Men who batter women are terrorists By Elaine Charkowski (Copy-free and Shareable) The FBIs definition of terrorism is, the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce the government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives. Men who batter women use force and violence to intimidate or coerce in furtherance of their social objective - male supremacy. Since women are a segment of the civilian population, men who batter them are legally terrorists. Male-supremacist power institutions like religion and government have developed in every culture. Carol Christ who wrote Why Women Need the Goddess said, In order to change society, the changes would have to be in the best interests of the people controlling the power institutions. If their interests are not served, the changes are repressed. Scripture is a collection of statements attributed to god and written by men to grant themselves power over women. All the worlds major religions are male-supremacist, their respective gods granting men the right to be the family dictator. Mens gods are also terrorists. Like mortal male terrorists, these male gods use force and coercion, threatening punishment, hell and torture if women dare to disobey. Presently, men control religion and government. Thus, issues which particularly interest and affect women such as male violence, the environment, housing, child care, job training, education, family planning, and health care are chronically underfunded - if theyre funded at all. If a mans home is his castle, who is the king—and who are the servants.? In Websters Dictionary, family comes from the root word meaning group of servants. A husband is the male head of the household. Husband is also a verb meaning, to use and employ to good purpose and best advantage, as in animal husbandry. Father means owner or master (mister).Wife comes from the root word for veiled and also means the female of a pair of mated animals. Bill McCartney, founder of the right-wing mens group Promise Keepers, tells men to tenderly and gently take their god-given position as head of the family. But what happens when women dont placidly submit to being gently husbanded like livestock? Wife-beating is a traditional family value. The Rule of Thumb was a law allowing Englishmen to beat their wives with a stick no thicker than a mans thumb to make them obey. According to the U.S. surgeon general, battering by men is the number one health problem of women in America. Since families are the building blocks of society and most families are male-supremacist dictatorships, it follows that societies and governments reflect the traditional familys dictatorial credo of Might makes Right. In her book The Demon Lover, Robin Morgan said, The majority of the population in virtually all nation-states is female, and is forced by patriarchy to obey, be silent and acquiesce-which means that democracy does not yet exist anywhere! Nations are macrocosms of dysfunctional families and war is a macrocosm of domestic violence. The personal is political. All violence is connected. Our 90 % male government hands over more than $500 billion (half a trillion) dollars a year to the military. The big boys get to buy all the war toys they want while schools are underfunded, the homeless shiver in the cold and battered women have no place to go. Much of this shamefully squandered tax money was taken from women. Thus, women are forced to be enablers of dysfunctional nations just as battered women are often forced to be the enablers holding their dysfunctional families together. Many cant leave, since there isnt enough money for battered womens shelters and resources. However, women are breaking the silence about male violence. On October 24th, 1997, women from around the world presented the Womens Peace Petition to the President of the 52nd United Nations General Assembly. The petition circled the globe via mail, fax, Internet and word-of-mouth. It contained more than 90,000 signatures with thousands coming from India, Turkey, Philippines, Mozambique, Canada and Australia and the United States. The Petition read: We are horrified at the levels of violence witnessed during this century and that women and children are the primary victims of war and poverty. On behalf of society at large, we, the undersigned women of the world, demand that annually, for the next five years, at least five per cent of national military expenditures be redirected to health, education and employment programs. We also demand that war, like slavery, colonialism and apartheid, be delegitimized as an acceptable form of social behavior, and that governments and civil society together develop new institutions that do not resort to violence for the settlement of disputes. Together we commit ourselves, as half of the worlds population, to use our power to ensure that these demands, which will promote international peace and security, are met through legislation and action. We resolve that we will inaugurate a new century that rejects warfare and promotes well-being, justice and human rights. Early feminist union organizers encouraged women to get out of their houses to participate in social housekeeping to sweep away oppression and clean up society. Even though the Peace Petition has already been presented years ago, we should continue to make copies, collect signatures and network to share our ideas. In this way, millions of creative ways to build peace can be shared to end male violence whether it’s in war or at home. As Susan B Anthony said, failure is impossible!
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 04:48:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015