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Topic: Sisterhood of Perpetual Victims:
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rural - Francesca
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14858
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posted 23 January 2008 07:13 AM
Cry Me a River of Votesmy response Letter to the editor So in today's column I get: "Aside to the Sisterhood of Perpetual Victims: you might not want to read any further. There's some violence in the following true stories." (it's not online yet, but I'll post the link if and when they post the column) My letter to the editor appeared in Tuesday's paper, and I got a few emails and a couple of phone calls about it, all male, all telling me to "keep going" and "well done". I'm thinking of making Sisterhood of Perpetual Victims my signature line on one of my email addresses!
From: the backyard | Registered: Dec 2007
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rural - Francesca
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14858
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posted 30 January 2008 10:05 AM
This actually made a 'teaser' banner on the top (masthead?) of the newspaper.Written by one of my favourite people Follow up letter to the editor But the bestestest part is that the offending columnist had to write about one of my fundraising events.....Winterama [ 30 January 2008: Message edited by: rural - Francesca ]
From: the backyard | Registered: Dec 2007
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remind
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6289
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posted 30 January 2008 11:47 AM
Thanks R_francesca, it was an magnificent letter in response to the hate mongering of Merriam, this point is very salient: quote: In order to help put you in the mood and to prime your pump Merriam shares several examples of family squabbles. These examples show clearly a narrow brand of humour carried out on the backs of others, and at the expense of women. Most of these stories present women in a degrading way, portraying them as irrational, stupid, dangerous and not trustworthy. These are the typical stories, that many men tell each other about their wives, girlfriends and women in general. By continuing to tell such stories and by making them sound like jokes we minimize the real problems between men and women, and position men as the victims of violent women. In reality, we know that on a daily basis women are physically, sexually and emotionally abused at disproportionate numbers by their intimate partners in Canada and right here in our community. Violence between men and women is not a laughing matter, especially when women continue to die in their homes at a truly alarming rate. Readers need to know that in Canada, 500 women were killed by their intimate partners between September 11, 2001 and 2007. When we compare that figure to the 44 Canadian Soldiers who died in the same period in the war in Afghanistan, it is easy to see why Merriam's column is not funny
[ 30 January 2008: Message edited by: remind ]
From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004
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remind
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6289
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posted 30 January 2008 12:59 PM
quote: Originally posted by rural - Francesca: A truly stunning way to look at how we value life
Well actually, it is a stunning look at how women's lives are not valued. And insight it gives into the false positioning of men as victims of women, through jokes and other societal entrenched stories denigrating women, is much needed. One has to wonder if men, are subconsciously, or even perhaps consciously, dissemminating such jokes and stories, to rationalize, to themselves, aka lie to themselves, and other men, to justify their mis-treatment of women?
From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004
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Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560
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posted 13 February 2008 07:40 AM
Lord almighty.Well, feel better, Francesca. Surely you don't want to be associated with a rag that publishes crap like this Merriam guy and this stream-of-consciousness-live-journal-becky-eckler-wannabe stuff anyhow, right? (Not that there isn't a place for that sort of writing. I like chick lit as much as the next chick lit reader. But publishing nothing but fluff, to the exclusion of any columnist with substantive issues to write about, is pretty bad.) [ 13 February 2008: Message edited by: Michelle ]
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001
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remind
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6289
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posted 15 February 2008 07:42 AM
quote: Originally posted by rural - Francesca: Front page - above the fold in today's paper!I love it when a plan comes together
Thinking about this further, I have often found those who are abusers will do whatever it takes to make them feel comfortable about their own actions. Excellent article with some serious insights into the dynamics at work in rural communities. When we first moved to the rural community we now live in, there were between 45 and 50 RCMP call outs for domestic disputes per week, and this was every week, in the paper, and this is a community of 1300. Nowadays, after 10 years here, there is maybe a couple per month.
From: "watching the tide roll away" | Registered: Jun 2004
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martin dufresne
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11463
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posted 15 February 2008 03:15 PM
Two good quotes from the excellent "Abused women still suffering in silence" article: quote: Tettero has been in the field for more than 20 years. She found women’s attitudes and knowledge about domestic violence have changed over that time, but there’s a new sense of shame as women who see themselves as strong, smart and independent try to come to grips with being in an abusive relationship. “Women know what abuse is and they know that the person who’s perpetrating the abuse is the one who’s responsible for that,” she said. “Women are blaming themselves for getting into a bad situation or staying in a bad situation.”
I find that really scary. One of the downsides of the reassuring strong-contemporary-woman smokescreen put up by the corporate media. Also: quote: “Family and friends can be incredibly important to a woman who’s struggling with abuse, but they can also really undermine her,” Tettero said. “If the general population is more educated, they can also be more helpful.”
I have found the book When Love Goes Wrong, by Ann Jones & Susan Schechter (Harper-Collins, 1993) to be extremely helpful for people who want to help. There is a whole chapter dedicated to just that. Getting a copy into your local library should be very helful.
From: "Words Matter" (Mackinnon) | Registered: Dec 2005
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rural - Francesca
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14858
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posted 17 February 2008 06:05 AM
This 'debate' is not going away, and I love it!!I just got this from a friend of mine. quote: This issue came up when I was in the dentist's chair last Friday as well, the dentist, nurse and hygienist were remarking on it while I had a mouth full of implements. The dentist was initially of the opinion that the whole thing was overblown, but I left him with the impression that I didn't think so! I managed to get out around the obstructions that I thought that Merriam was "an old goat" which made them laugh, but of course that was all I could do/say - by the time my mouth was clear the moment had passed for anything more thoughtful.So it's being talked about all over town! Joachim's response was also commented upon favourably by the nurse. Just so's you know!
I would have had a heart attack trying to argue the point....around the dentsits work
From: the backyard | Registered: Dec 2007
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