Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Steinem
I found Steinem's argument intriguing because it provided a deeper analysis of the horrific mass murderings in American history. Steinem's main claim is that these violences are mainly committed by white, privileged men who engage in violence to feel a sort of power or supremacy. This relates to our discussions last class on rape and sexual violence. Unfortunately many rapes occur because offenders want to feel a sense of dominance or superiority over young women. While I understand how this is translated into murders at times as Steinem points out, I believe she makes too broad of a claim by asserting that these crimes result purely from males looking for a feeling of superiority. The case of the Columbine shootings fits her claim, although those attackers were fed up with their social status and were looking to target more than just blacks and women. Steinem also points to the Son of Sam case in New York under this theory but he was mentally unstable and believed a dog was telling him to commit these murders, as John points out. I do agree with Steinem's conclusion that sons and daughters should both be raised under values of strength as well as sensitivity. If we begin to raise all children across a more level playing field, perhaps there will be more cohesion in our society and subsequently less tragic murdering sprees.
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Unless we make America a socialist or welfare state, it is pretty impossible to have every child on the same playing field. That's not to say that I don't think serious improvements and steps in that direction could be taken like a more equal education base, but other than that it would be very difficult. Regardless of the country and type of government, there can be tragic murdering sprees, however I agree with Daniel and Steinmen that an encouragement of people to raise their children with values of sensitivity and most importantly respect could go a long way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that we should raise our children on a more level playing field. But, this is a relatively idealistic statement and I doubt there is any parent who actively pursues and promotes a policy of raising their children on an uneven, sloped playing field. In general, we agree that boys and girls should be treated equally and given the same opportunities. However, in practice, this is often not the case. It relates back to the idea of the patriarchy. It is not cruel, bad parents who raise their sons to be privileged, but instead a whole system of institutionalized factors which socialize these young men who feel entitled to dominance. Granted, parents have a responsibility to raise their children to be upstanding individuals who are self-aware and empathetic, but what does this ideal mean when translated to action? While in general I don’t think a good argument necessarily requires a clear solution, because the hardest problems don’t have an easy answer, and that’s why they plague our society. But the promotion of this idea of more equal parenting needs more teeth. There has to be a middle ground between a socialist state and a society which has a pattern of men committing mass murders against women. Somewhere within our current type of government there can be change to this disturbing social trend.
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