Heaven knows I'd love to be writing a post about how women rose to the occasion for heroism in the Aurora movie theater. The fact is, four young men really did. Now is not the time for querulous feminists to discount those excellent men's sacrifice by referring to examples of moral heroism from women in the past. Yes, Harriet Tubman is inspiring. No, I'm not persuaded by the argument that, in holding up the young heros in Aurora for admiration and denigrating the fellow who ran and left behind his girlfriend and their child, we're being unfair and perpetuating gender stereotypes.
Just One Minute puts his finger right on it, I think, when he quotes the bit about how we all hope we're sitting next to a Todd Beamer on the airplane. No, honey, some people are aspiring to be Todd Beamer, not sit there and wait to be rescued by him. If you're going to be a feminist, that's the standard you have to hold yourself to. Otherwise you join the ranks of the guy who ran like a rabbit and left his girlfriend and child behind.
Anyone aspiring to be Todd Beamer has to take steps to be ready to be one. I take this to be the relevant part of your Just One Minte link:
ReplyDeleteThis much we know, they were big guys: Bingham was a 6-foot-4 rugby player; Glick, also a rugby player and judo champion; Beamer was 6 foot 1 and 200 pounds, and Nacke was a 5-foot-9, 200-pound weightlifter with a "Superman" tattoo on his shoulder.
These guys were able to do what they did for two reasons. One is that they were physically prepared, and the other is that they had time to become mentally prepared.
If you lack time, though, you'll fall back on whatever your training has been. Absent that, you'll fall back on basic instinctive responses: fight, fly, hide, or freeze. To get any other reaction when there is no time to think, you have to train.
And you must develop a physical capacity to resist and overcome in any case. If you are not physically powerful, that means obtaining and training with arms.
So what are you doing to be ready?
Really? How many women tried to shield their men? In her world I'm sure there are Alphonse & Gaston wrestling matches in these situations as to who is going to end up protecting whom.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to not having the ear or patience for gangsta/rap/hip-hop music, neither can I give more than one quick pass over of the tripe found in the first link.
ReplyDeleteSmarmy, sad, void of all charity, lacking of empathy for those suffering or all of the preceding... You make the call.
I hadn't even heard about the fellow that fled leaving his infant on the floor. About the only thing more shocking to me was going to the piece about that from the linked piece, and reading in the comments that there were defenders of his action (not positive defense, but passive defense- 'you don't know how you'd act- don't judge' etc.).
ReplyDeleteI have to say, also, that I think it's important to be gender specific about this subject- women are more valuable to the specie, plain and simple, and I don't know that there's anyone who would prefer to see a D-Day for instance, composed of 50% females. It would be grotesque. On the other hand, I think women are as likely to be heroic in a similar fashion, but more likely in response to children in danger than men, and what's wrong with that?
I think Napoleon first observed that a woman can stop a bullet as well as a man.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you need to put that chivalry poster back up?
ReplyDeleteSo what are you doing to be ready?
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question that, turned into "What should I be doing to be ready?" could be very productively discussed here.
I would be very interested in the answers.
As for myself, I work out several times a week to maintain overall fitness, especially endurance. Obtaining a CCL, carrying, and taking some serious pistol training courses are in the immediate future. Finally, this fall I hope to begin training in MMA.
This seems to cover the most likely scenarios, to me.
Any thoughts on my answer, or other answers?
Of course, I haven't found anything that will increase my height to the more heroic range, alas.
ReplyDelete...height to the more heroic range...
ReplyDeleteSir! You are misinformed; stout men are often heroic. Witness one of my mother's ancestors, and thus one of mine, Donnchadh Reamhar, who fought with Robert the Bruce.