MANifesto: An electronic newsletter of news and opinion on gender
issues. February, 1996.
INDEX:
NEWS AND OPINION
I. IT TAKES A PILLAGE
II. KILLED BY A FALSE RAPE CHARGE
III. SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL JUSTICE
IV. JUNIOR DISCRIMINATION
V. THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS IS MALE
VI. WOMEN'S STUDIES: YOUR MONEY AT WORK
JUST PLAIN OPINION
VII. WHAT FEMINISTS SAY
VIII. THE "MYTH" OF HYSTERIA?
IX. FROM CHAUVINISM TO PATRIARCHY
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I. IT TAKES A PILLAGE
Maybe you don't want to buy Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book. But
you're paying for it anyway.
On her book tour to promote "It Takes A Village," Hillary is flying
on Air Force planes that cost more than $2,600 an *hour* to operate. And
she's going to twelve cities.
HRC (Her Royal Clintonness) will reimburse taxpayers for what a
regular air ticket would cost. That will cover only a small fraction of the
cost of carting her around. You, the taxpayer will pick up the rest.
Hope you enjoy the book.
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II. KILLED BY A FALSE RAPE CHARGE
Eddie Polec was 16. He was an altar boy at Philadelphia's St.
Cecilias's Catholic Church. He was beaten to death on the steps of that
church in November 1994 because someone made a false rape accusation against
him.
Polec was attacked by several teen boys enraged when they were told
Polec had raped one of their friends. As they beat Polec to death, several
girls stood around laughing, the Associated Press reported.
Four teen boys were convicted in February 1996 of the attack.
However, no charges have ever been filed against the girl who made the fatal
accusation. "Incitement to riot" charges might have been appropriate -- if
the incident had been fomented by a male. However, in the current climate
of rape hysteria, even false accusations that result in death go unpunished.
Feminists ask, "Why would she lie?"
Answer: Because she gets away with murder.
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III. SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL JUSTICE
Here's another example of separate and unequal justice. In this case
a man and woman both abandoned their unruly son in Cape May, New Jersey,
and moved to California. Authorities tracked them down and charged them
with abandonment. One parent got nine months in jail. The other got six
months. Guess who got the longer sentence.
Now how did you know it was the man? You've heard this story before,
right?
But here are some other interesting facts about the case. After a
history of disruptive behavior, the boy had become enraged to learn that
the father was not his biological father. The boy, six-feet tall and more
than 200 pounds, then threatened to blow his father's head off with a gun.
Now picture this situation turned around. Suppose the boy wasn't the
woman's real son, and suppose he threatened to kill her. If that was the
case, I doubt she would have gotten any sentence at all. (Heck, she might
have been able to shoot him and claim a battered woman defense.) Certainly
she wouldn't have gotten a *longer* sentence than her husband for
committing the same offense.
Moral of the story: Men's responsibilities are greater. Women who
fail at the same responsibilities or commit the same offenses don't merit
the same punishment.
==============================
IV. JUNIOR DISCRIMINATION
Clark Clementsen of San Francisco has done hours of charitable work,
including giving free makeovers to battered women and helping abused
children. He would like to join a charitable organization in his area to
continue his activism. But the group won't even mail him an application
form.
The group is the Junior League, and it's a women's group. Their
attitude: there are other groups he can join: why does he have to join our
group? "Women need an organization where they can develop leadership
skills," says one of the pro-discrimination member of the San Jose chapter.
(If that's so, then perhaps the Junior League also believes young men
need all-male military academies where they can develop leadership skills.)
(Source: USA Today, February 19, 1996, page 2A.)
==============================
V. THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS IS MALE
You hear feminists talk about how women are disadvantage because men
hold a disproportionate amount of power. You hear them rattle off the
statistics: men make up blah-blah percent of the corporate boards, hold
yada-yada percent of public office, etc. The insinuation is that because a
man holds the office, it must be to the disadvantage of women (or at least
feminists).
But consider the governor of Illinois, Jim Edgar. He's a white male
Republican. Must be a patriarchal oppressor, right?
In a way, yes. He is very patriarchal in his outlook, in that he
believes that children belong with women and that women's lives must be
protected.
While in office, Edgar has received requests for clemency from six
men on death row. He has turned down every one. But Edgar recently gave
clemency to a woman on death row. The woman had not even asked for it.
In explaining his decision, he said gender was not a factor. But he
said that in this sort of decision, he'd have to look himself in the mirror
in the morning. Apparently that would be very hard for him if he sent a
woman to her death. No mirror problems when he sends a man to his death,
though.
