#but those beliefs influence his actions and how he treats women around him

[valzhangism]

do you think Leo is a misogynist

nope and i'm not just saying that because he's my favourite character. calling leo a misogynist is just objectively ridiculous; the most "misogynistic" behaviour he ever exhibits is flirting awkwardly and thinking of himself as a casanova but even then when he gets put in his place it's not like he gets angry or violent or even all that upset. it's clear that his flirty behaviour is just another coping mechanism that can manifest negatively like, say, his bullying frank. he's best friends with piper, is intimidated by annabeth, and becomes close with hazel and reyna. all characters with which he has completely normal and meaningful interactions with. frankly i don't get at all how people see him as some raging misogynist—the most he has is a minor sexism problem that is typical of most teenage boys, one that even percy has.

tldr; no. nothing leo does is ever that serious.

[garyfischy]

Oyasumi Punpun: a Rant

Oyasumi Punpun is like the Elliot Rodger manifesto for weeaboos. Boy that thinks he's the only person that's had anything bad happen to him gets raped and beaten, goes around raping and beating and murdering women. And it's all justified because of the horrible life he led. If you read any of Inio Asano's other mangas you can tell this is not a flaw or an oversight in Punpun's writing- Asano is a bitter misogynist and it shows in everything he writes. Bullies, abusive mothers, are all bitchy, unlovable hags. The only good women in the world of his manga are underage prepubescent girls.

Throughout Downfall, Goodnight Punpun, Dead Dead Demon's DEDEDEDEstruction (yes i read all of those. i wanted to give him a chance so bad.) women are always positioned as mindless foils to the protagonist. women that crave sex are disgusting whores. prostitutes are ugly, but the protagonist still sleeps with them. Fat women are disgusting. Mean women are ugly caricatured beasts, and kind women are perfectly molded, underage girls. Characters that proudly self-identify as pedophiles (Punpun's uncle, the otaku in DEDEDEDEstruction) are positioned as the rationalists, the Reddit Atheists, the ones too smart for the idiocy of the normies. The breath of "reason" in an insane world. The most obvious example of this isn't even in Oyasumi Punpun with the pedo uncle;

it's in DOWNFALL, which is about an 'intellectual' manga artist that hates the braindead 'normies' that like his manga. he only makes it for bottom feeders like them. he's above those human scum. The self insert protagonist rapes a woman too because she pissed him off. That's life! C'est la Vie! Men just do that kind of thing sometimes!

I am fucking sick of indie scenes treating punpun like the most deep, meaningful manga ever and jacking off about how smart they are for "understanding" it. what is there to understand? asano themself said punpun isn't supposed to have a coherent plot or meaning, that it's just supposed to be nonsense because real life murders are nonsense. it's just an excuse to write a sloppy, disheveled story, with little care put into the world that the protagonist inhabits.

this isnt very organized. im just full of hate for inio asano, and i cannot believe this bilge is touted as some of the most 'intellectual' manga of our time.

here's some quotes from an interview about punpun

and here's an incident where a teenager killed a young girl and wrote punpun quotes all over the wall at the site. **AT NO POINT AM I IMPLYING DIRECT CORRELATION OF A HORRIFIC CRIME AND A FICTIONAL COMIC. You've seen that kind of thinking with, say, the boy that killed himself after playing Doki Doki Literature club- it's more likely someone willing to do that was drawn to media that discussed those themes rather than yknow, being directly inspired

..However, it is still interesting to note similarities in ideology/motive. In the same way the religious beliefs of killers often come into discussion (ie the Dena Schlosser murders- how did the ideology/community she was surrounded by influence her already declining mental state? Noone would argue christianity itself caused the murders.) , I think it's interesting to note Punpun's influence on the killer. ***I AM NOT SAYING PUNPUN WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER. the person involved in the killing was already suicidal and mentally ill, thus they probably gravitated towards manga with those themes.

but if the manga influenced his actions that much, I think it's interesting to look into the ideology of the manga itself and what ideals it promotes. ***I AM NOT FUCKING SAYING PUNPUN CAUSED THE MURDER BEFORE I GET ANY COMMENTS ALONG THOSE LINES

note to self if i clean this up; make it more structured with my gripes about his manga; ie separate sections for misogynistic depictions of women, why i dont think the nihilism works, and bad writing with clear favoritism for certain characters and author self inserts (Platinum End also does this!)

[nailgunstigmata]

@certifiedeccentric yeah ofc!! i realized i was probably a bit vague on this dhdjdb putting it here instead of comments so i can hide for the cws

ok so yeah cws for everything dennis childhood trauma related and also for me thinking way too deeply about the bed pooping show about horrible people <3

this is all me making stuff up and extrapolating from what i think would fit the characters but to me its just further confirmation of how frank influenced the twins and particularly dennis, since so much of his mysogyny is picked up from frank and thats the angle he takes in repressing his trauma, aka a woman cant rape a man since the man always has the power, so sleeping with an older woman as a minor is cool and not statuory rape. its exactly the kind of fucked up outdated belief system that frank has i think. so yeah frank fantasizing about sleeping with an older woman in middle school?? huh. u could argue hes joking but its frank. i dont think its too farfetched to say that he wasnt. i dont think its too farfetched to say that thats a genuine belief he holds and held in the past. so yeah

and its interesting to me that frank represses and minimalizes his trauma too!! like i know hes a joke character but he still obviously carries trauma that he doesnt address and thats played for laughs so i think its natural that dennis should have picked up on that, especially since sleeping with an older woman is, in his mind, supposed to be an achievement and something to be proud of. so even if hes uncomfortable with it and doesnt really understand why and even if it doesnt really feel like a good thing despite being supposed to be one, hes never been taught how to adress feelings like that. frank doesnt talk about things and i dont think barbara did so why should dennis?

and frank might not have actively told dennis those things verbatim, but im pretty sure he signaled it through his actions at least. thats where the book excerpt kinda confirms my headcanon, because even if frank was joking (and im not sure if he is because. well. hes frank) thats still him as a fully grown adult talking about sleeping with a older women when in middle school. you know, middle school, the one you go to aged 11-14 (thats what the internet said at least im not american lol)

also maybe thats me being annoying about the trash twins but dee showing the video is such an interesting thing for me too because it just kind of rubs you the wrong way, like it seems almost cartoonishly cruel. and i know that this is the worst people on earth show and dee is supposed to be evil and all that stuff but i do think that her feelings on the original event are kind of conflicted if that makes sense?

i think that she recognizes it as something fucked up that happened (because she literally rightfully points out it was rape) but she also still has internalized way too much of franks bullshit to really aknowledge the severity of it? and i dont mean that in a „she wouldnt hurt dennis like that“ way, but in a way where she still struggles with the internalized misogyny from frank and also her own baggage from being sexualised at a young age with the beauty pageant thing despite on a logical level knowing that its wrong.

idk i think it fits with how dennis and dee were influenced by frank in general, how dennis follows his beliefs more and dee seems to reject them on the surface level but obviously still carries tons of internalized mysoginy around and falls victim to it even when she knows that frank is being gross and in the wrong.

also dee literally says a woman cant rape a man in times up. she says it to justify her own actions maybe but it still seems like something she believes in. she felt secure in women not being able to rape. i mean. i dont think i even need to say more here!!

also dont forget frank pimping dennis out and how dennis let him treat him. also remember dennis saying he doesnt want to get a beer and frank praising him :) that last ones kinda unrelated but remember it anyways

tldr frank gave dennis the mindset that led to him still being unable to accept his assault as assault which makes the ireland scenes between them even more insane <3

ok and what if i said that franks crush on eleanor roosevelt in middleschool has very upsetting implications when it comes to dennis‘s unwillingness to accept his trauma? yes im taking the joke section about frank wanting to fuck eleanor roosevelt seriously because it fits perfectly into my headcanon. frank says „the things she could have taught me“ what do you expect me to say about that. come on now. there was a reason dee made fun of what happened

[ivy-kissobryos]

Thai Folk Magic

Below are some analysis of folk spells from Thailand, along with the theories of how magic works. All quotes are from "Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand" by Barend Jan Terwiel. First, we will discuss love spells. Totally recommend the book to anyone interested. Everything that I read so far seem very accurate to what I experienced growing up.

Love Magic

One man reputedly won his wife by drawing a simple magical diagram, one of the category of the yan napaṭhamaṃ, while thinking intensively of the woman he wished to marry and saying the appropriate khatha. He waited seven days for the magic to take effect and, when approaching her, he noticed that she was more favourably inclined towards him. Yan napaṭhamaṃ means literally: ‘The first, or foremost letter N diagram’. The letter N occurs frequently in Thai mystical drawings, probably because it may be regarded as an extreme abbreviation of the expression namo buddhāya, hail to the Buddha.

The idea of drawing holy symbols in order to bring about an outcome is something common among many cultures, both eastern and western (like in Catholic folk magic where the cross is drawn for protection and to invoke the higher powers). I just find this intriguing because I keep seeing the symbol of the yan napaṭhamaṃ pretty much everywhere in Thailand, both painted on the ceiling of a taxi, on top of doorways or in front of windows. Good to finally find out what it means.

Another method to ensure the love of a woman, also reported by Textor, is to sit close by her while smoking a cigarette. The man should draw smoke deep into his lungs and, whilst softly saying the right spell, blow out the smoke so that it envelops her. A much stronger method consists of scooping up some earth with the big toe of the right foot, taking the earth in the right hand and rubbing it on the top of the head, whilst invoking the goddess of the earth, Mother Thorani (ธรณี), to assist in the acquisition of a bride.

The last two examples reveal that, as the magical practices become more strong and persuasive, less attractive material is used. It is not pleasant to be enveloped in smoke, and rubbing earth over one’s head is an action no Thai will perform lightly. The earth is often associated with pollution because it can be the recipient of human waste and animal droppings. Moreover, scooping up a bit of earth with the foot must be regarded as an abnormal, ‘inverted’ activity. The feet are the parts of the body that are held in lowest regard, and reaching for something with the foot is regarded in Thailand as the epitome of bad manners.

It is said among men that prostitutes use a similar magic. Reputedly a prostitute sprinkles some water that contains vaginal excretion at the doorposts and above the door of the house where she lives. A man walking near the door may suddenly be irresistibly drawn over the threshold. If he is wearing his string of amulets he should quickly take it off and give it to a friend in safe keeping before entering the house.

The quotes above is interesting in that the concept of holiness and unholiness (or pollution) is used to compel someone, with love/compulsion being viewed as a dirty thing.

When a woman is convinced that her husband gives cause for jealousy she may make a potion or a powder that contains some of her vaginal excretion. If a man consumes some food that contains this potion or powder, he reputedly loses interest in all other women and devotes his complete attention to the woman from whose secretions the mixture was made. A woman who resorts to these means should take care to practise this kind of magic in secret; if the man finds out that his food has been treated in such a manner, he would be very angry indeed, for her vaginal excretion will surely have destroyed the power of many of his tattoos and amulets and rendered him vulnerable.

Here, bodily fluids are used. This is like in various folk magic where menstrual blood is dropped into the food of someone in order to compel them to be attracted to you. What is more intriguing is the notion that something unclean like vaginal excretion could be used to render magical tattoos and amulets useless. Extrapolating from that, I believe that if one wishes to desecrate something, one could sprinkle water mixed with vaginal excretions onto it.

He reports that, if a woman fears that her husband has been treated with the vaginal excretion of another woman, she should obtain water from the bottom of three or seven taxi boats, and some moss from around the sanctuary of a monastery, or from the boundary stones of a bot. If her husband eats food containing a mixture of these materials, his previously alienated affection is restored. The substances chosen to counter the effects of aggressive love magic of another woman are obviously considered magically powerful in their own right [...] Water from the bottom of taxi boats must be seen as polluted and aggressive: it is where the wood starts rotting, the stagnant water has often an unpleasant smell, and it may contain particles of dirt from the feet of countless passengers. Moss that grows on the sanctuary of a monastery appears more ambiguously charged. On the one hand, it can usually be found on ground level, and may have been dirtied by the many dogs that roam the premises. On the other hand, a small amount of the beneficial power that is continually generated in the building itself may have permeated as far as the mossy outside. It seems, however, that the aggressive aspects prevail for the moss is reported to be one of the ingredients of a magically highly potent substance used to kill enemies.

For clarifications, a "bot" as referred to in the quote above translates roughly to temple. Again, the concept of sympathetic magic is used, dirtiness contrasted with holiness. Now let's discuss where magic comes from within this belief system.

Origins of Magic

In order to make a pressed or printed image, commonly known as phra phim (พระ พิมพ์), a monk needs, apart from the mould, a recipe, the proper ingredients, and considerable knowledge of spells, the sacred script and magical drawings. Historians will be sad to hear that one of the common ingredients of phra phim is the ash obtained from burning the oldest handwritten sacred books of the monastery [...] The amulets derive their protective power partly from the association with powerful things. The phra phim are made from sacred ingredients.

Phra phim is a type of flat, printed amulet. Amulets are sacred because something within them is sacred. The idea of burning holy texts to add power to a spell or enchantment is also similar to other forms of folk magic, such as in Catholic folk magic where psalms may be written and burnt and their ashes be used for protection or other purposes. However, as will be explained below, consecration is needed to make the amulets functioning.

