so – is the result of collective political action.
I think it’s probably best for someone inclined to get involved in political action to pick a few, optimally one, cause about which she or he feels strongly, and to really push on it. There are numerous organizations devoted to a whole variety of causes; it shouldn’t be hard to find one which addresses the issue which bothers you the most.
Don’t give up.
Paul Simon wrote a song with the line, “I can’t run, but I can walk much faster than this.” Because we have not yet achieved perfection (and aren’t likely to) does not mean we cannot produce real improvement.
I often have the same problem: it’s so easy to debunk specific causes for improvement. No matter how much I agree on a goal, I annoyingly point out the faults of their plan. But I don’t have a ready solution of my own… listening too much to opinions like mine would lock us in stasis.
I think this line is missing a few words: I think she was wrong; history strongly implies restricting legal access to liquor.