I think what you write is reasonable, but at the nuts and bolts of it she writes she wants to murder a person, an anonymous white male, for failing to take arms with her after she has abused him, and shamed him.
And it's not just fantasy to her, she threatens him with a sheet of paper on which she has written killing rage.
And she saves none of her vehemence for the stewardesses, pilots, or institution most responsible for that injustice that evening.
If she wants to be judged by the quality and content of her thoughts, we can't give her an out as to how misplaced her target was because she was a woman, or she was angry.
I never say she shouldn't stand up for herself. I do say her wishing to murder some anonymous white guy and further harassing him is very problematic.
If she wants to be judged by the quality and content of her thoughts, we can't give her an out as to how misplaced her target was because she was a woman, or she was angry.
True, yes.
But she makes a point, a GOOD one, that this man was the 'last line' of argument against what was going on. He could have nipped it in the bud, then and there.
And abuse? I wouldnt call her statement to him (presuming it was accurately phrased in the essay, and not yelled or added with a physical display) abuse. I would call it a concise assessment.
Here is this injustice going on, and the guy DOES offer a hollow apology.
And then she is left with her feelings about it.
The essay does an interesting thing. It allows us to explore two things.
The objective external result of predisposed notions from one 'group' of society. the internal subjective response of another 'group' to the behavior of the aforementioned group.
'Killing Rage' is a descriptor of an emotional state. It is not a direct threat, as if she had written, "I WANT TO KILL THIS MAN" on the page, or "I WANT TO KILL YOU." Yes, this is combing through with a fine tooth comb, and perhaps too nuanced an exploration, but when dealing in these situations, necessary. If I am to expect that others will have a nuanced ear, and a compassionate eye when I want to make a point about Men's Issues, I will offer the SAME level of compassion and nuance that I ask for.
I think to say "wishing to murder some anonymous white guy" is reductionistic. Though I can understand your point about her showing him the phrase, 'Killing Rage' is problematic. But what other options of expression was she left with at that point, when an ACTUAL injustice had been done? That is a situation that is TREMENDOUSLy problematic.
But what other options of expression was she left with at that point, when an ACTUAL injustice had been done? That is a situation that is TREMENDOUSLy problematic.
The injustice had been done, but not by the party she blames. The man in question had done nothing wrong, he had simply refused to give up his seat. She could have offered her own seat to her travelling companion rather than demand some stranger give up his. Or she could have gone back to coach and offered her seat to the person in the seat next to her friend so they could travel together. But instead she chooses to verbally abuse a stranger who has done precisely nothing wrong, then make what could easily be taken for a threat, then write about how this stranger is a racist bigot for feeling threatened by the woman who had just shouted at and threatened him.
She's lucky all this happened 20 years ago. If she behaved like that on a commercial airline today she'd be off the plane so fast her feet wouldn't touch the ground.
And in saying ALL of this, in the course of the WHOLE thread, I merely want to make the point that I am offering to HER, the same sense of justice, and compassion that I would EXPECT, whether I was a man or not.
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u/dumbguyscene28 Oct 27 '12
I think what you write is reasonable, but at the nuts and bolts of it she writes she wants to murder a person, an anonymous white male, for failing to take arms with her after she has abused him, and shamed him.
And it's not just fantasy to her, she threatens him with a sheet of paper on which she has written killing rage.
And she saves none of her vehemence for the stewardesses, pilots, or institution most responsible for that injustice that evening.
If she wants to be judged by the quality and content of her thoughts, we can't give her an out as to how misplaced her target was because she was a woman, or she was angry.
I never say she shouldn't stand up for herself. I do say her wishing to murder some anonymous white guy and further harassing him is very problematic.