One of the men he sent to death had a record remarkably similar to
that of the woman he spared. Both had killed two people. They both killed a
child, went to prison for it, got out and killed again. In fact, the woman
killed within four months of getting out.
But the man got execution, the woman got victimhood status and a
reprieve. The man had been severely abused by his stepmother while a child.
It didn't gain him clemency.
Consider also that Gov. Edgar is extremely anti-father. He has sided
against the real father in every disputed custody case that has occurred in
Illinois. Most notably in one famous case, Gov. Edgar was outraged that
the father of Baby Richard got custody of his own child!
Contrary to feminist rhetoric, having a man in a position of power is
not always to the advantage of men.
=====================================
VI. WOMEN'S STUDIES: YOUR MONEY AT WORK
Tim Egan, a reporter for The New York Times in Seattle, reported in
1988 about a business major named Pete Schaub at the University of
Washington who enrolled in a course called "Introduction to Women's
Studies" taught by Donna Langston and Dana-Michele Brown. On the first day
of class, he and the class were told that traditional American families are
dysfunctional. Students who said *their* families were quite functional
were shouted down by the teaching assistants with cries, in unison, of
"Denial! Denial!" A few days later. Prof. Langston brought guest speakers
in to talk about masturbation. "They said you don't need a man," Schaub
told Egan. "They proceeded to show how to masturbate with a feather
duster, and they had dildos right there." When Prof. Brown said statistics
showed lesbians could raise children better than married couples, Schaub
went up after class and quietly asked for her source. Prof. Brown dismissed
him and his question. "Why are you challenging me?" she said. "Get away
from me. Just leave me alone." A member of the class called Schaub "a
chauvinist goddamn bastard." The next day, his professor had two campus
police officers there to enforce her order banning Schaub from her class.
Schaub protested the ban. Weeks later, the administration said he could go
back to class. But Associate Dean James Nason advised him to drop the
course.
I haven't seen open public criticism of this trend outside academe.
Gays and lesbians have pre-empted criticism from outside academe
(principally from the media, including the world of book publishing)
because they've been able to define any opposition as a disease called
"homophobia."
-- From "Homosexuality, A Freedom Too Far," Charles W.
Socarides, M.D., Adam Margrave Books, Phoenix, Ariz., page 249.
=====================================
COMMENTARY:
VII. WHAT FEMINISTS SAY:
If a man sleeps with a woman and has second thoughts about it later
on, they call it "fear of commitment."
If a woman sleeps with a man and has second thoughts about it later on,
they call it "date rape."
If a man gets drunk and sleeps with a woman, they hold him responsible
for his actions.
If a woman gets drunk and sleeps with a man, they hold him responsible
for her actions.
When men judge women based on their looks, they call it "lookism,"
"sexism" and "oppression."
When women judge men based on their looks and their salaries, they call
it "dating."
When a man says "You have to sleep with me to be an employee," they call
it sexual harassment.
When a lesbian says "You have to sleep with me to be a feminist," they
call it "body de-colonization" and "political lesbianism."
When a man says "some feminists hate men," he is engaging in stereotypes
and bashing.
When a feminist says "all men are potential rapists," she is raising
issues.
When feminists lie about rape, sexual harassment, domestic violence,
anorexia and bulimia, they are nonetheless educating the public about
legitimate issues.
When you point out that feminists lie about rape, sexual harassment,
domestic violence, anorexia and bulimia, you are guilty of backlash.
When you ask why physical standards should be lowered so women can join
the military, they say that it ensures equality.
When you ask why only men are forced to register with the selective
service and only men can be forced into combat against their will, they'll
say that you are the one who starts all the wars.
When you say that men should not be discriminated against, they will
tell you that you hold all the power and privileges.
When you say that you don't feel that way, they will point out rich men
you don't even know.
When you say that women in your work place have equal pay and equal
numbers and no longer deserve special breaks and special
promotions, they will cite some statistics from someplace else.
If you say you are afraid of a violent woman, they will laugh at you and
send you away without help.
If you protect yourself from a violent woman, they will say that
violence against women is always wrong, no matter what.
If a woman accuses a Republican nominee of sexual harassment, they say
"Why would she lie?"
If several women accuse a Democratic president of sexual harassment,
they say "She probably lied."
If they want access to a predominantly male organization, club, or
school, they say that "diversity" is good.
