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Thinking About Ariel Castro, Women, and Equality

  • Posted on August 2, 2013 at 4:20 pm
Woman of Liberty

Woman of Liberty

Yesterday I watched Ariel Castro claim that he is not a monster, that the sex he had with his victims was mostly consensual, and that he isn’t a violent person.  It is not in his character.  When I heard the word character, I could not believe that he could even speak about it.  What could he possibly know about character?  He wanted us to believe that his problem is a compulsion perhaps for sex.  However, I don’t equate rape with sex, so I had a hard time following his form of logic.  I wasn’t planning on writing about this topic as he repulses me, but I think there is a bigger issue in our nation where women are concerned.  I don’t know the name of the woman on the talk show I was watching on MSNBC yesterday but she was upset that Castro hadn’t been tried for civil rights violations.  She talked about the issue of human trafficking and the fact that these women had their civil rights violated for years.  She said that he targeted women, which indeed made it a civil rights violation.

From my point of view, I have concerns not just about this case, but also with the treatment of women throughout our country and of course the world.  Granted Ariel Castro is a deranged person but he felt that he had the right to do what he wanted with these women.  He said his wife would argue with him and he implied that because she touched him first that he had the right to put her in her place.  Something in his makeup, and I think in the way women are treated by many in our country, made him believe he could do what he wanted with these women, including his wife.

Our society, no matter how much we scream and protest about women’s issues and rights, is still patriarchal.  As a country, I believe we look to men for the answers and give them undo regard when it comes to major decisions whether it is at the local, state, or federal level.  We excuse their behaviors, no matter how crude they are, and we still have that “boys will be boys” attitude ingrained in our minds.  I see this even in school when I am teaching.  I don’t have that attitude but it is there for many.   When I tell some boys to clean up in art class, I still have some boys telling me “That’s women’s work.”   In politics, we have many men that exhibit disrespectful behavior to women on a regular basis.  On the far right wing, there is a constant effort to discount women’s opinions to the point of forcing them to have a vaginal probe if they mutter the word “abortion.”  On the left, we still have to hear about Bill Clinton’s Monica moment in regards to whether Hillary is going to run for the presidency.  The woman that sticks by her man, like Anthony Weiner’s wife, is marginalized as though she isn’t thinking clearly and she has been coerced into accepting her fate.  Maybe she has and maybe we don’t know what really goes on in these relationships.  In these cases, the woman is made to be an appendage to the man, just another “helpmate” for the big daddy that is the boss in the relationship.  In entertainment news, we recently discovered that Simon Cowell is going to be a daddy.  The woman involved is a “gold digger” and immoral because she is still married to her husband.  The last I knew, it takes two to make a baby.  We aren’t hearing what a slut Simon is, it is all about his girlfriend.

The point I am trying to make is that we and I think both men and women, still have different standards for the two sexes.  I received an email last night from Credo action to sign a petition.  The petition deals with the fact that a number of colleges and universities across the country don’t call rape, rape.  It is referred to as nonconsensual sex.  This must be similar to the Republican that talked about forcible rape and rape as though they were two different things.  I don’t know how else to say it but rape is rape.  Women are continually demeaned when their voices are not heard and they are treated like a dog getting their heads patted when dealing with serious issues.

The other day I was talking to my sister and I told her about this video I saw which I assumed was staged but was funny.  A person was showing the excitement his cat had for him after he was gone for six months.  Now we all have witnessed the excitement our dogs show us after even very brief periods away from us.  Cats, however, are a whole another being.  I have two cats and one greets me and the other hides.  I have a dog and he’s always anxious to see me.  The reason I bring this up is that I jokingly referred to women as being like dogs and men as being like cats.  However, I think there is a bit of truth to this.  Men can take or leave us as women.  Much like a cat, they are used to being pampered.  They are used to being at the top of the food chain in respect, expectations, and affection.  They expect women to care for them and love them.  They have expectations of what they want and how they are going to get it.  Women on the other hand are starved for affection and will do just about anything to get that pat on the head, just like a dog.  They will jump through hoops to make sure their man is taken care of and are afraid that someone may see them as not being a good caretaker.  Women nurture and when they don’t everyone notices it!  Women have expectations but they often will subjugate their desires for their mate’s desires.  Obviously, there are exceptions but from my point of view, women are always last.

