I once thought that race was the major fault line that ran through

[chieftain]

America. Now, though I recognize that race and class are major factors in people deciding which party to belong to, it has become clear to me that sex/gender issues have become preeminent in our politics.
I say sex/gender to encompass the hatred and fear that the liberation of both gays and women engenders in the RW. As repressive laws and societal attitudes designed to support male/heterosexual ascendancy have eroded, the virulence of conservatives' hatred of gays and women has bubbled up to a frightening degree.
I have been struck by the nature of the indirect attacks on Joe Wilson and Bill Clinton by the use of bully-boy tactics not on the men but on their wives. Not just for the degree of cowardice involved, but also for the approving acceptance of these despicable tactics by the Republican rank and file. They seem gratified that these women are getting exactly what they deserve for abandoning their traditional posture of male-dependence.
The reign of terror that Starr waged on multiple women including Susan McDougald, Julie Steele and Betty Currie recedes into memory but the image of RW thugs venting most of their spleen on women shows just how weasely these manly men really are.
The beatings and tortures of gays speaks to a hatred that cannot be restrained by law or basic human decency.Somehow the mere existence of a different lifestyle threatens these weaklings.
My only hope is that this type of thinking reduces by each generation.I am heartened by the news that young Christians are leaving the evangelical churches in droves. Maybe our home grown Taliban has reached its high water mark.

[bloom]

1. I've been reading recently

about some of the history of misogyny - in Simone de Beauvior's Second Sex - and it is evident that misogyny in history ebbs and flows.

Whatever women's rights there are now can never be taken for granted. And no one should assume that any recent gains in the preceding decades will last without effort.


I agree with your assessment of the right wing.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Quite true

Our rights can never be taken for granted. But I wonder how many men realize that if women's rights are curtailed, their rights are also in jeopardy? A state that curtails the rights of one group usually doesn't stop there.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Hatred based on fear

For millenia, homosexuality has been kept in the shadows. As late as the 1950s, people thought that gays were mentally ill. Science has now shown that it is a trait a person is born with, just like gender or skin color. The right wing apparently cannot cope with the truth, and so it lashes out.

But not only against gays, but as you pointed out, against women as well. Personally, I see fundamentalism (in any faith) as a direct threat to that faith. I believe the structures within a religion that justify discrimination against anyone need to be torn down; the teachings of all faiths talk of tolerance; but the further that faith gets away from its source (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, etc) the easier it is for people to twist the teachings around to fit their version of religion. Perhaps it is time for people to stop thinkingabout dogma and start being the kinds of persons that are true followers of their prophet, teacher, or messiah.

[Smaze]

4. Amen and Awomen!

So let it be! Thanks for not regurgitating mass manufactured opinions on the subject. Peace.

[chieftain]

8. Your points are well made. It does seem that relgion is

particularly attractive to people who are intolerant of others no matter what there godhead teaches. The similarities between fundamentalists of every religion are legion. The founding fathers knew what they were doing in insisting on the separation of church and state.

[valerief]

5. And one day it will be the left-handed vs. right-handed or those

with good rhythm vs. those who are dance-challenged. Naw, it will always be what the wealthy decide it will be at any given moment in media history.

[wiley]

6. Two topics DU has a very hard time dealing with

The Hillary hatred wave that rolls over DU night and day has little to do with her as a candidate or Senator. If it did, the foul mouthed, misogynist BS coming out in people's posts would be valid criticism. On the other hand, DUers seem to have very little outrage towards Mary Cheney.

[Printer70]

7. Malkin and Coulter

This is precisely why I tell people not to reserve their vitriol for Malkin and Coulter, because it compromises our advantage as being more open and constructive towards women. We should reserve at least as much disdain for George Will and Robert Novak. I've heard much nastier things said about Malkin and Coulter than I have about Novak, even though Novak impact is greater. Naturally Malkin and Coulter are purposely inflammatory, but if we take the bait, than it will appear that women-bashing is a bi-partisan thing.