An open letter to James Howard Kunstler
Mar. 29th, 2007 09:31 amI wrote this letter in response to Mr. Kunstler's Daily Grunt of 19 March - currently here, will presumably be moved here when he posts another one - wherein he says that women should not be serving in Iraq, or, really, in the military at all, outside of a few specialised segregated units, because female soldiers entice male soldiers to "harass" them, wherein "rape" is included as a form of "harassment.")
Dear Mr. Kunstler,
Somehow it keeps coming back to the same thing. Men hurt women, violently. Men then react by blaming women for the actions of the men, and punishing the women.
In the Islamic fundamentalist world, it's the "uncontrollable lust" of men supposedly triggered by seeing a woman's face, resulting in women being sentenced to death for being raped; here, in your column, it's sexual violence, resulting in soldiers being kicked out of their careers for being raped. (And, as an aside, rape isn't just "harassment." Nice reductionism there.)
It's just always so amazing how the answer comes back not to, "men should stop assaulting women," but "women should be kicked out - for their own good, of course." In the Islamist world, it's kicked out of society entirely. In your column, it's of most of the Army. In both cases, women are punished for the bad behaviour of men. In both cases, it's "women shouldn't be making these decisions; we men should be making it for them." Other than degree - which I'll concede does matter at some levels - there really is no difference here.
As for the importance of women in the armed services, even in these theoconservative-driven demifascist times, the Army doesn't agree with you. Women aren't extra. We're not "experiments in social relations." We're people - and not lessor, and not, as you assert, unsuited for critical roles. Women in the Army in particular - and I know several - are called soldiers, and in particular, are called critical to the mission, whatever that mission happens to be. Read up on what the Army said a few years ago when something like you're supporting got floated by social conservatives in the Republican congress. You'll find that what they said can be summed up as, "sure, if you want the Army to collapse tomorrow."
If you want to talk about reality, and talk about what "experience is proving," talk about that. Talk about what the Army said when it was asked - asked! - by social conservatives to do exactly what you're suggesting. They had all the political cover they'd need - and they said, oh christ no.
I've been reading your columns for several years now. I'm really sorry it turns out you have this roiling around underneath your skin. How unfortunate.
Sincerely,
--
solarbird
I signed my real name to his copy, of course. Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I've corrected a typo and formatted it as an open letter for livejournal instead of a note in plaintext email.
Dear Mr. Kunstler,
Somehow it keeps coming back to the same thing. Men hurt women, violently. Men then react by blaming women for the actions of the men, and punishing the women.
In the Islamic fundamentalist world, it's the "uncontrollable lust" of men supposedly triggered by seeing a woman's face, resulting in women being sentenced to death for being raped; here, in your column, it's sexual violence, resulting in soldiers being kicked out of their careers for being raped. (And, as an aside, rape isn't just "harassment." Nice reductionism there.)
It's just always so amazing how the answer comes back not to, "men should stop assaulting women," but "women should be kicked out - for their own good, of course." In the Islamist world, it's kicked out of society entirely. In your column, it's of most of the Army. In both cases, women are punished for the bad behaviour of men. In both cases, it's "women shouldn't be making these decisions; we men should be making it for them." Other than degree - which I'll concede does matter at some levels - there really is no difference here.
As for the importance of women in the armed services, even in these theoconservative-driven demifascist times, the Army doesn't agree with you. Women aren't extra. We're not "experiments in social relations." We're people - and not lessor, and not, as you assert, unsuited for critical roles. Women in the Army in particular - and I know several - are called soldiers, and in particular, are called critical to the mission, whatever that mission happens to be. Read up on what the Army said a few years ago when something like you're supporting got floated by social conservatives in the Republican congress. You'll find that what they said can be summed up as, "sure, if you want the Army to collapse tomorrow."
If you want to talk about reality, and talk about what "experience is proving," talk about that. Talk about what the Army said when it was asked - asked! - by social conservatives to do exactly what you're suggesting. They had all the political cover they'd need - and they said, oh christ no.
I've been reading your columns for several years now. I'm really sorry it turns out you have this roiling around underneath your skin. How unfortunate.
Sincerely,
--
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I signed my real name to his copy, of course. Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure, I've corrected a typo and formatted it as an open letter for livejournal instead of a note in plaintext email.