In general, the inherent quality of the amulets is considered insufficient to ensure protection to the person who wears them. Apart from being made from auspicious material and depicting powerful symbols, the amulets usually ought to be sacralized. This sacralization can take many forms. The most elementary sacralization ritual, called pluksek (ปลุกเสก), can be observed, for example, when a monk gives a small Buddha image to a layman. Taking the image in both hands, the monk brings it close to his mouth and murmurs a short Pali formula. While uttering the final syllable of the spell, the monk may blow sharply upon this Buddha image. Some monks prefer to draw a simple yan over the amulet with the index finger of the right hand or with a pencil while saying the Pali words.

I used to translate "pluksek” as consecration, but here I can see why sacralization also makes sense. The way breath is used to imbue powers in an object is also a universal thing that is present in many forms of magic.

Another thing that is of note is that magic isn't simply sympathetic, but also based upon the concept of proximity and contagion.

The closer to the seat of magical power, the stronger is the influence of that force. Any object of the appropriate shape that is exposed to a strong dose of magical power will become a secondary seat of the force. This has been amply demonstrated in the rituals surrounding amulets [...] This is why the bundles of such objects are placed near a monk who is preaching, why the begging bowl of an ordinand contains them, and why bowls of water stand near the monks who complete their pavāraṇā ceremony. The principle is apparent in the rituals designed to sacralize amulets as well as those where a bowl of water is charged.

Placing water near a monk speaking holy words makes the water somewhat more holy than it was before. But, magic isn't just man-made. It's all around us, a part of the natural world.

It has been shown that, in addition to the protective power that emanates from people who utter sacred words or who meditate, there are ambiguous forces in the animated world, forces that may protect, but that could also be harmful. Examples of the ambiguous powers are the gods, the spirits of the ancestors, the anthropomorphic and theriomorphic powers that live in nature and are the legendary original owners of the environment, and guardian spirits.

There is no sharp division between physical powers of nature and magical power. The earth, which possesses the capacity to make plants grow and thrive, is sometimes seen in the shape of a beautiful female, Mae Thorani. Under the earth is the domain of the chief of the Nak, a serpent-like shape with the face of a dragon. The wind, the river, a tree, a house, and the monastery, each of these is connected with one or more unseen powers, conceived of in anthropomorphic form, and each of these unseen powers has its specific likes and dislikes. A farmer learns to attract their attention with candles, incense, and flowers, and develops skills in addressing and pleasing them. Nature has provided men with unexpected seats of power. For example, a termite hill may acquire a reputation for bringing luck; or when lightning strikes a building, the scorched plaster is regarded as magically powerful. A lump of resin that shows the shape of a Buddha is sacred, and a big stone that is dragged up from the river brings prosperity when laid in the rice-storage hut.

Death and the Afterlife

Now, I wish to discuss something less about magic and more about religion.

In the mouth a coin is placed, which the soul of the dead person needs in order to pay the fare to cross the underworld river, guarded by Phra Ketkaew Culamani, (เก็จแก้วจุฬมณี) or ‘Lord Bright Gem Jewel’. Probably this is Yama, the Hindu god who presides over the dead and who is described as ‘with a glittering form, a crown on his head’. This is followed by the ritual of tra sang (ตราสัง), ‘binding the corpse’. The undertaker uses a piece of white unspun cotton thread to bind the neck, feet and hands whilst saying the Pali formula: ‘Putto gīve, dhano pade, bhariya hatthe’. This is interpreted as a spell with which to free a person from the three strongest ties in this world: from the tie of children (whilst putting a loop with the cord around the neck), from wealth (when binding the feet), and from the tie of the spouse (while the hands are tied).

Two things are interesting here. First, being that payment is needed to cross an underworld river. This is very reminiscent of the myth of Charon and the crossing of river styx. The second interesting point is the use of binding magic. I have witness the ritual performed but at the time, I didn't understand what it meant. The irony of binding someone in order to free them is also very striking.

Other Tai peoples, especially the White and Black Tais of northern Vietnam, who do not seem to be influenced by Buddhism, have quite different views. In their eyes, a person has many khwan that, upon death, divide themselves in groups; some khwan go to the spirit world above, some are conducted to the house and can be worshipped on the ancestral shrine, while the remainder stay in the grave.

The quote above explores the question many people may ask: where do souls go after we die? I have pondered this question many times- if I give all that I am to the Witchfather, would my soul continue to serve Him even after death? If I devote myself to the Theoi, do I get to gain entry to the Hellenic afterlife? Would that mean that upon death, I could never interact with the spirits of my ancestors again as we are of different religious beliefs? The concept of khwan solves this line of thinking, in my opinion. There are many independent khwan in your body, just like your body is made up of millions of miniscule cells. Perhaps, a part of me would fall into milk and join the Theoi upon death, perhaps another will stay here to guide whoever comes after me. We are multitudes, both in life and in death.

[loopsforlupin]

Wolfstar Through the Eyes of a Mother

Walburga : 

    Walburga Black was not happy, not one bit. Her eldest “child” was consorting with those nasty blood traitors, the Potter’s, and those two half-blood creatures, Peter and the weird wolf named one, Romulus? No Remus, that was the sandy haired one’s name. Weird kid, had nasty scars across his face, and she suspected the rest of his body as well. Whatever, she shook those thoughts from her head, and focused on glaring at the boys gathered on the train station platform. Her precious child, Regulus was gathered with his own friends, but they were of the respectable sort, except for that Snape child, but he was a dark wizard, and a powerful Potion maker, so she was willing to allow their friendship.     The other four boys were standing close to one another, the parents of the other three were gathered around the friends, but Walburga was staring at her son more than her usual gaze. Something was going on. Her eldest was standing particularly close to the tall sandy-haired one with scars, their hands practically brushing every time the boys moved. Her son, instead of doing the proper thing, and stepping away, swayed closer to the boy, tilting his head up to keep staring at the boy. Hmmmmm…… It would appear her eldest son was more of a useless creature than she had thought previously. First he was born with a white core, then he was always smiling and playing with those pathetic muggle children that had loitered around the park near their home. Then the boy went and got sorted into the stupid Lion house, a complete disgrace for their house. And if that hadn’t been bad enough, then he started flaunting his differences in her home. Putting up those disgusting muggle women posters, and changing the room’s color to that dreadful red and gold combination that made her eyes sore. Everything he did was against her very beliefs and core. Now the daft idiot had gone and fallen in love, with a male no less. If the man had been a Pure-blood, maybe she wouldn’t have minded as much, however, the useless child had to go and fall for a half blood. Not even a dark half-blood either, judging by the boy’s core, he was just as light magic as her oaf of a son. 

     Perhaps she should start making those plans for his marriage, Orion, seemed to think she should hold off another year, but judging from the closeness of the two boys, and the indulging looks of their friends, she didn’t have a year. She gave herself a pat on the back, yes, she would plan the boy a wedding, maybe she could even get a couple male’s interested. Perhaps if she offered a marriage with another male, with the understanding that Sirius would have to provide an heir through the use of a male pregnancy potion, than maybe the boy would stop fighting it. Maybe just maybe she’d get the boy under her thumb yet. 

Euphemia: 

      Euphemia Potter was feeling a contradicting set of emotions; ecstatic and  horrified. Her two sons were home with her, where she could watch over them. However, Sirius was still a battered and bruised mess. His ribs were broken, now just sore muscles around the once broken bones, his back was a mess of broken and scabbing skin after his carrier’s loving tender mercies. His lips were starting to heal again, the scabs opening less and less as she made him apply that potion to aid them in healing. His eyes were no longer black and blue, and his arm was out of the sling finally, it had been a struggle to get him to stop using the limb for the required three days, for the skele-gro to finally fix the broken bones there. Now her two sons were lounging on the couch in the living room, James playing with that practice snitch, and Sirius was tucked up in the corner of the couch, a book perched precariously on his knees. The young dark haired boy seemed so much more relaxed now, his shoulders no longer tensing when anyone new entered the room. He was starting to trust them. 

    James had asked her the other day, if Remus could come over. He said Peter had been on a small holiday with his mother, and that was why the smaller boy wasn't invited. She had agreed, the taller boy was so soft spoken compared to her sons, but she knew that his sharp mind and tongue were well within her active boy’s league. He was a nice calming influence on her two active boys, but he could also be quite the little instigator. She had watched him one time, talk James into jumping on Sirius, before the boy had lived with them, and tickling him. All because Remus had decided that Sirius was being to morose. She loved that the sandy-haired boy looked out for both her sons, and their friend. 

     Fleamont’s personal elf, Custer, announced the arrival of Master Siri’s friend. She stifled a grin, Sirius had absolutely refused to be called Master Black, or even Master Sirius, and insisted that all the elves referred to him as Siri, however the elves had added Master in front of it, and Sirius was too frustrated to argue more. Remus walked in the room and her heart fluttered at the beautiful smile that lit up her youngest son’s face. All the pain and fear was immediately wiped off, and replaced with sheer joy and dare she say it, love, for the boy, well wolf, who had walked in. Remus immediately made a beeline for Sirius, cheerfully calling out a greeting. The taller boy pulled the youngest of the group into a firm hug, leaning his head down to rest on the dark hair. He whispered something, but Euphemia was to far away to hear what he said. When Sirius pulled back, Remus smiled at him kindly and kept one arm around his body while he greeted her eldest son. That hug was brief compared to other one. 

      The boys settled back on the couch, this time with Sirius wrapped up in the arms of Remus, while James was talking to the taller boy, sitting with Sirius’s feet in his lap. She smiled at the sweet sight, her youngest being loved on by the two older boys, not even fighting the coddling, simply relaxing against Remus’s chest, letting the other adjust him until they were both comfortable. 

    Euphemia Potter couldn’t help but notice that Remus and Sirius were awfully comfortable with touching one another. Remus had let his one arm hang down over Sirius’s shoulder, so that his hand was dangling near Sirius’s stomach. Sirius was playing with that hand, even as he spoke to the other two, he was intertwining their fingers. Remus payed no attention to this, letting Sirius do as he pleased. After some comment, which had James squawking in indignation and Sirius laughing, Remus leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to Sirius’ s hair. After he had done so, Sirius had tilted his head back and smiled another gorgeous smile at the boy. He then leaned up and pressed a kiss to the grinning wolf’s chin. James said nothing about their actions, just continued to talk. His large grin however, showed how happy he was for his friends.  Euphemia smiled, her youngest son was well taken care of for now. She knew exactly how fiercely protective James was of the younger male, and that Remus could easier hold Sirius down if needed. She set off to find her darling husband, she had to share the exciting news that both their sons had wonderful people to hold their hearts.  

Hope: 

     Ever since that fateful night, Hope Lupin was constantly worried about her baby boy. She had been terrified when he had gone to Hogwarts, terrified that her special baby boy, who was so traumatized by his accident that he didn’t like to talk to people, would be so lonely. She had fretted over how he would handle the full moons as well, she knew how the wolf in him liked to bite and scratch at itself. She always hated to see how battered and bloody her son was after the full moon. The first week of her son’s classes she had been inconsolable, stressed and miserable as she waited for her son to write the first letter. And then it had arrived, and instead of being homesick and lonely, her son had written about the amazing boys he was sharing the dorm with.  

     James Potter, a quick, cheerful sort her son had written, who had busted out a stash of chocolate and pumpkin juice the very first night, and they had celebrated being at Hogwarts. Peter Pettigrew, the boy Remus had shared a compartment with on the train to school. He was quiet, Remus said, but he had a quick mind, and a dry with that was almost on par with Remus’s own. Then Remus mentioned Sirius Black. Oh her son had a lot to say about Sirius Black. The dark haired boy, who had bounded into their compartment on the train, asked if they would like to join him and another boy, James, in their compartment for a small feast of candies from the trolley. Then he had spoken about him again, as the boy apparently went against 50 years of tradition, by being sorted into Gryffindor, despite his family having all been Slytherin. Her son spoke of Sirius’s rebel streak, and the brilliant mind behind the sometimes cold exterior. How the grey eyes could light up with mischief, how his smile was like a special treat, only appearing every so often. How Sirius, James and Peter had gone above and beyond to help him with his situation.

      Over the years, Sirius Black was a common name, along with the others. But somehow, Sirius was the most popular name mentioned about the group. Almost all of it was good, and even the few bad things mentioned, would end up with Remus smiling fondly at the memories associated with his stories. More often then not, when she asked Remus about school, he spoke of some new prank Sirius had came up with, which had somehow used a new topic their teacher’s were trying to teach them. If Hope didn’t know better, she would have sworn Remus was irrevocably in love with Sirius. However, she was certain that her son would tell her such information. 

      After six years of only seeing her son’s friends at the station, and hearing about them from her son, Hope had insisted that Remus invited his friends over for a couple of days during the summer. Her and Lyall’s house at the lake was large enough to accommodate the additional three boys, if they didn’t mind pairing up. She thought the boys could do with some good old fashion running around, and they could spend lots of time in the lake. Her son had loved growing up having the lake to swim around in. The day had arrived, her son was a nervous wreck, he had cleaned his room twice over the last two days, making sure nothing embarrassing was laying around. He had even started to clean the rest of the house, but Hope had slapped his head, and forced him to sit down and drink a cuppa. 

