The 7 P’s of Men’s Violence

[thucythucy]

7. Yeah, this is all pretty obvious

when one thinks about it, and yet...

One thing that perpetuates this masculine state of mind is that it is, in fact, positively reinforced. That is, in far too many cases, it works--in the sense of providing some sort of affirmation--not to mention material and sexual benefits--for perpetrators.

I don't know what the answer is, other than to keep shouting from the rooftops as best we can.

If it helps at all (and it probably doesn't), fifteen years, even fifty years, isn't such a long time in terms of winning social justice. Slavery lasted thousands of years (perhaps longer--but we know it went back at least to the beginning of recorded history) and only became seen as a rank injustice less than two centuries ago. In the US, where economic interests were so deeply tied in, it actually took a very bloody civil war to end it, and even then the underlying racism that was both underlying cause and overwhelming effect is still with us. Misogyny is every bit as entrenched, socially, economically, theologically, as slavery, and then some.

Pretty depressing. Then again, we do seem to be making some progress, I would hope. In the end, hope is pretty much all we have to console us, that and the fact that we ourselves are trying, in our own ways, to make things better. What would be worse than the current state of affairs would be--the current state of affairs, without our voices objecting.

Best wishes.