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THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR IS -- OUR OWN IGNORANCE.
If you want to get a real idea of what concerns some of your fellow creatures, listen to your "local" talk-radio, a.k.a. hate-radio. They have two opposing views that they believe implicitly: one is that nothing in the media is the truth and the other is that everything in the media, that puts their political opponents in the wrong, is true no matter what the source is -- or how unsubstantial the claim.
These constant-callers with their constant-complaints hate all who do not share their narrow minded "values" -- they live in a world of fear, believing that the rest of the world is out to destroy their way of life, the way of life that god has decreed. Between gnashing your teeth in frustration and exhausting bouts of hilarity, you'll glean that the major theme of the HateHeads is "the way our government is spending taxpayer's money."
Actually, you'll soon learn that their definition of taxpayers' money is their money. The implication is that everyone who does not believe as they do are liberals (that's a dirty word to them). Liberals do not pay taxes, they loaf and collect welfare, etc. Hateheads don't like the way our government spends their "hard-earned dollars" on a variety of things.
Although they may approve of education, they do not approve of the educators who, in their words, "spend their hard earned dollars teaching kids how to have sex." and encouraging them to deviate by introducing information on alternate life styles and sexual preferences." It isn't long until you realize that their so-called "values" are grounded in intolerance -- and much of this is directed against women and especially against *self-defining* women such as our Secretary of State, our First Lady, or our Attorney General. Smart women in positions of power are an anathema to them and to the male hosts of hate-radio who respond to and encourage the hate-filled callers.
They want the government to step in and prevent women from choosing to have an abortion, yet they get incensed at the money given by government to Planned Parenthood to provide birth control information and material that can prevent the need for abortion.
They really get pissed off about welfaremothers -- this is just one nasty word (welfarefathers do not exist for them.) They foam at the mouth that these women, and other women, who have chosen to live without a husband, have the nerve to refer to themselves and their children as FAMILY! I kid you not, they actually get shrill if anyone suggests that anything other than daddy, mommy and kids is a family.
It
is interesting that with all their complaints, they do not even mention
all the taxpayers' money that is spent attempting to rehabilitate male
drunks or dopesters or the money spent on the overwhelmingly male, overcrowded
prisons. Not a murmur about the money spent on sports equipment (as
long as it isn't taken away from males and given to females as per Title
IX.) Listen to them. These are the people who vote. These are
the people who want to maintain a large majority in Congress. These
are the people who want to elect a president and legislators who will follow
the direction of the religious/political extremists who are not just anti
choice but also anti-women.
If they even notice the sexual harassment of women, that is common in most jails, by police, they do not protest. Their indignation does not even extend to the horror going on in those warehouses for the elderly, the nursing homes which deliver bed space and neglect for profit. No surprise here -- the majority of the inmates are women.
It is difficult to get accurate figures on the number of sexual assaults that are made on women in hospitals or nursing homes but it is known that complaints are frequently made -- and usually ignored. Imagine yourself as very old and infirm. You cannot fend for yourself any longer. You are unable to walk unaided. An attendant or another patient comes into your room and rapes you, threatening you so you dare not scream. You complain and it does no good. It is all put down to women making things up to get attention; or to the muddled thinking of old women.
You know, from growing up in our culture, that women's complaints are not taken seriously by the medical profession, so it will not be hard to imagine the scenario above. What may be difficult to believe is how very common this situation is. If an employee of the health facility or nursing home happens to come in on a rape and reports it to the management, the usual method is to JUST HUSH IT UP. In no way do they want us to know what they allow to happen. These are good, family-values businesses-for-profit -- don't want any bad press now, do we?
Now that the watchword is downsizing, this sort of horror is bound to become more commonplace and we are the ones mostly at risk and we are the ones that are not considered worth of society's protection. Just consider how frequently women are sexually molested in jails and the only response, when it is discovered, is a rumor that some officer has left the force. Compare this to the public fanfare (still going on) that attended the report of one man who was sexually assaulted in N.Y.
While most of us will never be incarcerated in one of these repulsive jails, the chances are good that we will find ourselves placed in a nursing home where boys are allowed to be boys and women, whatever their age or condition, are considered by our culture to be objects that may be used and abused.
1997-033
Copyright 1997 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: TWANDA@ConnRiver.net.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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