Now you could say that I have a unique way of looking at things because I grew up with ten brothers and I admit this, but I have noticed many things over the years.  We women were the last to get the right to vote!  Slavery was finally ended and blacks could vote but women were still chained to the concept that they were less than a man.  One of my brothers always talks about the Constitution and I just have to laugh because from my point of view, the Constitution is a living document that needs to change and grow as time changes.  So many politicians want everything to stay the same, don’t rock the boat, and just keep the status quo.  If we do this, half of society would never count for anything.  It still irks me that we could never get the equal rights amendment passed.  Those simple words of equality are very scary to some people.

We live in a time of potential great knowledge for all people.  The internet has opened the doors and the minds of anyone that is willing to learn.  Sure sometimes you have to sift through many websites to find the truth about something, but in all reality if you want to learn about any issue or how to do something the internet is a terrific resource.  I think the more people are educated the more we are apt to all be treated equally in society.  I have found the internet a place where I can discuss issues with other women that are interested in politics.  With this blog, I have an opportunity to get others to think about things.  None of us would have known about the small town in Ohio where high school boys raped a girl and nobody seemed to care until anonymous bloggers got involved.  Today I want people thinking about women and their place in the world.  Women are more than just nurturing helpmates for men.  I think until they are taken more seriously, women will continue to see much physical, social, and emotional abuse by men that think they can have what they want when they want it.  Women need to stand up and make things clear to those men that abuse.  Men that are “evolved” need to help move this issue along.  The women that are abused are their mothers, daughters, and sisters.  If we want to stop people like Ariel Castro, we as a society, have to make sure that little boys grow up respecting little girls and that gender roles are not so defined that women think they are less than men and are willing to accept less pay, less love, and less worth.

The Republican Primary, Religion, and Women’s Issues

  • Posted on February 28, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Barbara Kruger, Your Body Is a Battleground

I have been reading the book, “50 Women Artists You Should Know”, and of course I came across the work of Barbara Kruger.  I am familiar with her work from other pieces I have seen.  However, this image says it all for me in terms of the current state of political affairs.  I feel frustrated as a woman during this presidential primary season.  I cannot possibly relate to any of the Republican candidates because they are ready to take me back to some crazy time where women are once again submissive to the whims of their mates.  I thought we had gotten over all of this but of course during the 2008 election I realized that women were still vastly mistreated in the world of good old boy politics.  I remember the mistreatment of first Hillary Clinton and then Sarah Palin by those same good old boys that just couldn’t deal with any woman having the nerve to run for the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the United States of America.  Back to the future of politics, 2012, and I feel like I am somewhere lost in time.

Rick Santorum says some of the craziest things.  Unfortunately, I think he believes the things he is saying which is very scary for most educated people actually living in the 21st century.  Who would have ever guessed that contraception would become the big issue of the 2012 election?  We have an economy that is flat, millions of people out of work, an infrastructure built after WWII in vast need of repair, cities that are crumbling, wars in the Middle East and yet he is more concerned about women’s bodies than anything else.  It befuddles my mind.  I always thought most men wanted some form of contraception.  I didn’t think all men wanted to raise large families.  It seems to me this has been a settled issue.  While most people believe in a separation of church and state, Rick believes the opposite.  The more I hear in this election the more I am frustrated by religious zealots.  I want a clear separation of church and state.  I don’t want to have to follow Rick’s form of God any more than some other religious zealot’s form of religion.

As I look at the other Republicans I see more of the same.  I have some brothers that like Romney.  However, after listening to Rick I can see that Romney and his form of religion could be just as bad.  One of my brothers is a Mormon.  I am divorced.  He once told me that the only way I could get to Heaven is through my ex-husband.  Now that’s a scary thought.  I must already be doomed to the depths of hell if I have to depend on my ex-husband for anything quite so important.  I have also heard about the concept of the baptism of dead people.  I don’t quite understand it.  My parents were Catholic.  I don’t know if my brother has performed the magic baptism on them, but I know my parents wouldn’t be happy if he did!  I am aware that Romney has participated in this concept but he isn’t talking about it.

I really don’t care what your religion is or whether you have a religion.  However, I do care if your religion wants to get involved in my government and create laws that will have an impact on my life.  I believe a woman has a right to her privacy when it comes to her health care.  Men shouldn’t be making decisions for women in the 21st Century.  Women are strong and should make their own decisions about their bodies.  Period!  They don’t need a “daddy” figure in the government controlling their bodies.  If a woman is involved with a mate chances are they will make decisions together.  However, what Rick Santorum, Mitt, or Newt think, really shouldn’t have an impact on my life or any other woman’s life.  They are entitled to their beliefs but they don’t need to make women’s lives miserable with their paternal power.  Newt really cracks me up because when he was messing around on all of his wives I’m sure he was happy that his many women were using some form of contraception!

