October 14, 2005 7:54 AM
Another quarter heard from
Woke up to this rant in my comments - a response to my entry on the London bombings:
I have to say it's certainly a wonderful idea to completely deplete any sense of rationality in one of the most brutal institutions in the world. Why not further instill the military with hatred, virility, sadism, corruption and misogyny. Lets send them out to rape and pillage countries and peoples. Oh how we adore violence!Boys like to play with weapons -why? because that's what the see their male role models going in the media. In case you had not noticed many girls jump to the chance to play with weapons- but you have brought them up to think that this is unacceptable for girls and "unlady-like". And ofcourse in the media females are all sex objects that sit there and look pretty. Why do females tend to be more docile and obedient then males? Because their parents and law and stricter with them.
Environmental factors play the greatest role in creating gender identities. It's time for science to have a say in "mommy life"- because a god that designs men as killing machines (as you assert) places us in hell.
Well. I'm glad someone has things all figured out.
Here was my response to Sara:
Dear Sara -If you read further on my blog, you'll find that I was a rabid Second Wave feminist who believed all gender identities were due to socialization. My first two children were girls and didn't challenge those assumptions much. However, my next four were boys, and I saw with my own eyes that they were very, very different. They loved weapons and I forbade them for years.
You sound young, inexperienced, theoretical, academic - as I once was myself.
I learned to think outside the box.
I was an antiwar activist in the 60's and 70's but today I am grateful to be protected from terrorism and brutal dictators who would put me in a bhurka and stone to death every homosexual and underdressed movie star in our country.
I don't do controversy at my blog. And there's little chance I'll answer another email from you - you sound like someone less into conversation than diatribe - so you might not want to waste your time.
I take heart in knowing that since the left is so fond of abortion (I was a proabortion activist and had an abortion myself before I realized the value of innocent human life) and homosexuality - and since their idea of reproductive freedom is to avoid reproduction - that conservative values will continue to take a deeper hold in our culture and your way of thinking will not be eradicated through brutality but through a natural dying off, like a nonproductive branch on a vine.
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"I take heart in knowing that since the left is so fond of abortion (I was a proabortion activist and had an abortion myself before I realized the value of innocent human life) and homosexuality - and since their idea of reproductive freedom is to avoid reproduction - that conservative values will continue to take a deeper hold in our culture and your way of thinking will not be eradicated through brutality but through a natural dying off, like a nonproductive branch on a vine."
Barbara--I love this paragraph. I know that in my own life, the liberals that I know simply are not reproducing. My husband and I come from very liberal families, which are literally dying out, except for the fact that my husband and I are having children (5 and another due in January.
On my mother's side, my aunt and uncles had no children, hence they are in their 60's with no one coming up behind them. On my father's side, there are 4 children born between my 4 cousins. My husband's family is has a similar make up--ultra liberals with no or very few children.
On the other hand, most of the conservative families I know have at least 2 and often many more children, to whom they are intentionally teaching conservative values.
I don't think that my experience is unique in regards to political bent and family size.
And I'd like to point out in case anyone is offended, that I am not implying that it is morally better or more holy to have more children. And statistically speaking, I have no idea whether or not conservatives are having more kids or not. I was just responding to Barbara's writings on this subject as it has been on my mind recently.
Maggie
Posted by: Maggie | October 16, 2005 7:31 PM