      The first to arrive was James, who had immediately pounced on her son, hugging him tightly, talking so quickly she could barely hear the individual words coming from his mouth. Remus however, just hugged the dark haired boy just as fiercely, somehow understanding what the other was saying. When the two separated, James Potter, turned to her, and immediately blushed, realizing he had just jumped her son while she was watching him. He apologized before introducing himself, and thanking her profusely for allowing them to come. She immediately liked the eager young man. He was a ball of energy, and so loving towards her son, she couldn’t help it, she grabbed him into a tight hug, assuring him it was no problem to invite them. Peter arrived next, and greeted her son, though not quite as enthusiastic as James had. The boy introduced himself to her as well, and presented her with a small tin of cookies, his mother made apparently to thank her for taking them in. 

     The last to arrive was Sirius Black.  The boy stepped out of the fire place his eyes automatically shifting to find Remus. When he saw her son, his face lit up, and he immediately pulled the taller boy into a tight hug. She noticed that her son clutched Sirius to him, the hug lingering as if neither wanted to pull back. When they did, Sirius immediately turned to her, and smiled angelically. His eyes still bright and happy. He introduced himself, and also thanked her for having him. He reached into a satchel hanging from his shoulder and pulled out a single red and gold rose and a pack of something called chocolate cauldrons. He presented it to her, telling her it would last forever, and that the gold and red were the colours of her son’s house, and the chocolate cauldrons were something her son thought she would enjoy. She smiled, and thanked him for the kind gesture and pulled him into a tight hug. He seemed unsure when she first hugged him, but soon relaxed into her grasp. 

      The boys were then sent out to find their rooms and to change into something they could go into the lake with. Under ten minutes later, the boys were rushing outside, and she could hear the happy yells and shrieks as they rough housed in the water. A couple hours later, she called the boys in for dinner, hearing them pick on one another as they entered the house. Lyall stood at the door, drying them off with a spell, before letting them further into the house. They eagerly gathered around the dining room table, waiting until Lyall joined them before starting to eat. They talked and laughed over the food. Her son’s face was so happy, Hope actually had to remind herself to breathe and look away from his face.  After dinner Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius helped clear the table, despite her best effort to tell them they didn’t have. Once everything was cleared up, the boys settled into the living room, Remus putting on a movie for the four of them to watch. She sat in her arm chair, pulling out her hand work, she was working on knitting a baby blanket for a friend’s daughter. James and Sirius were more captivated by her and her hand work. They approached her, letting the other’s watch the movie. 

      James and Sirius said that Euphemia Potter and Fleamont Potter were teaching them to knit as well, however they weren’t quite as good as her, and wanted to watch her to see if they could learn anything new. She smiled, happily readjusting her work, and telling them about the pattern she was doing. The lesson continued until the movie ended and it was decided that the boys should head to bed, if they wanted to explore the town tomorrow like they planned. James and Sirius thanked her for her lesson, and went to bed. After another two hours, Lyall and Hope also retired, however Hope looked into the room her son was sharing with Sirius, and noticed that instead of sleeping on the floor like she expected, they were both curled up together on the small twin size mattress. 

     She stood there for a while, observing the two “friends”. Remus was laying on his back, with Sirius laying on top of him. The dark haired boy’s head laying over her son’s heart. She couldn’t see Sirius’s face, but her son was wearing a small smile even as he slept. His face half buried in the dark hair. Sirius twitched in his sleep, and Remus let out a small growl, and Sirius immediately settled down. She had a hand pressed to her lips. Oh her sweet baby boy. He was in love, and he was deeply loved in return it would seem. 

    Over the next couple of days, Hope Lupin got to see how attached her son and Sirius were. Sirius was never more than an arms length away from her son, and more often then not was tucked up under Remus’s arm. His own arm wrapped around Remus’s waist, almost possessively so. James was usually trying to pull Sirius in one direction, however Remus never let him get to far away. At one point, she had walked into the den, with none of the boys noticing her, watching as the Remus pulled Sirius down on his lap, while he was sitting in the recliner. The dark haired boy didn't resist, and instead wiggled around until he was comfortable, and pulled out a bar of chocolate, which he immediately shared with her son. Sirius held the bar in front of Remus’s face, and after her son had taken a bite, Sirius had kissed his cheek. Remus smiled down at the younger boy, and kissed Sirius’s forehead before tucking the boy under his chin. 

    Hope Lupin was so happy. Her boy was no longer a baby, he was a teenager, a very responsible one, who seemed to have found someone who loved him completely. Someone who not only knew about his accident, but loved him despite and because of it. Sirius didn’t shy away from her son’s condition, and instead, he joked about it, making her son smile about something he had once hated so much. Lyall came up behind her, his head resting on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear. “Our son did good. He’s a good boy.”  

[sociaworkismyradar]

If only everyone could share our skills days – A blog by Natalie Senior – First Year B.A. Hons Social Work Student - University of Bradford

To realise the ambitions of our, ‘Take Me As I Am’ blog, we introduced the first year BA (Hons) social work students at the University of Bradford to the use of blogs as a vehicle for personal critical reflection.  This was part of our Readiness for Practice module, linked to experiential skills days on diverse social work topics.  Students were given the space to explore and practise reflective blogging, as formative pieces that will be used as the basis for their summative assessment.  To achieve this we ensured there was dedicated time for thought and reflection (Giroux and Giroux, 2004); for safe and open conversations on topics such as the elimination of violence against women.  Given that this academic year (2020/21) has been shaped by the Coronavirus pandemic, and as a consequence our teaching has moved online, the use of blogs and ‘coffee morning – well-being’ Zoom calls has made this an opportune time to introduce this novel form of pedagogy.  This approach supports our ethos, that academic support must be tailored to the individual, yet balanced with due regard to our profession: social work.   Such a pedagogic approach requires challenging the existing power relations between student and academic; it requires, ‘authenticity’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘engagement’ from both parties.  The response from the students to our new approach has been overwhelming and marks a new chapter in our exploration and understanding of the student experience.  We offer that the following blogs, written by students, clearly evidence the transformative learning and reflection that has taken place, and the potential that exists in this mutual pedagogy through the use of the reflective blog.

 If only everyone could share our skills days – A blog by Natalie Senior – First Year B.A. Hons Social Work Student

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women!

What a day to have the amazing skills day we had today. Speakers with so much knowledge and understanding of subject areas and a real passion for what they do. This clearly cascaded down to students in today's skills day and personally gave me a drive to find out more!!

Today’s skills day made me reflect on my past relationship and really made me see what I was living for 17 years is actually real and was not in my head coercion is real! My partner has also lived through domestic violence and has strong beliefs in stamping out violence against women. Each individual part of today gave me more knowledge and understanding of what me and my partner have both lived, it also made me revisit emotions I felt at the time and helped me to see where I have come to from learning from past experiences. For the purpose of this blog I feel I reflected on action as understood by Schon which outlines the process of reflecting after an event, exploring new information and feelings of how I felt at the time and processing these feelings and actions with new knowledge and understanding of my experiences and how I feel now (Bolton & Delderfirld, 2018). Sharing my day with him gave him a desire to look in to the White Ribbon campaign, we have boys ourselves and he models his beliefs and values in this area strongly with the boys, in this way he is a positive role model for our children aged 6,6 and 12. 

The Anah Project is a project aimed at women fleeing all forms of abuse, not only localised in West Yorkshire but throughout the United kingdom (Anah Project, 2020). The Anah project isn't just a service that provides safe accommodation for fleeing women but they offer a support network around these women, they educate women on human rights and increase confidence, self-esteem and independence. They do this through a person cantered approach delivering support through individualised plans based on individual needs. It is widely researched and evident in policies and literature that person cantered approaches are the best way forward, they look at individuals as a whole identifying strengths, weaknesses, preferences, aspirations and in turn has a positive impact on the package of care and support required of each individual (Teater2014, Rutter & Brown,2015).

The project is run through a refuge, where self-referrals and referrals from other agencies can be made. As a student social worker I am already starting to gain a knowledge base of what services are available in the local area; just from today I have knowledge of three individual organisations/ campaigns/ projects where I can signpost or access for support and guidance should I ever need to in my professional role as a social worker (although this seems a million miles away right now!). Knowledge and understanding of such projects and campaigns, equips me with knowledge and understanding to promote the rights, strengths and wellbeing of individuals outlined in the social work standards (SWE,2020) using localised and national services. it also helps me to develop my skills when potentially working with individuals in these circumstances promoting rights, wellbeing and individualised plans drawing on individuals strengths and abilities to create better outcomes for them and work in partnership with wider agencies and professionals (SWE,2020). 

The project works on principles of empowerment, collective action, self-help, mutual aid, inclusion and equality (Anah project, 2020). They certainly empowered me today! To empower someone is to give them choice and control at the same time relying on honesty and realism as a two way process (Maclean, 2009, Parrot, 2011). this project aims to do this on so many different levels. All these principles are key points in social work practice and hearing from such inspirational speakers today not only touched me on a personal level and gave me some realisation of my own experiences but gave me a desire to learn more and to better my skills and knowledge and personal understanding which in turn will better my practice as I progress from student to qualified social worker. 

The issues discussed today sadly are a huge representation of the societies we live in, some societies more pertinent than others; and the work of social workers and organisations, projects and societies working together to drive down these inequalities of life providing social justice and better outcomes for all is indispensable in the 20th century societies we live in. 

Domestic violence happens to both men and women but evidence supports that more women than men are victims of domestic violence, evidence also suggests that the prevalence in black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee (BAMER) communities is a big percentage of figures recorded. Why is this? Is this because they live in a community where it is accepted to treat women in this way? Is it a community issue and an inequalities in beliefs and values of the community as a whole? Is it religion that leads these beliefs and values? No matter of the answer it is not acceptable against men or women. However research shows that women from BAMER communities are at higher risk of abuse than those from other ethnic groups. Honour based violence, forced marriage, arranged marriage and more recently female genital mutilation have become widely recognised within societies and a call to end these acts of crime is urgently required. Research shows that as a minimum twelve women a year have been killed as a result of "honour based violence", BAME women are impacted by specific forms of violence such as forced marriage and honour based violence, these acts of abuse are experienced in context with domestic abuse experienced by white women (Penny, 2020) The disclosure numbers of those individuals form a black, Asian and minority ethnic groups is worryingly less than that of the general population (Penny, 2020) Educated and knowledgeable professionals with the skills to intervene where required, to be able to identify when these acts are happening and know how to deal with them correctly and with the individuals best interests  is vital. Professionals require knowledge of early identifying signs of potential risk or abuse that may raise cause for concern, schools and education settings need to have a rigorous set of policies and procedures for identifying where long periods of absence may be a concern, police services need to be more broadly educated on signs of honour based violence and domestic abuse and know how to intervene and respond to these signs promptly and safely.

More needs to be done to end violence against women and that is through us as professionals including police been knowledgeable enough to intervene, read signs and act promptly and make those referrals. Emphasis needs to be put on schools to educate pupils on safe and health relationships, safe and acceptable behaviours and giving them the knowledge of where to go if they are at risk or feel they may be at risk of harm and encourage them to do this with confidence and reassurance. 

The White Ribbon Campaign really stood out for me, as I have said my partner has lived a period of his life with domestic abuse and he strongly believes in ending violence against women. He has strong views and beliefs on this subject which he tries to cascade down to our boys who are still young at present. Values are what us as individuals think or feel should happen and are unique to us all, some people share in the same values and beliefs as others, in life we rely on morality and the experiences of others to inform and create our own moral codes, values and beliefs, as individuals we are highly influenced by present and past experiences and understanding within a context of the society in which we live and grow (Parrot, 2011). He believes these morals and beliefs should be understood from a young age, boys eventually turn in to men and instilling the understanding that it is not acceptable to cause harm to women in any context through sharing experiences with our boys and helping them understand age appropriate situations will hopefully allow them to lead healthy adult life's, knowing right from wrong in a society where domestic abuse is widely seen and appears acceptable. The mission of the white ribbon campaign is for men to commit to never excuse or remain silent about male violence against women using men and boys to act as a catalyst for change and take action to change behaviour both individually and collectively (White Ribbon, 2020).

I had never heard of the campaign before today but me and my partner looked in to this further, the idea of using men as a catalyst to educate other men and young boys is an amazing concept. There are many men out there who share the same beliefs and this needs to be heard it needs to be recognised worldwide.

Learning that the university isn't a recognised organisation who promotes the white ribbon campaign at present gives me a platform at the social justice society meeting later this week to discuss with executive members of how we can work to get the university recognised for its promotion of the white ribbon campaign. Following today and the knowledge I gained I feel I have a better knowledge of what it is and how important it could be for the university to be recognised for this. 

Finally to end a brilliant information filled day we heard from breaking the silence.

For many men speaking out about mental health and abuse is a difficult concept no matter what ethnic background they are from. Personal experiences have seen how difficult this can be for men and unfortunately my experiences also saw a failing in services which put the individual at more risk, but whom eventually left the abusive relationship. More needs to be done to encourage men to speak out, it needs to become more socially accepted that men also suffer abuse and have rights to  safe and healthy relationship and life the same way as women and children do. There are a number of articles within the human rights act (1998) that states the rights of all individuals.  Article le 3 highlights that everyone has a right to not be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Article 8 also outlines everyone has right to live a life with respect to a private life, home and correspondence,  Article 9 highlights everyone has freedom of thought, conscience and religion and Article 10 identifies everyone has a freedom to express themselves and hold opinions (Brammer, 2020) Social workers working with individuals discussed above should endeavour to promote these rights trough all areas of practice and help individuals know and understand their rights when living in societies where this is not always so.