All this primary election has done for me has made me wish that none of my tax dollars would go to “faith based” entities.  Churches that are exempt from taxation receive oodles of cash from the government to perform their “faith based initiatives”.  Many people aren’t even remotely aware of this funding that has grown over the years.  The group Americans United are for a distinct separation of church and state and I am all for that.  You can check out their website here and read about the faith based initiatives.  http://www.au.org/

The other day I was reading Sky Dancers blog and Bostonboomer posted a video clip from JFK’s speech on religion.  If you haven’t seen it you should watch it.  He talks about the kind of America he believes in.  It is spot on for today.  It is timely.  Watch it and think about what kind of country you want America to be.

Then move on to George Carlin.  Of course you can’t watch George if you’re a prude because he will violate your ears in the way that only George can.  What is amazing is how George is dead but his genius lives on!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWC4sHbIV0

Women in Congress

  • Posted on January 31, 2011 at 9:49 pm

Woman of Substance

I have been thinking about women tonight.  I’m thinking about the women that I know and have known.  My mother was a wonderful woman, strong, stable and determined.  She had 14 children and managed to go back to teaching when I was just a youngster.  I think she was an amazing woman.  The truth be told there are many amazing women in our country right now.  Some are out working jobs and some are home doing the ultimate job of raising children.  Some manage to do both and some, like me, do it alone.  The point I’m getting at is there are a lot of strong women in this country that are capable of doing pretty much anything they set their mind to do.

I personally think that we are under represented in Congress and because of it we have little influence on any branch of government.  We may vote and think we have influence but the truth is the majority of the laws are made by men.  No man really knows how a woman thinks and no woman would really want a man to speak for her.  However, year after year, even though we have a little over half of the population, we continue to vote in these men to offices that control every aspect of our lives.

Tonight I came across this website which is very educational and a little disheartening.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/

The really frightening part of the website can be found on this page.  http://womenincongress.house.gov/historical-data/

This is where all of the historical data is about women in Congress.  If you click on the interactive map you will be able to see all of the women from every state that have been elected to Congress.  The data is scary because there are so many states that have had so few women representing them.  In fact, Mississippi has never had a woman senator or representative.  They may have some women at the state level as I have not looked that up.  However, it is appalling to think that we have been a country for over two hundred years and even though women have had the vote for around ninety or so years, we still can’t get women elected at the federal level.  Until this happens, the laws will always be made my men.

Maybe some of you think this is fine and dandy.  From my perspective those men haven’t been doing all that great of a job.  Maybe it’s time that women grabbed the checkbook and figured out how to balance the budget, educate our kids and keep us safe from the bad guys.  Men just seem to keep that “good old boy” mentality going.  I think it’s time for women to unite and create their own party!  How about, “Women United for a Better America”.

Most women that are mothers have had to do battle with their young teens from time to time.  They carry those battle scars with pride because they know that some day their child might thank them for it.  If not, they still know they did what they were supposed to do.  We’ve all heard our moms tell us to do something and when we asked we got that, “Because I told you so!” answer.  It may have not been satisfying to hear as a youngster but it was consistent.  As we grew up we might have even used it on our own kids.  Many of us have had to be the bad cop when dad only wanted to be the good cop, so many know how to be tough when they have to be.  Now I come to President Obama.  He can’t say, “No” and he is so wishy, washy that he usually says, “Maybe!” and that is just indecisive.  Mothers know that you just say, “No” because anything else could be a form of weakness.  There will be times when you do say, “Yes!” but the kids will know they earned whatever it was they were trying to get.

Now, I know I sound like I’m just being funny here.  This is just my attempt at humor, but really this is no laughing matter.  We, as women, deserve to be fully represented in our country.  Until we have a seat at the decision making table of government, we will always be second class citizens or the small children at the Thanksgiving dinner party that have to eat at the “little kid’s table”.  We may laugh at that table, but we always are so happy when we are grown up enough to sit at the adult’s table.

Women, Power and True Liberation

  • Posted on July 28, 2010 at 4:03 pm

Woman of Liberty

It can be a great time to be a woman but all that has happened in both politics with Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, in the media with Mel Gibson and his wife, and in the entertainment business with the antics of women like Lady Gaga I have been questioning the direction and movement of women’s liberation.  I have concluded that while it may appear that women have come a long way, there is much more to do to secure true liberation.