If they want to keep men out of a predominantly female organization,
club, or school, they say segregation is good.
When a woman accuses a man of child abuse during a divorce or custody
battle, they say "Believe the children."
When the children themselves say they weren't abused, they don't believe
the children.
When a woman cannot support her children, they say we should raise taxes
on everyone to set up more programs to help her.
When a man cannot support his children, they says "Revoke the deadbeat's
license and throw him in jail."
When a man denies his children support money, they say he should be
punished.
When a woman denies her children a relationship with a warm and loving
father, by thwarting his visitation rights, they say it's a
"non-traditional family."
When an unwed father wants custody of his child, they say "Think of the
best interests of the children."
When a mother wants custody of her child, they say "Don't punish a woman
just because she works."
If a man starts a statement with "All women are ..." he is using a
stereotype.
If a feminist starts a statement with "All men are ..." she is using
a metaphor.
================================
VIII. THE "MYTH" OF HYSTERIA?
PART ONE: SATANIC PANIC: In the early 1980s, bizarre accusations by a
handful of women spurred a nationwide panic that day-care centers were
infiltrated by child molesters who practiced "ritual abuse" and worshiped
the devil. The McMartin Preschool case was launched by a woman later
diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. A similar panic was launched in Kern
County, California, by a woman already diagnosed as delusional.
In saner times, their accusations might have been debunked. But they
fell on fertile ground among social workers of the day. Many of these
social workers had feminist sympathies and had investigated incest and rape
cases. Documentation and their own writings show that ritual abuse
believers think that virtually any accusation must be true. They also
believe any denial -- including children themselves denying they were
molested -- is a sign of being "in denial."
The social workers perfected techniques for getting children to agree
to accusations made by delusional adults. Videotapes of their interviews
with children show that they endlessly badgered, bullied and ridiculed the
children until the kids began parroting whatever charges the social workers
wanted them to make. These videos show how flawed and leading the
interviews are, and have become the best evidence used by the *defense.*
But before it was learned just how coercive and leading these
techniques were, a nationwide panic sprang up. Parents joined in, seeing
ordinary things such as diaper rash and bed-wetting to be signs of "ritual
abuse." Thousands of innocent people have been accused and dragged through
humiliating trials. Many innocent people are serving life sentences. And
"ritual abuse" investigations are enthusiastically supported by many
leading feminists, including Gloria Steinem.
One interesting fact to note. Among parents stampeded into seeing
signs of ritual abuse, women are the overwhelming majority.
(Source: "Satan's Silence," by Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker.)
PART TWO: WITCH HUNT: In Salem, Massachusetts, 20 men and women were
executed during a witchcraft panic sparked by the bizarre accusations of
three young females.
PART THREE: FALSE MEMORY SYNDROME: Paralleling the rise of the
Satanic Panic is the popularity of a questionable therapy called "Recovered
Memory Therapy." Its practitioners claim that severe abuse is forgotten
almost as soon as it occurs. They say that girls can be raped every week,
from infancy to young adulthood, and not even realize it. To "recover"
memories of abuse, they subject their patients to mind-altering drugs,
hypnosis, cult-like isolation from society, searches for "body memories"
and other questionable and dangerous techniques. Scientific tests show
these techniques can create false memories. In fact, Recovered Memory
techniques are even used by some people to recover "memories" of previous
lives or being abducted by flying saucers. However, many therapists
convince their patients that they have been raped and abused by their
parents. This leads to thousands of false charges that have sent innocent
people to prison, destroyed families, and driven some patients and accused
parents to suicide. Despite its questionable nature and destructive
outcome, recovered memory therapy is enthusiastically supported by many
leading feminists, including Gloria Steinem.
And one interesting fact to note. Some men recover false memories.
But the overwhelming majority of patients recovering false memories are
women. (Source: "Making Monsters" by Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters, and
"The Myth of Repressed Memory" by Elizabeth Loftus and Katherine Ketcham.)
PART FOUR: MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER: The 1980s also saw an
explosion in the diagnosis of "multiple personalities." The usual pattern
is that a doctor who believes in multiple personalities will tell a
confused and vulnerable patient that she has other personalities she isn't
aware of. The patient is told she must let these "alters" out or she will
never get well. Mind-numbing drugs and coercive therapies are used on
those who don't comply. And therapists often use recovered memory therapy
to uncover "memories" of other personalities. The diagnosis is coming
under increasing skepticism in the psychiatric community, especially
because so many "alters" develop memories of satanic cults and past lives.
