Lani Guinier
Posted on 01/10/2003 11:21:38 AM PST by MikalM
Publication date: 01/09/2003 They are way too aggressive. My proof: 200 million people were murdered in the 20th century because of war and genocide. Since most decision-makers are men, and most soldiers are men, we need to reflect a little on this problem. I know, you want to yell out Indira Gandhi! Margaret Thatcher! Golda Meir! (Everyone gets so excited that they can name three women who fall into this war-mongering category. Can anyone name a fourth woman who belongs here?) If there is a global skirmish, men should learn to say "Let's talk," or "We're sorry," but no one ever says those things. They could also try saying "Let's compromise," but that doesn't happen, either. I feel bad for most men. Their communications skills are so low, they cannot seem to handle discussing things. Our system teaches males to be competitive and aggressive. Boys who don't like football are called sissies. Hierarchical qualities are instilled in all of us, but in men in particular. These feelings serve to keep us separate, rather than interconnected. Separateness fosters violence and brutality. Men in war report a kind of homo-erotic experience, a time men can bond with other men without looking like sissies. Some report that they get erections when killing. There seems to be a strong link between aggressiveness and sexuality that I don't pretend to understand. Perhaps war is exciting and dynamic. War is a global experience, an easy way to travel. It's exciting. And even if you lose and die, you are guaranteed an honorable death. There will be flags and medals for you. All of that pomp and circumstance is a way of feeling. It's just like football. It's something big and it's outside your family and, for many, the feeling for the unit is even more intense than for the family. I wish we could figure out how to stop men and countries and their aggressive tendencies. What can we do to help men? What can men do to help themselves? Men need to bring out their nurturing and compassionate sides, rather than their frightened side. After all, the purpose of life is to understand life and learn its glorious lessons. All life is precious. All opinions and ideas, precious. We need to understand our divine nature. We need to practice being less greedy. Americans have a demanding sense of consumerism; we're taught to step on, and now kill, the "little people." We've become masters at race wars; we're imbued with a fervor to kill people if they get in our way. Women give and give and give, and it's never enough. And men take and take and take, and it's never enough. We all need to help men move along. We need to create awareness, understanding and outlets for men. They need to develop more feelings for humanity. Men need to see themselves as humans. And women need to speak up. We need to stop propping up our men. Instead of saying "it's my turn to control the remote control," we put dinner on the table faster and try to explain away our husband's temper to our shaken children. If you have a penis, perhaps you should be required to take a course in aggression and compassion. And perhaps women need to take courses on co-dependence. We can bear our sadness by educating our public about hate and prejudice and we definitely should be analyzing the ways that we can help the world instead of destroying it. I am personally in a state of despair. I've been a political activist for 34 years, and it all seems to mean nothing these days. We have these nitwits in charge of our country and we are going off (again) to kill more people. We haven't learned anything. Comment: letters@examiner.com Lani Silver is a women's studies teacher and an oral historian.
Why do men like war so much?BY LANI SILVER
Special to The Examiner MEN SEEM TO BE out of control. They like war way too much.
Apparently you haven't.
She forgot to mention however, that fetuses are not precious. She must consider them "living."
Women's studies + oral historian = Monica expert.
You and whose Army is gonna make me?
The world did not have these "mega-death" wars before women were granted the vote. The obvious solution therefore, would be to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment.
Lani Guinier
We're just funny that way. It may have something to do with a backward desire to protect home and hearth, keep the little woman from being raped by foreign oppressors, or some other Neanderthal impulse.
What can men do to help themselves? won't go there.
4) Hatshepsut
5) Czarina Catherine II
6) Mary, Queen of Scots
Just off the top of my head...
You must be a blonde.
It's not so much the warring as the raping that we get a kick out of!
Some people are of the opinion that Lani Silver should be given a clitoridectomy, and forced to wear a burqua. Isn't that precious?
Some people are of the opinion that kulaks should be starved to death. Isn't that precious?
Some people are of the opinion that Jews and Christians should be put in a gas chamber, then their bodies incinerated. Isn't that precious?
Some people are of the opinion that their tribal enemies should be cooked and eaten. Isn't that precious?
Some people are of the opinion that crashing jumbo jets into skyscrapers is a legitimate act of protest. Isn't that precious?
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