These statements are made in reference to the past Dialogue on "Gender is a
Male Issue" December 11-15, 2000
I'm sorry I haven't been able to participate in this discussion; final
exams were this week and also I'm preparing to get married in a few
days...but I just thought I'd ask some questions.
Linda...do I understand you correctly that your solution to eliminating
male violence is to continue to drill into boys' heads that they are so
privileged in society and that women are so oppressed, even in the face of
overwhelming evidence to the contrary? If so, then how do you reconcile
that belief and solution with the fact that, in relationships, men are 50%
of the victims of relationship violence? Does that fit your explanation
that inequality is the root of violence?
Stephanie and List in general...I agree with you that things are being
done. However, are they the right things? In your opinion, is the
solution to demonize masculinity and change the boys themselves, taking
masculinity away from them and forcing them to be, well, girls, or is the
solution to change society's reactions to boys and masculinity and increase
social tolerance of masculinity? If it is the latter, then how do you
reconcile that with the feminist movement's discouragement of society from
tolerating masculinity? In the past, when girls experienced disadvantages,
the equity advocates did not chalk that up to "oh well, femininity is the
problem...let's change it" but rather they said "The problem is society's
attitude toward girls and femininity...let's change that." That approach
has had remarkable results for girls, why not apply that same tactic to
boys as well?
Hugs
Amber V. DeWine
your_honor@justice.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Apr 12 2002 - 15:16:00 EDT