One interesting fact to note: while some men are diagnosed as
multiple personalities, the overwhelming majority of those who act out
multiple personalities are women. (Source: "Making Monsters" by Richard
Ofshe and Ethan Watters.)
PART FIVE: MUNCHAUSEN'S SYNDROME: In this bizarre psychological
malady, patients will deliberately pretend to suffer serious injury or
trauma in order to gain attention from friends, strangers, doctors and
others. Some have shaved their heads and gone on starvation diets to mimic
the effects of cancer. Some undergo surgeries they don't need. Others will
tell people shocking tales of personal tragedy and loss that turn out to be
untrue. The dupe neighbors and social workers into lavishing them with
comfort and sympathy.
One interesting fact to note: the overwhelming majority of patients
with Munchausen's Syndrome are women. (Source: Patient or Pretender? by
Marc D. Feldman, M.D., and Charles V. Ford, M.D.)
PART SIX: MUNCHAUSEN'S SYNDROME BY PROXY: In a related condition,
patients use someone else as the victim in order to attract sympathy for
themselves. This often involves a mother who might give a child low doses
of poison in order to rush the child to the hospital and be seen and
admired as a caring mother. Others will partially smother their babies in
order to revive them. Before they are found out, these women often are
admired as strong, courageous women endlessly devoted to a sick child.
They thrive on this image and torture the child repeatedly in order to bask
in the acclaim.
One interesting fact to note: the overwhelming majority of patients
with Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy are women. (Source: Patient or
Pretender? by Marc D. Feldman, M.D., and Charles V. Ford, M.D.)
DATING THE RAPIST: The Date Rape crusade has led to an interesting
phenomenon. Some women are coming to believe that they were "raped" by men
they later willingly dated again. They come to believe, after the fact,
that sexual encounters they willingly and consciously agreed to were really
"rape."
One interesting fact to note: virtually all of the people who can be
convinced that a consensual sexual encounter was "rape" are women.
EPILOGUE: In Women's Studies courses across the nation, professors
are teaching that women have a special "women's way of knowing." This
special way of knowing does not have to depend on linear thinking, on
proof, empirical research, evidence, reproducible results, verification or
documentation. It doesn't depend on anything except a woman believing that
a certain thing is so. Each year, thousands of more Women's Studies
graduates go out into the word trained in the doctrine that reality is
simply what a woman thinks it is.
Welcome to Salem. The trials are about to begin.
===============================
IX. FROM CHAUVINISM TO PATRIARCHY:
In the old days, feminists used to accuse men of "male chauvinism" and
call them "male chauvinist pigs." Today the "in" term is "patriarchy."
Why the switch? One possible reason is that the accusation of chauvinism
can cut both ways. "Chauvinism" means a fanatical devotion to a cause,
nation, etc., or unreasoning devotion to one's race, gender, etc., with
contempt for other races, genders, and so on. Certainly many of today's
feminists are chauvinistic about their gender and display contempt for men.
Feminists accusing men of chauvinism was often a case of the pot calling
the kettle black. Accusing someone of chauvinism carries with it the
implied judgment that chauvinism is wrong. And if chauvinism is wrong,
feminists would have to explain why they tolerate or engage in feminist
chauvinism.
Switching to "patriarchy" gets around these problems. "Patriarchy" is a
gender-specific accusation.
Moreover, "chauvinism" might be simply an individual trait. But the
accusation of "patriarchy" is broadly leveled against entire societies or
groups. It gives feminists a way to accuse every man in any given culture
of the "offense" of being part of the patriarchy. It also gives feminist
a way to blame men for the sins and omissions of women. You can point out
that female rulers like Catherine the Great were as militarist, imperialist
or bloodthirsty as any male ruler. But feminist will reply that such women
were working within a "patriarchal" system. So even though they were
absolute monarchs with the power of life and death over their subjects, the
tyranny committed by women is pinned on men. (On the other hand, any
historical woman who did something that feminists admire is not considered
part of any patriarchal system. She is called a pioneer, an early feminist,
etc.)
Patriarchy can even be used to blame men for child abuse and child
murder committed by women. One feminist recently made this claim when the
subject of child abuse came up. She simply said that abusive mothers were
powerless women living in a patriarchal system. (Never mind that, in
relation to the children, the mothers were the ones with all the power.)
We know how childhood abuse can lead to later violence. Look at how
women treated children traditionally, and then ask yourself who "starts all
the wars."
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