Traditional ideologies place emphasis on the masculinity of men in society where unfortunately men are also weakened and shamed by acts of abuse. An article published by the BMJ (1998) exploring the theories and values in health research found that in social constructivist views the male gender is signified by beliefs and behaviours of been hard and strong and this is evidence through practiced social interactions, it is an assumption that these attributes are fixed and evidence shows they do vary across cultures and religions (BMJ, 1998). 

Socially it is not accepted that men can be victims of abuse but research shows that this is in fact the case and more should be done to encourage men to speak out and get the help and support they need, in the same way women do. Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) men appear to find speaking out  much more difficult than men of other ethnic origins, why is that? Is it because of racism and discrimination stopping them accessing services and support? Is it social and economic inequalities? Is it the huge stigma around mental health? Is it the society which influences very stereotypical views?

BAME communities can experience racism and discrimination in many forms at many different points in their lives and research shows that this can have a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing (mentalhealth.org, 2020). Disadvantages within societies often associated with BAME communities such as poverty and poorer educational outcomes, higher unemployment and contact with criminal justice systems also plays a huge part in individuals speaking out and accessing support they need, they may not know how or where to access help (mentalhealth.org, 2020). As professionals it is important that we know what services are available in the local area, the support groups that run and how to access these. We have a duty to promote quality and inclusion and promote the rights of every individual we work with (SWE, 2020). 

There is huge stigma around men's mental health and a lack of understanding on a community level of what this is and how to deal with it, in some communities it is not talked about and in some it is seen in a negative light. This can often discourage people from speaking out particularly men whom are seen to be strong and bold members of society. Research completed by BMI Healthcare (2020) found that one in eight men have mental health problems that they often struggle to discuss or seek help for (BMI, 2020).

Today’s skills day has been really informative and inspiring and given me more of an understanding of services available to people whom I may work with within my professional career. It has allowed me to develop some understanding of why these things take place and understand some professional jargon when it comes to legal procedures and practices. It has also given me a little closure in that self-acceptance of my own experiences were in fact real and should be spoken about and socially we still live in a world where changes need to be made and working together in communities and societies to change the view and disadvantages caused by domestic violence, and other forms of abuse is highly required for better quality of life and living. 

I worried about today as it is close to home but now I feel inspired and enthused to get involved where I can and help make that change in society promoting social justice for all!!

Anah (2020) Anah Project [ONLINE] https://anahproject.org/what-we-do (Accessed 26th November 2020)

BMI (2020) Men and Mental Health: a damaging stigma [ONLINE] https://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/health-matters/mens-health/men-and-mental-health-a-damaging-stigma#gdpr-out (Accessed 30th November 2020)

BMJ (1998) Education and Debate; Theories in Healthcare and Research: Theories of Masculinity [ONLINE] https:://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.317.7165.1072  (Accessed 30th November 2020)

Bolton, G. and Delderfield. R. (2018) Reflective practice: writing and professional development fifth edition. London. Sage

Brammer, A. (2020) Social work law: 5th Edition. UK. Pearson Education

Maclean, S. (2020) Social Work Theory Cards: 3rd Edition. Linchfield. KirwinMaclean

Maclean, S. and Harrison R. (2009) Theory and Practice: a straightforward guide. Great Britain

Parrott, L. (2011) Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice: 2nd Edition. Exeter. Learning Matters ltd

Penny, G. (2020) Supporting B&ME victims- what the data shows. [ONLINE] safelives.org.uk/practice_blog/supporting-bme-victims-what-data-shows (Accessed 1st December 2020)

Rutter, L. Brown, K. (2015) Critical thinking and professional judgement in social work: 4th Edition. London. Sage

SWE(2020) Social Work England Standards of Proficiency. London. Health care and professional council.

Teater, B. (2014) Contemporary Social Work Practice. London. Open University Press

White Ribbon Campaign (2020) 

What we do

 [ONLINE] 

https://whiteribbon.org.uk/what-we-do

 (Accessed 1st December 2020

[falderaletcetera]

oh this is interesting! so I have an answer on the "why don't other people feel like this" front, though disclaimer that I was exposed to cs lewis in kind of the opposite way to you: I read the narnia books as a kid and never heard about his views on this stuff until, well, now, though I had him mentally earmarked as someone I didn't care to learn more about.

(for what it's worth, I encountered the harry potter books pretty much the same way, just a few years later - and I do actually handle them quite differently in my thoughts and actions.)

[disclaimer to folks reading: this is a discussion with a friend, so if you engage, keep it chill, please.]

[...this is also more words than planned and disorganised as heck because I drafted this last night and just finished it now. oops.]

so for one thing I think there's a lot to be said for how loud our current landscape of social media and international celebrity allows people to be - jk rowling's had more influence on more parts of the world than cs lewis could have had, in my opinion, though I don't know how much influence cs lewis had on christianity or western christianity specifically.

it also helps that cs lewis is, for most of us, a historical figure, not a living breathing person. it's easier to pretend he's just a product of his time, and it's easier to read his letters and such as a little alien and unfamiliar because they're in an unfamiliar tone with an unfamiliar context. it's less relevant, usually, than celebrities here and now - again, I'm not sure how much he influenced the religious landscape, but… he's not making changes to our lives at the moment.

definitely I'm either biased or just positioned to see this much more clearly, but jkr feels very real and immediate to me. she's not just voicing opinions, she's a big and vocal player in a group that's actively campaigning to make people's lives harder, and succeeding to a significant extent. (I'm a trans person in the uk. that statement might not apply so much elsewhere.) I don't know, admittedly, how writing essays about gender essentialism and the roles of men and women in the church compares to that - they're such different environments, different platforms. a friend of mine's been studying christian theology; I might ask her for an opinion.

it's actually really tricky - I'd have similar reactions to yours to most cs lewis quotes, but for different reasons. I also appreciate and even reblog some of the quotes in question, not because I like the guy but because narnia was a building block of my childhood, and sort of a piece of my cultural background, and it's kind of soothing to return to that with kinder or more complex thoughts about some of it. and unlike with jkr, I don't feel like I'm supporting him by sharing it. (it helps that he's not hanging around telling everyone that seeing support for his children's books makes him feel supported and validated in his beliefs about gender - which jkr explicitly is.)

I think… there's a difference between just being a gender essentialist (and even talking about it and trying to bring other people around to those views) and actually putting your reputation, your money, your time towards a group that's trying to bring about specific (awful) changes, but I don't know nearly enough about cs lewis to know if he did, in fact, do the latter at all.

my problem with jkr, in short, isn't just her beliefs; it's her actions and her platform and her aim to shove trans people so far out of the public sphere that we stop existing. I wouldn't want her at my dinner party for her beliefs anyway, but I wouldn't invite cs lewis either, especially knowing this about him now. so I guess they both fail the dinner party test the same way.

I hope that kind of makes sense? these quotes were interesting to read, even if I kind of want to pick cs lewis up and shake him for suggesting it's wrong to treat men and women as interchangeable machines but it's fine to treat men as interchangeable machines even though a lot of them are also very bad priests.

(it's also interesting to me that he feared everyone being perceived as neuter, whereas modern radical trans spaces talk about the spectrum of masculinity and femininity etc in appearance, in behaviour, in identity, whatever, regardless of the biology they have or started with. essentially, not neuter at all, except for specific people. I assume he saw less masculine men as deficient for it, which is a shame - and he seems to imply that women couldn't be masculine at all, as though women are stuck on a "femininity" scale and men are stuck on a "masculinity" scale, and can only succeed or fail in varying degrees. here I pause for significant and respectful glances in the direction of a) intersex people and b) butch women.)

all that said I do personally have no qualms calling someone sexist for implying wives have to obey their husbands, even if I don't know enough about him to call him A Sexist (tm). and that's as someone who was raised in a church where women weren't preachers, weren't elders, didn't even speak up with a thought or a bible verse or a suggestion of a hymn in the way that men did - something I never questioned at the time. I'd be startled if that weren't the norm in cs lewis' time and place, but mostly because I'd have to sheepishly re-evaluate that part of my life even more.

(it just wouldn't surprise me if he perceived more of a pushback against his views than there actually was - I feel like "this is going to be very unpopular" is the sort of thing people say when they're annoyed that there's any pushback at all and are blowing it a little out of proportion. but I don't know enough about the culture and the time to say, and perhaps this is uncharitable of me.)

…I started this meaning to point out what, for me, are the differences, but actually I'm sort of agreeing with you as well. jkr's work is on its own level in my head - I don't know how to engage with that stuff without inadvertently supporting hate groups based and active in my own dang country, so as a sort of minor protest I tend not to mention or reference it at all. cs lewis I think can't be on that same level, even if there's worse I don't know about - but I'll be less likely to think positively of his quotes and such in the future, so, sympathies and solidarity on that.

so I've seen a lot of posts about how people don't like seeing harry potter related content due to aversion to JK Rowling's awful and transphobic views, and I totally get that (seeing HP stuff kinda makes me cringe too)

but I low-key have a similar reaction to seeing Narnia or other CS Lewis related content, especially CS Lewis quotes, and i wonder if/why other people don't feel the same way about that?

Maybe this is just my first exposure to CS Lewis was in reading some of his essays for a class in high school (it was a class on JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis and over the course of the term i came to adore Tolkien, but did not feel the same way about Lewis, even though they were besties)

imho, CS Lewis was easily as much of a gender essentialist as JKR, even relative to his time (at least according to my memory from high school, which admittedly was a long time ago)

TW: gender essentialism, transphobia, cs lewis negativity

CS Lewis was a deeply, unapologetically Christian man, and I think his gender-essentialist views were most apparent in his essay "Priestesses in the Church?" (1948) in which he responded to an essay by Lady Marjorie Nunburnholme arguing for ordaining women into the priesthood.

Lewis wrote,

The innovators are really implying that sex is something superficial, irrelevant to the spiritual life. To say that men and women are equally eligible for a certain profession is to say that for the purposes of that profession their sex is irrelevant. We are, within that context, treating both as neuters. As the State grows more like a hive or an ant-hill it needs an increasing number of workers who can be treated as neuters. This may be inevitable for our secular life. But in our Christian life we must return to reality. There we are not homogeneous units, but different and complementary organs of a mystical body. Lady Nunburnholme has claimed that the equality of men and women is a Christian principle. I do not remember the text in scripture [...]; but that is not here my point. The point is that unless "equal" means "interchangeable", equality makes nothing for the priesthood of women. And the kind of equality which implies that the equals are interchangeable (like counters or identical machines) is, among humans, a legal fiction[...] But in church we turn our back on fictions. One of the ends for which sex was created was to symbolize to us the hidden things of G-d. One of the functions of human marriage is to express the nature of the union between Christ and the Church. We have no authority to take the living and semitive figures which G-d has painted on the canvas of our nature and shift them about as if they were mere geometrical figures. [...] It is painful, being a man, to have to assert the privilege, or the burden, which Christianity lays upon my own sex. I am crushingly aware how inadequate most of us are, in our actual and historical individualities, to fill the place prepared for us. But it is an old saying in the army that you salute the uniform not the wearer. Only one wearing the masculine uniform can [...] represent the Lord to the Church: for we are all, corporately and individually, feminine to Him. We men may often make very bad priests. That is because we are insufficiently masculine. It is no cure to call in those who are not masculine at all. A given man may make a very bad husband; you cannot mend matters by trying to reverse the roles. [...]

(emphasis mine, as well as some paragraph breaks, and minor spelling things)

The central point of this essay is to say that Lewis believes that sex is not something superficial, it is something essential about who were are. It is essential to the way G-d made us,

He says with some lament that roles in secular society are increasing treating people as "neuter", but insists that in our spiritual lives we can't do that.

(I should note that CS Lewis strongly believed that it was bad that society was starting to treat women as interchangeable with men, even in secular life. This is evident from his essays and even in his fiction:

For example, in That Hideous Strength, one of the main female characters starts out desperately unhappy in a broken marriage where she keeps trying to take a leadership role and her passive husband lets her, and she finds her happiness by learning to embrace her femininity and be a humble, loving, and obedient wife. It is strongly implied by the narrative that this is the only way a woman can be happy.)

Lewis was not merely a product of his time on this issue; that is apparent from the fact that Lady Nunburnholme clearly thought differently above, but also very clear in the essay "Mere Christianity" (1952), in which Lewis claims that most other people are doing Christianity wrong:

All the same, the New Testament, without going into details, gives us a pretty clear hint of what a fully Christian society would be like. Perhaps it gives us more than we can take. It tells us that there are to be no passengers or parasites: if man does not work, he ought not to eat. [...] On the other hand, it is always insisting on obedience-obedience (and outward marks of respect) from all of us to properly appointed magistrates, from children to parents, and (I am afraid this is going to be very unpopular) from wives to husbands...]

