(no subject)
Aug. 12th, 2002 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
microbieI took the afternoon off to get a tetanus shot, which turned out to be unnecessary. They last 10 years, and I had had one eight years ago. Since I didn't have to take sick leave to go to the doctor, I'm not complaining.
The July issue of Texas Monthly was their "crime issue." I wondered why all the crimes described were murders. It's chilling to look at such a survey, because then I realize just how many more females are victims than males. Young girls, teenagers, 20-somethings like me, trophy wives. The latest report on the interaction between genes and environment reminded the reader that the presence of the Y chromosome is still the best predictor of violent behavior. I'm sympathetic to arguments that boys have been emasculated by feminist views, though I think there's little evidence showing detrimental effects on those males as adults. But, really, considering the history and the statistics, what should women do?
The July issue of Texas Monthly was their "crime issue." I wondered why all the crimes described were murders. It's chilling to look at such a survey, because then I realize just how many more females are victims than males. Young girls, teenagers, 20-somethings like me, trophy wives. The latest report on the interaction between genes and environment reminded the reader that the presence of the Y chromosome is still the best predictor of violent behavior. I'm sympathetic to arguments that boys have been emasculated by feminist views, though I think there's little evidence showing detrimental effects on those males as adults. But, really, considering the history and the statistics, what should women do?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-08-13 08:11 am (UTC)I get so tired of angry men killing their wives, trophy and otherwise, and children. Women do it once in a while, but men seem to be the biggest problem in this regard.
I also wonder when murder got so glossy-worthy. I guess years ago, because magazines have always discussed it.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-13 06:37 pm (UTC)The article talked about a number of websites that almost glorify past serial killers. I guess I expect mainstream news outlets to sensationalize killers to some degree, but to suggest that a man that killed two (and maybe more) women is some sort of folk hero is just sick.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-13 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-13 06:38 pm (UTC)Good luck with bookselling.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-13 11:18 pm (UTC)Yes, I love JDG's "Dallas" - what a perfect description of this (sometimes appalling) city. "Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down." "Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes." Yep.
Sure it pretty at night, though. From a DC-9.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-14 07:53 am (UTC)Granted, I'm biased, as I like Altman and I love Lyle.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-15 12:29 am (UTC)I really wanted to see this, but then I saw a trailer and heard reports from people who had seen it ... I kind of lost interest. I've been meaning to at least rent it.
First off, Altman apparently HATED Dallas and went out of his way to depict the people of Dallas (specifically the women) in a less than flattering way. I kept hearing people say, "He's got all these women wearing HATS!" And I read interviews with Altman saying how silly Dallas women were - they wear these ridiculous HATS all the time! Gosh, Bob, I've lived here all my life and have NEVER seen a woman wearing a hat.
A friend of mine was his personal assistant during the filming. That guy sure smokes a lot of pot!
Maybe I'll rent it this weekend. But to be honest, I don't care for Altman at all. I find his films generally slow and full of characters who are never all that appealing. I liked "Nashville" for the most part, but probably because I'm interested in country music and its whole weird sub-culture.
And, yes, Lyle is WONDERFU
no subject
Date: 2002-08-15 12:48 am (UTC)He's even wonderfuL!
By the way, you are the only American I've come across who knows the FABULOUSNESS of McVitie's Digestive Biscuits! Oh my god - I love those. There's a shop that sells British food about 4 blocks from me. I go in for my McVitie's and for the occasional Cornish pastie and pork pie and Walker's crisps.
I could go for some digestive biscuits right about now....
no subject
Date: 2002-08-15 05:34 am (UTC)How do you like living in Dallas? I have a hankering to move back to Texas one of these days.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-14 09:06 am (UTC)I also like the line, "But when you are up, she's the kind you want to take around."
I've never spent a lot of time in Dallas, just visiting friends and such, but it strikes me as a closed city. And good grief, a lot of strange murders occur in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-15 12:19 am (UTC)Closed city? I'm not sure what that means. There's quite a divide between the have's and the have-not's and the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful. Dallas, apparently, has the highest per capita number of young single people in ... THE UNIVERSE. That, to me, is almost more appalling than anything else - the scrambling to be MORE beautiful, MORE successful, MORE ... obnoxious. I've always thought I'd hate this city if I hadn't grown up here. There are actually quite a few cool things here.
And good grief, a lot of strange murders occur in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Well, sure, but I was inventorying our Texas True Crime books a couple of months ago, and HOUSTON won that honor, hands-down. I blame the humidity.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-14 07:19 am (UTC)I've been thinking about your words here. It's a topic that disturbs me as well, as related to all sorts of behavioral and social issues. The first thing that came to mind was that women have been "emasculated" (funny that there isn't an equivalent word for taking power/potency away from a woman) by Men's views for how many centuries? and yet it's been exceedingly rare in history (and today) for women to react to this oppression with staggering violence toward the men in their lives. What is it about women taking power for themselves that makes men so scared that they strike out with violence? I'm sure it's not an easy answer.
I'm reminded of that infamous Germaine Greer quote: "Male hostility to women is a constant; all men hate all women some of the time; some men hate all women all of the time; some men hate some women all of the time." Now, this is dated, from a slanted source, and easily misinterpreted, but still, when you walk the streets every day (especially in NYC), evidence to back up her words becomes frighteningly clear.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-14 09:11 am (UTC)A sobering thought: men react to powerful women in the only way they know how- violence.
I've never heard that Greer quote before; it certainly gives me pause. Women are described as men-haters, but rarely are men described as women-haters with the same degree of vitriol.
no subject
Date: 2002-08-16 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-08-16 07:55 am (UTC)This is youthful optimism on my part. I'd like to think that we've made great progress since the book was published in 1971. I may be terribly wrong.
...slanted source...
I probably used the wrong phrase here. What I meant is that I take Greer (as I do any author) with a grain of salt, as she has pretty extreme opinions and theories of gender and human interaction. (This may be more for myself than for others, because I tend to get swept away by powerful, opinionated writing. I have to keep myself in check before I rush out into the streets and kick every man in the head.)
...easily misinterpreted...
I forgot to include the sentence that precedes the quote, which is really the more misinterpreted passage: "Women have very little idea of how much men hate them." For me, this is the part that can be easily twisted into an absolute, a statement that all men hate all women all the time. Of course, the following words explain the ways men's hatred emerges, but people often forget that part. The tricky (and easily repeatable) sentence is the first one.
It's funny, as a feminist in college in the U.S., I never even heard Greer's name mentioned.Granted, my major wasn't feminism. But why should you have to major in feminism to hear of great feminist thinkers? It wasn't until I studied in England for a year that I discovered her. She had just written "The Whole Woman", and it was refreshing to read such a strong voice, just as it's refreshing for me to read Ayn Rand. I read "The Female Eunuch" a year later, and found it just as sharp and interesting. I assume that she's much more known in Australia than here?
Re:
Date: 2002-08-16 08:05 pm (UTC)I'm OK with all your points except the first. I used to think we'd made progress, but I'm less and less sure these days. For one thing, I was thinking on the plane coming home that I have never once heard a female voice say "this is your captain speaking". In this country, equal pay is no further advanced than it was back in 1971. The private sector has a few more female CEOs than it did then, but they are still newsworthy. The womens' magazine culture is no better than it was then. Etc.