When I was a young woman in the seventies I remember this “bacon” commercial for Enjoli.

It actually is pretty silly.  Women were supposed to have it all and be it all.  Women and men expected a lot from women.  This commercial says we can have it all and our man too, as long as we can still cook, clean, take care of him and still look and smell wonderful!  Women’s liberation was all the talk.  We knew we were going to pass the equal rights amendment.  It was our time, or was it?  Civil rights legislation had passed so it was our turn, right?  Between Roe vs. Wade and the sexual revolution the times had to be changing.  During the seventies Title IX was passed.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance…

—United States Code Section 20

So of course the equal rights amendment would pass too.  To my surprise the equal rights amendment was never passed.  It needed 38 states to ratify it.  It fell short by three states.  http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ Many are still hopeful that it can be passed!

In my opinion the seventies were a time of real growth for women through education and their own spiritual awakening.  I grew up in a large family of 14 children.  I had much more opportunity in the seventies than my two sisters that were ten and twelve years older than me had in the sixties.  I knew I was going to college.  That thought wasn’t as clear for my sisters.  Part of it was probably because I was the youngest of those 14 children.  My parents were teachers through much of my real formative years and part of it was that my parents were financially better off in the seventies as opposed to the sixties.  However, a big part of it was because of the expectations of young women in the early sixties were different than in the early seventies.  The seventies also was a time of absolute turmoil with the Watergate scandal and the oil embargo.  However, it was a time when I was able to discover art and who I am as a person.

I went to Michigan State University and I had more freedom than I had ever known as a small town girl growing up in Kingston, Cass City and Maple City.  I met many different people from very different cultures than my own and I learned about tolerance, acceptance and understanding.  These really are the backbone of what I believe as a person today.  We are not all the same and that is the beauty of the human race.  I learned to embrace other people and to try and keep my mind open to the possibility that I wasn’t always “right” about everything.  MSU was a Utopian society for me.  Even though it was actually going through a crime spree of rapes during some of the time I was there, I was kept blissfully dumb about most of what was going on with that type of stuff.  I was ever the optimist and thought this was what the real world is all about.  The Utopian society of college where everyone wants to learn and the mind is like a sponge was where I was at.  I felt like I was doing something big, something real.

The real world is not the utopian college world of the seventies.  In the real world women were still subjected to the same degradation with commercials and advertising and general life that has always been present.  Today it seems like a lot of women are working but not because they are seeking their life dream but out of necessity for the family good.  Unfortunately, women are still getting paid less than their male counterparts.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/38281/20100726/wage-discrimination-by-gender.htm

http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2010/07/pink-ghettos-fighting-for-equal-pay.html?hpid=talkbox1

For men this is also a problem because with the current economy it is cheaper to hire women than men!

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/breadwinner-role-for-one-woman-in-three-but-pay-gap-at-its-widest-1.1042404

I’m also perplexed by the modern woman image that is often portrayed in advertising, movies, etc.  The modern woman of today is still very much dependent on her visual appeal to a man.  The modern woman is beautiful, fit and oh so sculpted by surgery and botox treatments.

The modern woman is a poor sister to the seventies woman as the modern woman has grown up thinking that she is absolutely equal in the eyes of the law and everyone else when the truth has so many more deceptive layers.  The modern woman is still subject to the same forms of degradation that her ancestors faced.  http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/herstory/herstory.html

Women may think they have come a long way and perhaps in some ways they have but in the area of abuse, power and control I think “We have miles to go before we sleep.”  Women are still subject to the laws made by men.  In our country where women make up 50.7% of the population we are still far behind in our political representation.  http://contexts.org/socimages/2008/05/18/comparison-of-percentage-of-women-in-state-legislatures-2008/

Some may think I am being picky here but it is time for women to be given the same rights as men.  The only way this can really be accomplished is through political representation.  As long as men are writing the laws from a man’s perspective, some areas that pertain to women will always be overlooked.  Politics is powerful.  There has to be a reason that politicians will raise millions of dollars for a seat that pays much less than the cost of running for it.  As much as we hear about all of the altruistic reasons these politicians run for office, the truth is politics is powerful and it is a magnet for money and more power.  Men have known this for years.  Women haven’t given enough thought about running for office for a variety of reasons.  Maybe they’re too busy raising their children or maybe they don’t have the confidence to run for office but it is time for women to stand up and be counted in the political arena.