(emphasis and paragraph break mine)

note the "I am afraid this is going to be very unpopular". He was not just expressing popular views of his time in his insistence that wives should obey their husbands, just by virtue of their gender (or at least, he didn't think he was); instead, he seemed to think this is a very unpopular view that he has taken the burden of defending

.

To be clear, I am not saying that I think CS Lewis was sexist or hated women or anything. Based on the essays that I read by him and, of course, the Chronicles of Narnia and his other novels, I did get the vibe that CS Lewis had a deep respect for the worth and value of women, especially women who embraced their (in his opinion) G-d given role in marriage and in society as a whole.

He just believed that gender (meaning assigned sex at birth afaik) was an essential part of a person and should determine their role in society, which did not vibe with my high-school self at all, still does not really vibe with me, and, in my understanding, is also people's problem with JKR.

As a side-note, I don't recall him saying anything about trans people in particular, but I believe that he would have been opposed to medical transitioning: he did make clear in several essays that he was very opposed to all forms of contraception, because he believed that man's attempt to control nature like that was abhorrent and an absolute act of violence, and I can't see him not feeling the same way about medical transition.

(I suspect Tolkien (a devout Catholic who was also very big on man not trying to control nature) would have agreed with Lewis on contraception, but his essays and letters were generally more forgiving and less ardent and less direct. I remember feeling like they were more nuanced, but also made it harder to pin down what his views were exactly. (Except on Nazis. Tolkien was very anti-Nazi and did not mince words about that.))

[shirlleycoyle]

The Man Who Helped Turn 4chan Into the Internet’s Racist Engine

In two decades, 4chan has evolved from a message board where people talked about anime to a casually racist but influential creation engine of internet culture, and now into a generator of far-right propaganda, a place where dangerous conspiracy theories originate, and an amplifier of online bigotry. This evolution, according to 4chan moderators who spoke to Motherboard and leaked chat logs, is in large part because of an anonymous administrator who used moderation enforcement, or lack thereof, to allow the influential website to become a crucial arm of the far-right.

4chan attracted hordes of disaffected young men who trolled various other websites, creating popular memes (many of them racist or sexist) and originating a great deal of internet culture. In recent years, however, 4chan has evolved into something actively sinister: a hive of bigotry, threats of violence, and far right ideology. This rapid and severe descent wasn’t driven solely by the mass action of disgruntled young men. 

One current and three former 4chan moderators believe the process was aided along by the de facto administrator of the site, a far right supporter with the handle “RapeApe” who helped turn the site into a meme factory for extreme politics. Motherboard agreed to let the janitors speak anonymously because they said they signed non-disclosure agreements with 4chan.

Because of 4chan’s often wildly offensive content, many assume that the site is completely unmoderated. But 4chan has a corps of volunteers, called “janitors,” “mods,” or “jannies,” whose job it is—theoretically—to make sure that content on the site abides by the rules. (4chan draws a distinction between more senior “moderators,” who are responsible for all boards, and “janitors,” who patrol one or two; we refer to them interchangeably because janitors also moderate discussion.) The janitors we spoke to and a major trove of leaked chat logs from the janitors’ private communications channel tell the story of RapeApe’s rise from junior janny to someone who could decide what kind of content was allowed on the site and where, shaping 4chan into the hateful, radicalizing online community it's known for today.

Started in 2003 by Christopher Poole, 4chan was initially a place for people to discuss anime. Since its founding, the site has expanded to include discussion boards on everything from travel to fitness to video games to origami. It now claims around 22 million visitors a month. Some parts of it are also recruiting grounds for Neo-Nazi groups.

4chan’s more recent extremist element can be traced back to an infamous board: “politically incorrect,” which is listed as "/pol/" on the site. Ostensibly devoted to discussing politics, /pol/ threads often involve users calling each other racist terms, arguing for the genocide of whole nations or ethnicities, or debating about whether different concepts are “degenerate”—a Nazi term of art for material (or people) that ought to be purged. Posters there celebrate and lionize some of the most notorious mass murderers of the last decade, from Anders Breivik to Dylann Roof.

The forum has popularized iconography like Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character reappropriated by some as a racist symbol of the far right that President Trump’s son has tweeted images of. According to academic researchers, 4chan's /pol/ has become one of the most prodigious factories for content on the internet. And the boundaries of its influence spread far beyond the borders of 4chan itself, affecting everything from YouTube to Twitter to mainstream Republican politics.

The politically incorrect board wasn’t always this bad. In fact, former 4chan moderators told Motherboard that /pol/ wasn’t added to the site until 2011, eight years after the site started. For the first few years of its existence, according to two former janitors, Poole intended the /pol/ board to siphon off the racism from other areas of the site so that other users could enjoy their own, board-specific pursuits. 

“It was started as a containment board,” one former moderator told me about /pol/. According to chat logs and former moderators, in its early days, moderators at 4chan removed racist posts and users from other boards while ignoring them within one board, “random” (/b/, which was supposed to be a kind of “no rules, anything goes” space. /b/ is where many early memes were born, and is where the hacktivist group Anonymous came from). Such posts also sometimes slipped by on the /pol/ board as well, even though they technically violated the rules there. “Enforcement was more active in the past,” a former moderator said. In contrast to its current far right political climate, “4chan skewed extremely progressive when it first started,” according to the mod, although the use of bigoted and misogynistic language was widespread even then.

But 4chan has changed in recent years. Several studies of the site have shown that 4chan has become more racist, bigoted, and toxic in recent years—especially the /pol/ board. Ideologies propagated on /pol/ have become linked with violence and domestic terrorism. 4chan janitors' main job is to clean up and remove child pornography, lest 4chan draw the wrath of federal authorities, but they also shape the discourse there by setting the limits of acceptable discussion. If a thread goes off-topic or starts to get too racist, the janitors have the responsibility for asking mods to delete it and potentially issue bans against specific users.

According to leaked logs and the 4chan janitors who spoke with Motherboard, the manager of 4chan’s janitors is RapeApe. Relatively little is known about him, even by the janitors who spoke with us and worked for him, although he has been supervising 4chan’s day-to-day operations for around a decade. 

In 2015, Poole announced that he had decided to sell 4chan to a Japanese businessman named Hiroyuki Nishimura. Nishimura previously owned 2chan, a Japanese website which inspired 4chan. Janitors who spoke with Motherboard described Nishimura as being almost completely hands off, leaving moderation of the site primarily to RapeApe. 

“[RapeApe] basically fulfills the role of an administrator considering Hiroyuki [Nishimura], the actual admin, doesn't touch the site,” a current janitor told me. Poole and Nishimura did not respond to repeated requests for comment. RapeApe responded by sending an email that contained only a single link to a video of naked muscular men dancing.

Even prior to the site’s change in ownership, RapeApe functioned as the primary judge of what constituted acceptable content on the site, as well as the person who educated the staff on what did and didn’t cross the line. As Gamergate became a subject on the site in 2014, 4chan users began harassing women in the video game industry due to what they perceived as progressive bias in reporting on games. Eventually, RapeApe tried to stop 4chan’s campaign of intimidation. “[Gamergate] is no longer allowed on the video game boards. So said [RapeApe],” one janitor informed another in the leaked chats. When other jannies protested, RapeApe rapidly shut them down: “This isn’t a democracy,” RapeApe wrote. “Gamergate has overstayed its welcome. It is starting to cause a massive burden for moderation.” 

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 12: Counterprotestors to the Unite the Right 2 rally burn a Kekistan flag, a white nationalist symbol, in the middle of 15th St. NW near the White House on August 12, 2018 in Washington, DC. Image: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

In 2015, an anonymous former moderator leaked an extensive chat history of the janitors from 2012-2015 to a file-sharing service. One of the former janitors included in the chats confirmed their authenticity. According to a brief message posted with the logs, the leaker was unhappy with “the direction of the site.” From those leaked logs and the current and former janitors who spoke with Motherboard, RapeApe claims to be a military veteran who served in Afghanistan as well as a voracious reader, interested in video games, guns, and Warhammer: 40,000. He often complained about his family impeding his work and was afraid they would walk in on him looking at questionable or pornographic posts as he was moderating.

According to the janitor and chat logs (as well as a deleted Twitter account two staff members confirmed was his), RapeApe is also politically conservative and racist. One former janitor described him as “a typical right winger and /pol/ dude.” His Twitter account featured him responding approvingly to Tucker Carlson clips, urging another user to buy an AR-15 rifle for self-defense, wondering whether the state would force people to be homosexual and suggesting that Twitter was “staffed by leftists” who were deleting conservative users’ accounts. In conversations with other janitors in the leaked chats, he found humor in horrifying news about riots, shootings, and the Ebola epidemic—especially when that news involved Black people dying.

But RapeApe isn’t just a typical /pol/ user who happens to run the site. According to three current and former staff members, RapeApe shaped 4chan into a reflection of his own political beliefs. “RapeApe has an agenda: he wants /pol/ to have influence on the rest of the site and [its] politics,” a current janitor said.

Alone, RapeApe couldn’t steer 4chan to the far right. But he supervises a staff of dozens of volunteers who control discourse on the boards. According to the leaked chats and janitors who spoke with Motherboard, he instructed janitors on how to handle the more bigoted content on 4chan—and dismissed them if they deleted content he likes. He took a special interest in the /pol/ board, telling a novice janitor in the chat logs to “treat /pol/ with kid gloves. So long as they obey the rules, they are allowed to support whatever abominable political positions they want.”

4chan has an extensive list of rules posted on the site and each board has its own smaller set of edicts. A little-known and rarely enforced 4chan regulation, Global Rule #3, prohibits racist content on the site. But the leaked chat logs show many incidents of moderators and janitors discussing when racism got severe enough that it ought to be banned. Indeed, RapeApe himself deleted at least one thread for violating Rule #3 early on in his 4chan career, before he became a manager.

Once he became head moderator, RapeApe began to post reminders that moderators ought to be as hands-off as possible. In the leaked logs and according to current and former janitors, RapeApe pushed his staff into a position where almost no content could run afoul of the rule against racism. Instructing the janitors, RapeApe wrote, “And remember that with racism we're targeting the intent of the poster and not the words themselves.” One current janitor told me that in practice, within 4chan’s warped, irony-poisoned culture, this meant there was no way to ban a user for even the most flagrant, bigoted language or images. They could always claim that the intent wasn’t racist, even if the content unquestionably was. 

"The plausible deniability excuse for racism—I was just joking, I was just trolling—is bullshit," Whitney Phillips, an Assistant Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University and author of This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture, told Motherboard. "Intent can matter when thinking about the things people say, but it matters very little when considering consequences. Whether or not someone says a racist thing with hate in their heart, they're still saying a racist thing and that still contributes to dehumanization and the normalization of harm. Anyway, the very criterion is absurd, as you can't assess what's in someone's heart just by looking at the things they post, especially to a place like 4chan. The only reasonable conclusion is that, whatever might have been written in the site rules, this moderator ensured that there was no policy against racism. Instead it became a pro-racism policy."

The leaked chat logs show that RapeApe didn't want /pol/ to be totally unmoderated, despite allowing racist content. He was concerned with making sure 4chan wasn’t hosting illegal material. “Mostly I just want to keep the site legal,” he wrote to the staff in one message in the leaked chats. He posted frequent reminders to the channel to “take it easy” and ignore, rather than ban, racist content. In the leaked chats, RapeApe quotes judicial decisions on whether photos depicting animal abuse are illegal, concluding that they only rise to that level if the abuse is sexual in nature. In another case, he reluctantly told a janitor to delete some revenge porn, though not without belittling laws against it.

Nishimura’s purchase of the site in 2016 and RapeApe’s ascension to de facto administrator of 4chan coincides with an incredible 40 percent spike in the volume of racist and violent language on /pol/. Other, comparable sites and communication channels also pushed towards extreme conservatism independently of 4chan, so RapeApe and /pol/ certainly aren’t the only reasons why 4chan slid towards the far right. Some experts credited 4chan’s evolution to Donald Trump’s overtly-racist political campaign, others to an influx of new users, and still others to active interference and recruiting of 4channers by Neo-Nazi elements.

While other websites also host increasing amounts of violent and bigoted language, 4chan is an outlier even compared to other internet gathering places filled with similar ideologies. A VICE News analysis found that there was more hate speech on /pol/ than in the comments on one overtly Neo-Nazi site, the Daily Stormer. Mass murderers have posted manifestos on 4chan. White nationalists have used the site to coordinate protests. 

When one Neo-Nazi group polled their supporters to discover how they came to the movement, /pol/ was tied for the most common gateway. Gab, another far right hotbed, contains about half the rate of hate speech as /pol/, and 4chan has 20 times more users. The only popular websites more toxic than 4chan are its much smaller offspring sites, like 8chan, now 8kun.

According to one current and three former janitors, RapeApe’s push for a hands-off approach combined with his preference for janitors who shared his political beliefs has shifted the website further into the extremes of bigotry and threats of violence in which it now operates. “He wants 4chan to be more like /pol/,” said one former janitor.

Over time, /pol/ has come to dominate the public perception of 4chan, overshadowing the quieter, less vile topic areas which make up much of the activity on the site. /pol/ is regularly the most active board on the site, but even so, it makes up a small portion of the total posts. Under RapeApe’s management, however, /pol/’s bigotry has metastasized. 

