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Blow bangs and cluster bombs: The cruelty of men and Americans
This is an old piece by Robert Jensen. I saw it linked elsewhere and thought it was worth sharing here. It includes graphic descriptions of violence.
...
The radical feminist critique of pornography has identified the cost of pornography to women and children, including the harm to the women and children who are used in the production of pornography, who have pornography forced on them, and who are sexually assaulted by men who use pornography. More generally, there is the harm that comes from living in a culture in which pornography reinforces and sexualizes women's subordinate status.
Right now, law ignores most of those harms and attempts to address others. But the realities of power and male dominance mean that even the laws that exist do very little in practice to stop the systematic abuse of women and children.
...
Sexuality is natural and conflict is inevitable. How we deal with sexuality and conflict involves choices. We could choose to create a sexuality rooted in an egalitarian ethic of mutuality and respect. We could choose to create a world order rooted in an egalitarian ethic of mutuality and respect. In such a world, blow bangs and cluster bombs would not exist.
...
Pornography and the wars of empire are based on the idea that domination is natural and inevitable. I am anti-pornography and anti-war because I believe that domination is a choice, the rewards of which are seductive but in the end illusory. I believe that love, compassion, and solidarity can anchor our lives at every level, from the intimate to the global.
...
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/blowbangs.htm
The radical feminist critique of pornography has identified the cost of pornography to women and children, including the harm to the women and children who are used in the production of pornography, who have pornography forced on them, and who are sexually assaulted by men who use pornography. More generally, there is the harm that comes from living in a culture in which pornography reinforces and sexualizes women's subordinate status.
Right now, law ignores most of those harms and attempts to address others. But the realities of power and male dominance mean that even the laws that exist do very little in practice to stop the systematic abuse of women and children.
...
Sexuality is natural and conflict is inevitable. How we deal with sexuality and conflict involves choices. We could choose to create a sexuality rooted in an egalitarian ethic of mutuality and respect. We could choose to create a world order rooted in an egalitarian ethic of mutuality and respect. In such a world, blow bangs and cluster bombs would not exist.
...
Pornography and the wars of empire are based on the idea that domination is natural and inevitable. I am anti-pornography and anti-war because I believe that domination is a choice, the rewards of which are seductive but in the end illusory. I believe that love, compassion, and solidarity can anchor our lives at every level, from the intimate to the global.
...
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/blowbangs.htm
Emphasis mine. That is the world radical feminists are working toward when we talk about smashing the patriarchy.
2 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
I love men who understand radical feminism. 
Hope you're doing well, good to see you posting again. 