If we are ever going to have the first woman president, we must engage more women in the political process.  Otherwise, that glass ceiling will never truly be broken.  I learned a lot during the 2008 election.  Both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were subjected to systematic abuse by the media and even other politicians.  I don’t know why men are afraid of these women but it was pretty evident throughout the election cycle.  Both Chris Matthews and Tucker Carlson were afraid of a Hillary Clinton presidency.  I remember Tucker talking about crossing his legs in reference to Hillary.  I guess he thought she was one “castrating bitch”.  Chris wasn’t any better and of course he had such a fondness for Barack that he had a special “tingle” up his leg.  He also said on many occasions that Hillary wouldn’t be where she is today if it wasn’t for her husband.  He never once thought about the fact that Bill might not have been president if it wasn’t for Hillary.   Hillary was referred to being a “bitch” so many times that I have lost count and we all heard so much about her “cankles”.  Where Palin was concerned there was much emphasis on her looks and many sexual innuendos were made in regards to that.  She had her legs photographed sans her body.  I cannot imagine a man being photographed that way.  Men on the other hand can be bald, fat and ugly and still run for office and make it.

This is such a double standard that it is not hard to understand why many women may fear running for office.  However, I believe until we get that proper representation we will always still be second class citizens in many ways.  I hope there are women out there that are brave and willing to step up and run for office.  We must support these women as they run for office.  We must have true representation in our political system.  It cannot be a “good old boys” club that is unattainable by women.  In order for true equality we must win in politics as well as our own personal lives.  I encourage everyone to support women in politics.  They are your mothers, wives, sisters, friends but most of all they are your equal even if the law doesn’t fully recognize this.



What do Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Edwards and Sarah Palin have in common?

  • Posted on January 13, 2010 at 10:14 pm

Hillary Clinton

What do Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Edwards and Sarah Palin have in common?  Oh, yes, I know they are all women but there is more.  All three were targeted in the new book coming out this week by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Game Change.  I read the excerpt in the New York magazine and I was appalled.  These two guys would like us to believe that Hillary is just so obnoxious, Elizabeth is a total bitch and Sarah is just plain stupid.  It leads me to believe that these three women must scare the hell out of the Washington D.C. establishment.  When the Republicans and the Democrats pretend to not be able to see eye to eye on anything but suddenly can agree on these three women there must be something up.

I have been saying for the last two years that there really isn’t any difference between the two parties.  This book just reinforces all of this for me.  When Steve Schmidt, McCain’s man can sit on 60 minutes and lambaste Palin, the person his team picked, you have to wonder.  Palin is powerful.  People like her because she is more like them than she is like Washington insiders.  They used her to help McCain because he was going no where before Sarah Palin signed on to his campaign.  However, now they don’t want her because the truth is neither party wants anyone that might actually shake things up and change all of the special interests and money changing going on in the Federal government.  McCain was never meant to be president.  Obama was the chosen one from day one by both parties.  This is why George Bush did everything he could before the election to help Obama out.  This is also why the transition has been so smooth.  If we didn’t know Obama was President, we would think GW was still in office.  Obama is just the new Bush.  He’s kept many of the same people on board and has kept the same policies in tact.  For all the fuss the two parties make over each other, they really are virtually the same.  They both cater to corporations and have been the main reason that we are losing our Democracy and becoming a “Corporatocracy”.  The corporations really have the vote, not the American people because they vote with their money through campaign contributions and special perks for congress.

So, between the excerpt in the New York magazine and the 60 minutes interview of Mutt and Jeff, the authors, not to mention Steve Schmidt as well I am only to believe those three things. First, Hillary is over the top obnoxious, so much so she was working very hard on her transition to the White House before the general election had even begun. That must have been what she was doing when I saw her campaigning hard in Indiana. I also learned that Elizabeth Edwards is one crazy “Bitch”.  Truthfully, they don’t like Elizabeth because she has been a big proponent of health care for all.  Finally, I learned that Sarah Palin is just plain stupid.  Sarah doesn’t fit into the conventionals wisdom of the elites because she didn’t go to Harvard or Yale.  For the shame of it all, she went to a state school.  What is really interesting in all of this women bashing is where is “NOW” or “Emily’s List”?  Hillary and Sarah we know hold great power if and when they choose to use it. You might think Elizabeth isn’t powerful but she has been a huge advocate for health care. It’s obvious to me that these men , who do the hatchet jobs on women, have a “Peter Principle” problem. They have obviously reached the level of their own competence to the point where they are now incompetent and just so envy those women that don’t need a “Peter” to succeed in life.