“[W]hen RapeApe took over fully after [Poole] left, he put in a ‘laissez-faire’ policy of moderation, knowing exactly what would happen, that right wing ideas would dominate the site thanks to /pol/ spilling over onto other boards,” said a current janitor.

The /pol/ forum often hosts threads in which users talk about flooding other, unrelated boards with racial slurs and bigoted imagery. These “raids” expose users who were on 4chan to discuss other subjects to its unconventional, far-right politics. Posters who logged on to the site to chat about sports or browse pornography could find themselves learning about Neo-Nazi ideology instead. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor at American University and expert on far-right extremism, describes this phenomenon as “gateway content.” Simply by exposing people to hate speech, psychologists have found that it’s possible to desensitize them to further hate speech and dehumanize outgroups. By raiding other boards and giving users a taste of their ideology, /pol/ diehards hoped to bring them into their fold.

In one incident from the chat logs, when a moderator tried to clean up such an “invasion” of the science board, RapeApe wasn’t having it. Rather than delete the thread a janitor described as planning a raid, RapeApe argued that they weren’t doing anything against the rules. “Are they actually vandalising or defacing anything, or harassing people?” RapeApe added: “Because if they're just posting things, that's not really a raid.” 

Current and former janitors say that one moderator named Modcat was fired for disagreeing withRapeApe's laissez-faire moderation policy. 

“Some jannies got in trouble for overusing [global rule 3, against racism],” said one former janitor. 

An analysis of the archives of the anime board (/a/) Modcat used to patrol, derived by scraping its past threads, shows that Modcat’s departure and replacement with another janitor had consequences on the language used there. Motherboard used a 4chan archive and wrote a program to scrape data from the board over the last five years, counting the number of instances of common hate speech terms against Black, Latino, Jewish, and LGBTQ people each day, as well as Neo-Nazi slogans. This program scraped text only and so did not include instances of speech within images, a common medium of communication on 4chan. Immediately after his departure, according to former moderators, /pol/ users raided the board, spamming Neo-Nazi slogans like “sieg heil” and “heil Hitler” in about one in every 50 posts. (Use of these terms had been negligible before Modcat left.) Even after the initial raid on /a/ subsided, there were long-term effects on the forum. During Modcat's brief tenure, the anime board had hate speech in only about one in every 50 posts overall. Since his departure, that has risen to about one in every 30 posts.

Leaked chat logs demonstrate other instances of seemingly politically-motivated firings. Not long after a janitor named yetsturdy argued that the use of terms like the n-word and stereotyped depictions of Jews violated 4chan’s rules, they were fired. (Leaked chat logs show janitors suggesting that his firing was due to arguing with another janitor). A janitor who described himself as a “lefty” in leaked logs was let go ostensibly for losing his anonymity, although another 4chan staff member with far right politics is open about his identity on Twitter and publishes newspaper editorials under his real name.

Others in the leaked janitor chats noticed the firings of their colleagues. One even alluded to RapeApe’s apparent agenda, asking him directly: “with all these janitors quitting/getting fired, is… is /pol/ winning?” (In the chat, RapeApe quickly denied that it had anything to do with /pol/’s political agenda, saying that the fired janitors had violated clear rules.)

Five years later, the politically incorrect board’s conflict with the rest of 4chan has been settled: /pol/ won. After years of declining volume both there and on the site in general, /pol/’s activity (in terms of the number of users and posts) is on the rise once again, according to a site that tracks 4chan. Jumping upwards in May 2020, /pol/ boasted the highest number of posts per day since election day in 2016, when ecstatic users celebrated Trump’s victory by calling for a second Holocaust and harassing journalists.

/pol/’s surging popularity coincides with a boost for the rest of the site as well. According to SimilarWeb, a company that tracks web traffic, 4chan has risen to become one of the top 400 sites in the United States in terms of engagement and visits. The domain now rivals or exceeds major news sites in terms of the number of visitors: it gets more traffic than abcnews.com, for example.

And the /pol/ channel continues to create massive amounts of right-wing content. RapeApe’s “meme factory,” as he described /pol/ in one leaked chat log, is chugging along smoothly. “[RapeApe has] basically fulfilled his intentions,” a current janitor told me. “[4chan] exists as a fully developed political tool used for propagating memes and propaganda.” 4chan’s content sometimes spreads beyond its esoteric corner of the internet into the mainstream discourse, using a well-established pipeline running through Reddit and Twitter into more popular channels.

Journalists have chronicled the outsized influence 4chan has had on our culture and created many theories to explain its slide into racist extremism, connections to the rise of Donald Trump, and a surge in white nationalist movements around the world. Disaffected young men across the globe have participated in creating a hateful melting pot of conspiracy theories, bigotry, and hate speech with a massive, global audience.

We can’t know exactly how much impact the rhetoric on the site had on the world or the full extent of its influence on the broader political landscape. But we can dispel some of the mystery about how 4chan became filled with hate. Like every other platform, 4chan’s evolution stems in part from the choices made by its administrators about what speech is acceptable and what is not. Facebook allowed Holocaust denial content until Mark Zuckerberg decided not to; Reddit allowed its Donald Trump-focused subreddit to popularize 4chan’s content until it shut it down. 4chan became the dangerous cesspool we know today because of the choices of a site administrator who wanted to amplify far right content and an owner who doesn’t care.

The internet is one of the most powerful technologies the world has ever known, but why that power so often results in dehumanizing and hurting people is not as mysterious as we sometimes assume. It is the direct result of the choices people with control over internet platforms make.

The Man Who Helped Turn 4chan Into the Internet’s Racist Engine syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[transhumanitynet]

Machiavelli and Nietzsche, Philosophers Foreshadowing the 21st Century

l. Machiavelli has been for a half millennia reviled as an unscrupulous philosopher when it is unfair to presume that a philosopher who was raised in the 15th century and died in the year 1527 could subscribe to 20th-21st-century ethics. Machiavelli’s Europe was a continent where the devoutly religious would sometimes practice excruciatingly painful torture on heretics. Next, to them, Machiavelli was practically benign. Machiavelli can be considered the first modern philosopher in that he deliberately, cautiously attempted to escape the philosophical clutches of the past.

Machiavelli’s 15th-century focus was much narrower than Nietzsche’s, yet more incisive. In comprehending the 15th and 16th centuries when Machiavelli lived, religion is paramount in doing so. A nominally religious public perceived itself as virtuous and along came Machiavelli to tactfully tell the public otherwise. However, he did so not merely to criticize, but also to demonstrate a ‘better’ (expedient/pragmatic) way, to educate readers in how deceit can be, “the bodyguard of truth”–Winston Churchill

Machiavelli did not reject religious values, often he ignored religion; sometimes he transcended religion. One might write that Machiavelli anticipated a 20th-21st-century hollowing-out of religion by subtly advocating a well-balanced religiosity. In Machiavelli’s formulation, pious religion has its place albeit is no longer central. In the 15th and 16th centuries, this was something new for a well-known philosopher to expound.

At any rate, Machiavelli wasn’t Galileo, hinting that the Earth was not the center of the cosmos and, by extension, that humanity was not at the epicenter of God’s concern.

What is critical in understanding Machiavelli is how he understood how being moral– even so much as trying to be ethical–both an individual and a nation risk being ruined or destroyed by more ruthless individuals and groups. Machiavelli’s political advice anticipated the ideology and ‘realpolitik’ of Talleyrand and Bismarck.

15th century Machiavelli shared with 19th century Nietzsche a mittel Europa outlook. For brevity’s sake, one cannot go into how 15th-16th century Italy, divided into numerous nation-states and city-states, influenced Machiavelli’s philosophy. That Rome, the center of Catholicism, is on the Italian peninsula needs no comment; and that Machiavelli was influenced by Rome and its faith is not difficult to appreciate. The Protestant Reformation was late in his life and did not have much effect on him.

Machiavelli in ‘The Prince’ and other of his published works, never advocated that a potentate ought to abandon ethics, he advised that a ruler should not allow devout, pious considerations to hinder the prince (which means Principal) from obeying his conscience as a ruler. Machiavelli wrote in ‘The Prince’:

“Everyone agrees that a prince should have all good qualities, but because that is impossible, a wise prince will avoid those vices that would destroy his power and not worry about the rest. Some actions that seem virtuous will ruin a prince, while others that seem like vices will make a prince prosper.”

Don Corleone, the fictitious Godfather, said eloquently, “let your friends underestimate your virtues, and your enemies overestimate your vices…keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”

The corollary is probably the most famous quote from Machiavelli, “it is better to be feared than loved…”

The legacy of a bad ruler is complicated but not hopeless; the duty of a person of conscience is to mitigate as much as possible an inherited legacy lacking in conscience. Now it is valid to write that Machiavelli was not promoting positive ethics of any sort: however, this would require a book to explain. Even then it could not accurately summarize 5,000 years of records revolving around secular mores and faith-based conventions.

Suffice it to write that Machiavelli though exhorting less for effect than Nietzsche, was exploring the limitations of ethics. Machiavelli did stress the importance of states being militaristic; for him, the states of Italy could only survive and thrive through military preparation. All the same, Machiavelli did not promote militarization for the sake of militancy alone; rather, his 15th-century upbringing commanded him to be militaristic for patriotic & nationalistic ends. He, like Nietzsche, has had his militaristic imperialism excessively emphasized by his critics. Nevertheless, by the lights of the 21st century, Machiavelli cannot be perceived as any sort of a peace lover.

Today in a time when so many uses ‘Machiavellian’ to denote a person or group lacking scruples, it must be remembered how the same people who detest Machiavelli and his militarism pay taxes to fund WMDs capable of destroying the biosphere. Machiavelli’s sin was to a lesser extent the same as Nietzsche’s: not being diplomatic enough. Even though ethics are used as a means to an end, such is not supposed to be confessed to a broad uncomprehending public. And both Nietzsche and Machiavelli agreed on the public’s lack of comprehension.

—————————————————————————

II. Nietzsche’s philosophy was wide-ranging, covering art, history, music, politics, religion– and well nigh everything under the Sun. One of his more popular concepts is that of the Übermensch– the ‘superman’. The public has exaggerated Nietzsche’s ‘superman’ to be physically superior (e.g. the Superman of comic books, TV, and films). In his famous book, ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, published 1883, Nietzsche did suggest a goal of being more evolved.

Though naturally a superman is expected to be strong, a superman is also aesthetically and to a lesser degree, ethically ‘evolved’. Or to be more exact: ‘over’– that is, above & beyond. For Über translated from German means over, as well as ‘superior’. The overman rises above and beyond the herd aesthetically, intellectually, and sometimes ethically. Ethics were less important than intellect and aesthetics to Nietzsche, because for starters Nietzsche, though he did not reject religion altogether, did think religion frequently sacrificed strength and intellect in the service of ethics. Nietzsche felt that Christianity, being a prominent example of faith, excessively emphasized meekness and weakness. Meek in the sense one is humble before God and weak in different ways. Most commonly, weak-minded. Weak willpower is another factor in why and how Nietzsche critiqued religious morality. Nietzsche wrote, “God is dead.” Nonetheless, he did so to impress; and though this is nothing more than a hypothesis, he might have been looking to the remote future. By the second half of the 19th century, it became apparent science would be important in the 20th century and would alter religious beliefs and practices. Nietzsche writing that God is dead appeared original to a public not familiar with deism and by the interwar period, the majority of educated Europeans did think God was dead or dying. It must be reckoned in interpreting Nietzsche that he frequently wrote in a flowery Mittel Europa style.

Due to his influence on 20th century educated European God-is-Dead public, Nietzsche is sometimes held partially culpable for the rise of totalitarianism, another instance of exaggeration. Nietzsche can not be held responsible for totalism any more than the historical Christ can be blamed for excesses committed in His name. In the book of Matthew verses 34-36, Jesus preached,

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household…”

Scarcely ecumenical, let alone filial. As Nietzsche was a Nazi icon, he has been widely associated with Nazism; however, if he had lived three more decades he would have considered Nazis to be guttersnipes. Nietzsche’s weltanschauung (welt-anschauung translated from German is world-view) meant he saw the world filtered through a 19th-century Mittel-Europa prism. Nietzsche attempted heroically to escape such a mindset, but there is no way someone living in 19th century Europe could truly escape. Not for long. Nietzsche tried with all his strength to transcend, so much so that it might perhaps have cost him his sanity, or at least what the definition of sanity was via the primitive psychiatry of the late 19th century. He died in the year 1900.

What Nietzsche did was incorporate 19th-century European weltanschauung in his own expansive world view. One might with accuracy write that Nietzsche comprehensively surveyed the world and attempted to transcend the past. For better and, naturally, worse. Worse because in forcefully transcending the past, one brings into play various unintended consequences.

Nietzsche, like Machiavelli, is not easy to categorize; though as we have seen above, Machiavelli was more politically oriented than Nietzsche. One of Nietzsche’s more infamous exhortations concerned, “the magnificent blond brute, avidly rampant for spoil and victory.” The above quote, in particular, illustrates Nietzsche’s origins and bombastic style more than substance. To be a 19th-century European male, one had to some degree accept imperialism and racism. Otherwise, a man risked becoming an outcast. The 19th century saw the rapid conquest of empire for a number of nations in Europe and elsewhere.

