Being the good liberal that I am, I understand the importance of respecting the fact that, strange as it may seem, not everyone secretly wants to live like an American. Societies and cultures can be profoundly different, and it’s critically important to remain sensitive to that.
Having said that, I say also that there is such a thing as basic human rights. These include the right not to have your genitals maimed, and the right not to be forced to submit to rape, cook, clean and bear the children of your rapist, and be forced to call him your husband.
And if you seize your right by fleeing the rape, you have a right not to be beaten for doing so.
Jesus fucking christ sometimes I can’t help it… I think certain areas of the world could be bombed into oblivion and the human race would be none the worse for it.
And I am so FUCKING tired of women taking the brunt of human cruelty, oppression, violence and abuse and having it tolerated as in any way acceptable, much less promoted by religion and government.
Most anthropologists and sociologists would agree. I don’t think any agree that all cultures are equal, just that there should be as little judgment as possible when studying them.
The thing is, the idea of promoting multiculturalism as a favorable thing is (AFAIK) a uniquely Western conceit. Every other traditional society out there paints the world in stark terms of “us” vs. “them”, with “us” at the center of the universe.
Wait, what? Every other traditional society puts us at the center of the universe! How awesome is that! Pardon me, I’m going to go sit for a spell in the Total Perspective Vortex.
I thought this was fascinating. It has to do with Chechnya’s new Russia-supported dictator. He’s being accused of all kinds of human rights violations. Among his critics is a stern old British diplomat (Lord Judd) who, in no uncertain terms, strongly supports basic human rights and condemns governments who violate them. He expresses strongly-worded concern about Ramzan Kadyrov’s government. The first caller is some schmuck who starts making excuses. “Lord Judd doesn’t understand our culture”.
My rule of thumb when thinking about this kind of thing, is that cultural differences should be respected when they don’t hurt someone against their will. I know, I know, a courageous stand. But that’s where I draw the line.
Yes, because we all know that women are far more likely to be the victim of violent crime, far more likely to be multilated, far more likely to be maimed, far more likely to be incarcerated, far more likely to be ill and far more likely to suffer almost any other effect of cruelty, oppression, violence and abuse.
Oh, hang on. That’s a load of horseshit. *Men *are far more lieky to be the victim of all those things.
But never let the facts get in the way of a good sexist rant.:rolleyes:
Come on, women have been second class citizens when they were not outright chattel property for most of history. Forbidden to own property, participate in government, stand up for themselves in court actions … keep the proceeds of their own labor. Hell, up in to the 70s and 80s in America women couldn’t refuse to have sex with their husbands, rape was just fine within the bounds of marriage. Women got paid less for the same jobs. There is still a glass ceiling in many industries. If a woman likes sex, she is a slut, if she has an executive position, she must have slept her way to the top.
Unless the OP has some personal investment in this incident the rant is discolored by her anger. I like the OP and have for many years but suggesting obliterating many innocents does not make for a higher ground as stated below:
Also I’d need to see a cite that it is women that bear the brunt of mankinds cruelty.
That said, yes the linked story is awful and women in that part of the world are generally treated as second class citizens.
Most men have been second class citizens throughout history. Kings and Lords were as much unrepresentative of the average man as Queen Elizabeth I was as unrepresentative of the average woman.
Unless you’re hooked into that god fix I don’t see how one can even speak about universal human rights without collapsing in laughter. Are these rights inscribed on golden plates beyond the veil? Do we need seer stones to decrypt them?
Whether he meant to or not, Bricker shatters the concept of human rights in a single line right here.
I’m sure the victims of these forced marriages and whippings will be delighted to discover that being blown up was the pot of gold at the end of their rainbow.
Yes, but only for unborn female fetuses. If we start talking about any other kinds of fetuses, we would get into total threadshit territory instead of this partial threadshit area.
