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.
When my wife or daughter get on my nerves, I put on the clip from "Five Easy Pieces" when Nicholson goes ape in the car after trying to ken the complexities of female logic. Makes the point.
How did that ever get past the censors?
If anyone can tell me which character from what movie said the above...
--Purpose of life, yeah, I wrote that down on an index card and stashed it somewhere. Now where did it go?
--Yeah, here it is: The purpose of life is to wait around and see if anything needs doing.
K*NT
I remember hearing about a woman that orgasmed while killing a man and woman in Texas.She got the death penalty even though she got jail-house religion and the support of televangelist Pat Robertson.
You took the bait! The women of both sides were either rabidly pro or anti slave. They may not have had the vote, but they helped light the fuse of the anti-slavery movement as well as the session resistance.
Lani, dear, surely you've been alive long enough to remember that Ceaucescu b!tch in Romania?
Or does the fact that she was a communist (like you) whiten the blood on her hands?
A rat is a dog is a pig is a feminist (...with profound apologies to rats, dogs and pigs).
Two women can't get along for a week, and when they get mad, they hold grudges and get MEAN. And those grudges last forever.
When two men can't get along, they prefer a quick conflicts.
Oh, yeah, Women are so *easy* to get along with, and get along so well with each other . . . not.
Actually I would suggest Wife School and some cooking courses.
Good point.
I'm assuming that Lani, like many liberals, follows up being published in minor ways by weeks of self-searching (her name) on the web...
Which would lead her here.
My intent was to provide a little button-pusher for Lani that would cause her to make tiny, useless, cute little fists of rage and curse me.
Actually, at my age, I'd a WAY rather go lootin' than I would rapin'... ANY TIME.
I bet she has no problem killing babies though. Not that someone like her likely has to worry about getting impregnated.
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