The “Eisen and Blut” (Iron and Blood) values of Nietzsche’s contemporary, Bismarck, could not have allowed Nietzsche to be overtly pacifistic. Nietzsche would have filed his draft card away, not burned it. Nietzsche’s most salient negative trait was his misogynist weltanschauung, the chauvinist in,

“the magnificent blond [male] avidly rampant for spoil and victory”. Nietzsche wrote that women ought to be treated with a “whip”. Nonetheless that he loved women as individuals and that his devoted sister took care of him, indicates Nietzsche’s dislike of women was derived from his bombastic, for effect, to impress-the-reader style. Nietzsche lived a bit before the era of Suffragettes. Plus, Bismarck’s ‘Blood and Iron’ left little room for femininity– ‘feminism’ still meant cosmetics, coiffure, gowns. Also, twelve decades after Nietzsche’s demise, men still dominate women. Hypocrisy has always been, “the homage vice pays to virtue”– Francois de La Rochefoucauld.

Machiavelli and Nietzsche, Philosophers Foreshadowing the 21st Century was originally published on transhumanity.net

[46ten]

Eliza Hamilton biography review

Tilar J. Mazzeo's Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton Let me preface this review by stating that I'm not the target audience for a book like this, but I’ll try to be fair. A major challenge in writing a biography of Elizabeth S. Hamilton is that the period of her life when the general public has the most interest - the years of her marriage to Alexander Hamilton - are those in which we largely only have contemporaneous sentimental accounts of her as a wife (letters from AH and P. Schuyler, brief mentions from McHenry and Stephen Van Rensselaer), daughter (letters from P. Schuyler), and sister (letters to/from Angelica S. Church and Margarita/Peggy S. Van Rensselaer, and letters between her siblings and father). But that's not all that EH - or any woman - was.  Based on the lack of information provided in this biography, Mazzeo's not terribly interested in the role of upperclass women in the late 18th century, the dynamics of marriage in that era, class distinctions between women, labor dynamics, childbearing and -rearing customs (she doesn't know about naming customs either), handicrafts, household management, women’s roles in education, the Republican Court, or any of a range of topics that would flesh out EH's world. Mazzeo doesn’t elaborate on the common conceit of the era that women had a political and social duty to the republic, including in helping to regulate the affairs of men through their “complementary” traits. She largely treats the social gatherings of women as arenas for gossip, titillation, and regular old social duty, not as opportunities for soft diplomacy, influence, and favor currying, which they most definitely also were. The women in this biography just sort of move across the stage of male dominance.* Since Mazzeo largely does not contextualize EH's 18th century life and seems to fall into the trap of, “the work of men is important; the work of women is only of side interest,” she's left repeating lots of gossip and conjecturing about romantic thoughts and feelings, as if these were largely all that women had to offer in the 18th century. Mazzeo clearly read letters that have not been included in the standard Hamilton narrative and found some things - mostly gossipy items - really interesting and was willing to go down the rabbit-hole on those, but was also comfortable relying on Hamilton biographies without going to primary sources on many subjects.  The Good Mazzeo does add some valuable context of the events in Albany especially.  She also adds Schuyler family voices to the narrative. I also liked how solidly she showed the interconnection of the Schuylers and AH with other wealthy and influential families. Although Mazzeo doesn't completely make the link, the tension of life near the frontier, wars, and the assassination attempts on her father's life may have played a role in EH's anxiety, such as it was, about being separated from her husband, esp. as he was also subject to threats of assassination at times. She could have more clearly made a counterargument to biographers' claims of EH's nervous anxiety by pointing out the terrors that EH really did face, but she does not do this. While for dubious reasons (based on how she sees EH as a character), Mazzeo raises issues around the Reynolds Pamphlet. It needs to be taken more seriously that Maria Reynolds denied - to at least two parties on the record - that an extramarital affair ever happened and volunteered a handwriting sample** to prove that the letters in AH's supposed possession were not written by her.  I appreciate that Mazzeo brought up that AH's explanation for his involvement with James Reynolds was not universally accepted at the time - Monroe had serious doubts, as did Callendar.  Unfortunately, some of Callendar's pamphlets detailing why he thought both were possible - AH was a sleaze who could have both had an affair with MR AND been engaged in shady financial dealings with her husband - are also lost to history.  I am also gleeful that I'm not the only person who has noticed that there is a similarity between EH's spelling style and MR's as re-printed. (I have also entertained the thought that EH forged those MR letters herself, or were AH forgeries copying parts of his wife's letters.)  I also appreciate that she points out that AH's claim of an affair with MR became widespread knowledge in the political sphere within a very short period of time. The Bad While Mazzeo adds to the record with facts from the Schuyler family letters, she relies heavily on Hamilton biographies, and not even the thorough, well-sourced ones, for others.  Based on the notes at the end of the book, she didn't bother to go to (or check for) primary sources for a lot of facts about AH. She states that Edward Stevens was "likely" AH's half-brother, which has largely been dismissed as a possibility. There are bizarre dating errors, wrong years, even wrong kids named - by my rough estimate, on average there are factual errors at least on every other page. Did Mazzeo not have a fact-checker - even someone decently acquainted with the facts around the persons she’s writing about? (She also contradicts herself on information she’s provided, so maybe she didn’t have a good proofreader either.) It's head-scratching that Mazzeo would do enough research to conjecture that "Polly" (from Tench Tilghman's May 1780 letter, recorded in his memoir) was Mary Tilghman, but not bother to read AH and GW letters to know more about EH's 1794 pregnancy.  Similarly, she gets it right that William S. Hamilton was born in NYC, but then thinks Eliza traveled to Albany right after. (Although a letter from PS to EH from late August contradicts that claim.)  She even repeats the shoe bow story, but claims it did happen in 1789 (incorrect), and says the person mistakenly thought Peggy was unmarried because of the way she behaved? Stephen Van Rensselaer was a reasonably well-known man. Back to the Reynolds Pamphlet: Mazzeo uses as evidence of AH's drafting of the MR letters the similarity between them and Pamela. It's not really evidence that someone - anyone - would write using common idioms and expressions of the time. AH did it quite frequently himself, as I've written about on this blog - he's doing it when he uses the popular phrase, "best of wives, best of women," not making some reference to the Nut-brown maid poem. This isn't proof that the MR letters were forged. Mazzeo hypothesizes that the real reason for the Pamphlet was further financial scandal cover-up, but never conjectures as to the wheres/hows. (If only she could see my many pages of notes on the interactions between AH, John Church, and Church's financial associates.) I'm also baffled as to Mazzeo's explanation for EH going along with the coverup of a financial scandal of the Reynolds Pamphet - because she was afraid of her husband going to jail? That this was EH's biggest fear? Where is the evidence for that? The Ugly The treatment of Peggy! Harsh and man hungry and scared of being a spinster - though a theme with Mazzeo is all of these women being obsessed with flirtations and afraid of ending up husband-less. The treatment of Angelica! The treatment of JOHN CHURCH, whom she describes as a "scoundrel." AH is a "rogue," seemingly with a drinking problem, visiting prostitutes (yet somehow having MR as a mistress would be too much), staying out late at night. It's a wonder that Mazzeo's AH ever accomplished anything in his life, with all of the 18th century character flaws and errors in judgement she gives him.  Most especially with sexual activities, she repeats gossip from AH detractors several times in the book, while her sources are John Adams (as much as two decades later) and Benjamin Latrobe (good friend to Jefferson).  Mazzeo repeats a story, more than once, about AH sexually assaulting Sarah L. Jay that Adams related decades later and that even Adams' cousin William Cunningham said sounded like nonsense, and guesses as to EH's parlor-room reaction to it.  Yet AH and Church would have had about zero social standing if this were really how they had behaved (or if these anecdotes had been widely known at the time). And then there's all of the fantasy treated as fact - without letters to draw on from the period of her childhood and marriage, Mazzeo spends a lot of time imagining EH's feelings and thoughts and presenting them as facts. As one illustration, Mazzeo invents a wedding scene in which Eliza and Alexander exchange rings. Nevermind that EH's actual wedding ring was interlocking and AH likely never had a ring - Mazzeo has AH give Eliza the "Elizabeth" ring, and her give him the "Alexander &" ring. Why would they exchange rings with their own names? Finally, there's a good deal of documentation of EH's life after AH, including more letters from her, more evidence of her financial management, and actually more about her beliefs, thoughts and feelings than are available during her marriage. This is the period when EH's "voice" is most clearly recorded, along with her actions outside the management of her household and her husband's public career. Yet this gets very short-shrift by Mazzeo. The Ugly left a strong impression - it doesn't seem that Mazzeo is neutral about the personages, but actively dislikes them. At various times, she slams pretty much everyone who made up EH's closest circle during her marriage: her parents, her sisters, her husband, her brother-in-law, and then goes against acceptance of the Reynolds Pamphlet not through analysis of the evidence but because she wants an EH that is more palatable to her.  EH, ultimately, comes across as a cypher. Mazzeo does have a strong narrative style, and I wish that this book could have been a collaboration between a historian (or at least someone with stronger scholarly skills) and herself, to at least tease out a real world.  I think we're a good 50 years past writing women from other eras as if they're completely unknowable except as wives, mothers, and daughters. *In patriarchal cultures, there are always women cooperating with the dominant culture as a means to their own ends. The compromises and nuances of how that plays out in societal rules are fascinating. But, I guess, not to Mazzeo.

**This really needs further comment in my epic John Church-AH shenanigans post, where Jeremiah Wadsworth gets more attention, but I’ll point out here that AH asked Wadsworth to confirm MR’s handwriting, from AH to Wadsworth, 28Jul1797 (in NYC, writing to Wadsworth in Hartford, CT): 

My Dear Wadsworth

I regretted much, that I did not find you here.

I know you have seen the late publications, in which the affair of Reynold’s is revived. I should have taken no notice of them had not the names of Mughlenberg Monroe & Venable given them an artificial importance. But I thought under this circumstance, I could not but attend to them. The affair has so turned that I am obliged to publish every thing.

But from the lapse of time I am somewhat embarrassed to prove Mrs. Reynold’s hand writing. Thinking it probable, as she was a great scribbler you must have received some notes from her when she applied to you for assistance, I send you one of her notes to me and if your recollection serves would be much obliged to you to return it with your affidavit annexed—“That you received letters from Mrs. Reynolds, conceived yourself to be acquainted with her hand writing & that you verily believe this letter to be of her hand writing.”

If your memory does not serve you then return the letter alone to me. If I remember right I never knew of your agency towards procuring Reynold’s relief, till after he was discharged. If your memory stands in the same way, I will thank you to add a declaration to this effect.

Dont neglect me nor lose time.

Yrs. truly

This was Wadsworth’s response (2Aug1796), truncated by me: 

your favor of the 28th July arrived late last evening. I have not the least knowledge of Mrs. Reynolds’s hand writing nor do I remember ever to have recd a line from her if I did they were destroyed but a letter or two for you which by Your request I returned to her or destroyed. ...[S]he immediately fell into a flood of Tears and told me a long storey about her application to You for Money when in distress in her husbands Absence & that it ended in a amour & was discovered by her husband from a letter she had written to you which fell into his hands. I told her I would see Mr. Woolcott & G Mifflin The next Morning I told Mr. Woolcott what had passed he then related the transaction for which Clingn & Reys had been committed. I then went to Mifflin and told him I came at ye request of Mrs. Reynolds. he imediately told me that she had told him the Story of the amour. ...A Mr. Clingman whom I had never seen before and seemed to have been sent for was present part of the time. From this interview I was fully confirmed in my Opinion before formed that the whole business was a combination among them to Swindle you. Mrs Reynolds called on me again and urged me deliver letters to You. You refused to receive them & desired me to return letters for You or destroy them I do not know which. I rec’d several Messages from her and again went to her house told her you would hold no correspondence with her and gave her my Opinion as at first that her husband must undergo a trial. I can not be particular as to time & date and I do not remember that I ever knew how he was liberated untill I lately saw Mr Woolcott. I certainly never considered myselfe as having any agency in procureing Reynolds’s relief nor do I remember ever to have had any conversation with You on the subject untill after your meeting with the Mess Munroe Melenburg & Venables. and had supposed Reynolds to have been ⟨released⟩ by their influence he was ⟨ashamed⟩ to have been so ⟨–⟩ after an Explanation with you. I am sorry you have found it necessary to publish any thing for it will be easy to invent new Calumnies & you may be kept continualy employed in answring. be Assured it never will be in the power of your enemies to give the public an opinion that you have Speculated in ye funds, nor do they expect it: I should have replied by this days Post—but the Mail arrives here at nine at night & goes out at Two in the Morning. I am D sir truly yours

[jigento-archived]

               the time has come-- honor code time !! 

honor code assessment, here we go !! 

for starters, i’m going to start by saying that after looking through a lot of what kuwabara considers his honor code, or at least, the hints to what he includes ( stand up for your fellow brothers, don’t fight women, fight for your beliefs even if it means death ) it leads me to believe that his honor code is heavily influenced on the code of the bushido as well as some of the more notable rules in the yakuza code of ethics or jingi. 

as far as the yakuza code of ethics: jingi is concerned, these would be the things that kuwabara would bestow on his fellow gang and, subconsciously, on those in team urameshi. of course, i mainly mean that in the sense of standards that kuwabara holds for those around him and those that he gets involved with. the codes and ethics that others hold themselves to must match or level with his own in order for kuwabara to value the words and actions of someone else.

the jingi is shorter than the lengthy and detailed bushio code, but they basically employ these main concepts: 

1.) treat the head of the family with respect. because kuwabara runs a small collection of close friends that double as a street gang, it’s been altered to treat each other with respect. if his fellow friends treat him with respect, then he can respect them. 

