In a 1998 speech delivered before a domestic violence conference in El Salvador, former US senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat.”She didn't just say that out loud, somebody wrote it down for her. A speech of that prominence got through some sort of editorial process, and that line stayed in.
Male Disposability
The biology behind this is obvious, but it does sometimes strike me as odd how much people don't realize that our society is structured this way. We have a "Violence Against Women Act" even though by far most victims of violence are men; and this kind of thing somehow makes sense to people to say out loud.
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4 comments:
Clinton's comment was chrome moly drop forged stupid.
Men's jobs have traditionally been a lot more dangerous- farming, logging, fishing, mining, and yes, war. I would bet most men coming back from combat do not speak much of it, even to their wives- or maybe, especially to their wives- seems like a bad idea to introduce that sort of horrific reality into a marriage. No sense in having both parties with nightmares.
A lesson from another man's job-
"so listen ladies and please take warning, from this time on and learn, never speak harsh words to your true loved husband he may leave you and and never return".
tangentially related -
Award for most annoying male to 11 yo autistic boy
My wife and her left leaning friends are all up in arms over this, especially since it relates to autism. I felt like asking when and how 'annoying' transitions to the acceptable pejorative of 'toxic' but declined.
Clinton's self-centered comment was the reverse of casual descriptions of the impacts of invasion on cultures, namely that the bad guys took our women and cattle.
...when and how 'annoying' transitions to the acceptable pejorative of 'toxic'...
Oddly enough, it'll be the point at which the public shaming by his teachers for being annoying works.
Twenty years from now he'll be being told that he's toxic because he can't express his emotions in an open and authentic way. He probably won't even remember why he learned to suppress his feelings in public, but this will be an important part of why he did.
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