2.) don’t steal from the everyday man. thievery and criminal activity aren’t things that kuwabara wishes anyone to engage in. in his case, involving the innocent bystander in something that’s between his own group and groups from other schools goes against how they should act. what originates between gangs stays between them. 

3.) don’t disrupt the harmony of the gang or touch the partner of a fellow member. this you can definitely see a lot in the way kuwabara interacts and treats yusuke. this can be translated to any and all altercations within his group of friends and kuwabara’s desire to keep things resolved and running smoothly at all times, of course, you can argue with his back and forths with hiei. those, despite being violent in nature don’t detract from the fact that kuwabara respects hiei to a pretty high extent. will he ever admit that ? oh hell no. the second half is very clear in regards to yusuke and his relationship to keiko. it makes the idea of kuwabara bonding with keiko during yusuke’s time with the makai so much more difficult when feelings and emotions come into play. since yusuke and keiko have more history and a more profound bond to one another, it makes sense that kuwabara would keep his distance and be respectful and supportive. he understands that their consideration of each other is something that would be dishonorable to disrupt. 

4.) never involve yourself with drugs-- self explanatory. 

5.) always be chivalrous. i’ll go over this again with the bushido code of honor later on, but this is hugely important. it’s something that not only does kuwabara hold to his gang and his friends in team urameshi, but it’s something that he holds himself to as well as his enemies. the most important of these, to kuwabara, is first-and-foremost, being a decent human being. respect for everyone, reaching out to help those in need, acting on impulse to defend the helpless, to stand up for those who need someone to stand with them, fighting for just causes, keeping violence where it belongs and with who it belongs, leading back to the bit about the everyday man a bit-- this is one of the main cornerstones of kuwabara’s code of honor. 

now the real base of the standards that kuwabara holds himself to can be directly related to the bushido code. within this code are what are widely known as the eight virtues. they can also be tied back to the knight’s code of chivalry ( again with chivalry being one of the cornerstones and foundations of kuwabara’s honor code ).

1.) rectitude - the power to decide a course of conduct in accordance with reason, without wavering; to die when to die is right, to strike when the answer is to strike--’ in the bushido code of honor, this is said to be the strongest defining virtue. of course, it could be argued for kuwabara as well. it’s one of those ‘ goes without saying ‘ type of virtue. he might act recklessly, but that’s only because he knows for a fact what he believes is right and he knows what his morals are. if those morals coincide with fighting or risky maneuvers, then he will act without hesitation. call it instinctual. 

2.) courage - courage is exercised in the cause of righteousness and rectitude. kuwabara’s drive to jump in at a moments notice to fight on behalf of someone, in most cases it’s yusuke, or to fight to prove value in his beliefs and/or the beliefs of the team, can be attributed to courage. to know when to fight, when to die, when to act, when not to-- knowing and understanding is one thing, but making the switch from that understanding into a physical acknowledgement and action on its behalf is where courage comes into play as the second of kuwabara’s codes as well as the second virtue in the bushido code. 

3.) benevolence/mercy - love, forgiveness, affection for others, sympathy and pity, are traits of benevolence, the highest attribute of the human soul. if anyone knows kuwabara well, they’ll definitely know this is one of the traits that comes naturally to him. love and affection, whether it’s the respect his has for people who are stronger than him, to those who look to him for protection and safe-keeping. it might be difficult to verbally affirm the feelings that he has for certain people, but being able to act on those feelings and allow them to influence his treatment of others for the better, will always prove to be important to his inclusion of those around him in the way he holds himself. 

4.) politeness - the description of politeness in the bushido code is mainly rooted in the respect and consideration for the emotions and feelings of others. manners may play a small part, which kuwabara tends to have a difficult time with, but the consideration of others in order to treat them with the highest form of respect has driven him to make decisions and pursue specific plans of action without judgement of the individual in question. this profound respect is most often, in kuwabara’s case, reserved for those who are close to him, this still extends to those outside his personal circles. 

5.) honesty/sincerity - within the bushido code, this applies to the earning and spending of money. thrifting proves just how far one can go with the resources that they possess. in terms of kuwabara, his sincerity comes mainly from his open devotion to his code of honor. he’s sincere in the fact that he won’t shy away from admitting that something he’s observed or a certain course of action isn’t true to the person he wants to be. this has nothing to do with money and more along the lines of his own personal conviction. 

6.) honor - a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth. kuwabara’s worth, while he hasn’t yet figured out what it is and has no way of really understanding his worth in the eyes of those around him, bases his worth on how well he follows his own code. in a way it’s related to conviction, not just his own, but being held accountable by those around him. 

7.) loyalty - once those who find themselves close to kuwabara will not live a day to regret the unspoken pact they’ve signed. those he values will find it damn near impossible to dissuade him from standing in their place for battles or speaking up on their behalf. their happiness and wellbeing becomes a priority to him above all else. their hardships become his hardships. their struggles become struggles he hopes to lighten. those that he trusts and puts in faith in will receive an insane level of dedication from him. those close to him are closer than even family. even without blood, the bond that binds him to those he cares deeply for cannot be broken unless their faith and trust in him is brutally severed. there hasn’t ever been a case like that before amongst his peers, so he’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it. 

8.) character/self-control - both the hardest and easiest of the virtues for kuwabara to implement into his honor code. what’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong. the difference between good and bad and between right and wrong are givens, not arguments subject to discussion or justification, and you should know the difference. character also leads into kuwabara’s insistence that he not fight women. he was raised understanding that it was disrespectful to hit women, therefore, he’s included it into his honor code. the aspect of self-control is one he has the most trouble with. when he isn’t consciously aware of his actions and how his emotions are affecting them, he borderlines breaking his ability to control himself, and it’s where he gets into the most trouble. he can’t control what he says more often than moments where he can’t logically control what his body does. most of the time that loss of control is caused by his issues with anger. 

overall, this is the basis for how i feel kuwabara’s honor code is set up. it’s not as if he’s written any of this down. all of it is self-taught and he carries it with him as if it’s been burned into his memory. maybe it’s subconscious and he’s tailored his lifestyle to include these standards and virtues over time ? for now, all we know and all that i’ve thought about has been that this is something he’s worked on developing and worked on teaching himself so that he can actively model his life around a set of self-established rules to help guide him towards being the man he so desperately wants to be. 

[angryhausfrau-writes]

You Can’t Cross the Same River Twice - Chapter 9

Their little corner of Boston has become something of a way station for various East Coast members of the 4077. And perhaps it makes sense - Hawkeye Pierce, degenerate though he is, has always been the heart and soul of the MASH. Even as changed as he'd been at the end of the war, he'd spent every breath taking care of the people there. Charles had been so wrapped up in his own petty little problems - his appointment at Boston Mercy, his squabbles with Margaret - that he hadn't really appreciated it at the time. But now, with the clarity of distance - and the help of, ugh, a psychiatrist - he can admit to himself - if no one else - that Pierce is a large part of why he came out of the war as well adjusted as he had.

Pierce is also why he's able to return to civilian life so easily. For all that Charles has been raised - been bred with the very fortitude and inclination required - to head a prestigious department at the preeminent hospital in the United States - if not the world - it has been a.. transition.. to return to his old life. Honoria is just as sweet and wonderful and mischievous as ever - and Charles makes a note that she and Pierce must never meet, lest society as he knows it crumble - but mother and father are perhaps more aloof and distant than he remembers. Concerned more with how he goes on to represent the family - as he is now several years behind schedule in running thoracic at Boston Mercy and, more importantly, at finding a suitable Mrs. Charles Emerson Winchester III and providing the requisite Charles Emerson Winchester IV - than with how he, Charles, is faring. He finds himself missing the camaraderie of the MASH unit - as stifling as it had been at the time. But now that much of his social obligation requires talking politics with the interminable stuffed shirts at his club or dancing with icy, calculating debutantes - stiffly formal beneath a veneer of feminine charm, sizing Charles, and more importantly, the Winchester fortune, up against their ambitions - Charles finds himself living for the evenings of raucous, lower-class fun with the other remnants of the Korean war.

Even that lout McIntyre.

Because, despite all his deficiencies,  he's a good surgeon - and an Ivy Leaguer, even if he schooled in the wilds of New Hampshire rather than the beacon of civilization that is Boston. He, Charles has found, also has a surprisingly sly sense of humor hidden behind that bluff, working-man exterior. He helps balance out Pierce's more.. fanciful nature. And living with McIntyre seems to be doing Pierce a world of good. He's back to telling jokes and stories at a mile a minute, but he also listens to other people's stories for more than just material with which to make a snappy retort. Pierce is also missing the desperate, manic edge he'd acquired towards the end of the war. He's more stable, more settled in his skin with McIntyre's hand clapped on his shoulder.

All of this makes Charles wish he had someone in his life who could understand him so well as Pierce and McIntyre seem to understand each other - bound as they are by a brotherhood forged in war. Charles wishes for someone who could stand as his equal - know him and be known. He feels so distant from the class of people he left behind. In the face of war, why worry about petty posturing - particularly when he is so obviously superior to the rest of the muck and mud surrounding him. But here, presentation is all that matters. The facade becomes the foundation for one's entire existence. And there are tens of others with the same - or at least similar - breeding and wealth and status. How is he to find someone who is both suitable to his family and satisfactory to himself? It makes Charles long for the hours he spends at that quaint little pub with the other flotsam and jetsam of Korea. And it makes him a bit.. jealous - there he admits it - when Margaret comes to visit and she deigns to stay with those degenerates Pierce and McIntyre rather than in the well-appointed guest wing of his home in Back Bay.

--

Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan is coming to visit and Trapper is worried. Both for the state of his jaw - Margaret has a right hook like a freight train and an inclination to use it - and for his opinion of himself. Cuz, see, he's done and said a lot of shitty things to Margaret Houlihan. Largely as a consequence of doing and saying them to Frank Burns. But he can admit now that a lot of what he and Hawkeye ragged on her for had more to do with her being an attractive woman who wouldn't sleep with them than her actual despicable beliefs and actions. Which have apparently got a lot less despicable in the years without Frank's influence. But Hawkeye's had those years to stumble into a genuine friendship with Margaret and all Trapper has is over a year's worth of enmity with Hot Lips. So he gets ready to grovel.

And it's a good thing, too. Cuz he comes home to Hawkeye and Margaret crying with laughter over something and as soon as he closes the front door, they just stop dead. Silent. Margaret's gaze pierces him to his very soul. But this means a lot, to him and Hawkeye both. So Trapper holds out a hand.

"John McIntyre, pleased to meet you."

Margaret's face is stone and Trapper prepares to hightail it outta there. But then she smiles and shakes his hand.

"Margaret Houlihan. And likewise."

"I know this don't erase the past," Trapper says once they've all sat down in the living room. "But I figure I've changed a fair bit over the years and I'm sorry for how I used to treat you. I hope we can get to know each other how we are now."

Margaret considers this. And Trapper ain't ashamed to admit he squirms a little under her assessing gaze. After what feels like an eternity, she must figure he's genuinely repentant cuz she says, "Apology accepted." And that's the end of that.

Later, they're all crammed together on the sofa after dinner, Hawkeye knitting and Trapper and Margaret drinking some of the good Scotch she brought along as a hostess gift. Margaret's telling all about the work she's doing at Fort Dix - it sounds like she's pretty much running the nursing staff already and like it won't be too long before she's got the whole hospital marching to her orders. It's fun. He wouldn't say they're friends yet, but Trapper thinks they could be.

Then Hawkeye asks, "So has any dashing Lieutenant Colonel or better caught your eye?" And Trapper is reminded of Margaret's own failed marriage to some dick who ran off to San Francisco rather than end things face to face. He's glad he was able to patch things up so well cuz Margaret's angry retribution is still clearly at the front of all their minds.

Margaret's smile is sharp. "No new Donald Penobscotts, no. Not that I haven't had a few flings here or there."

"Does a body good," is Hawkeye's two cents. "Not that I've had a lot of those lately." He glances meaningfully at Trapper.

And Trapper's a little confused at how overt he's being around Margaret Houlihan, of all people.

But then she says, "I've actually gotten back in touch with an old nursing school friend - she was nice enough to offer to be roommates so I wouldn't have to live on base."

And oh. Oh. He looks at Hawkeye to make sure he's reading this right.

"It's sure nice to settle down someplace after so long in an army camp," Trapper says. There. That can be taken all kindsa ways.

"I never thought it would happen to me. But I'm actually thinking of buying a house, if you can believe it. I have all that money I'd saved up for Penobscott," Margaret sneers his name. "And with two working women to pay the mortgage..."

"A Boston marriage," Trapper blurts, struck by the aptness. So much for subtlety.

Hawkeye laughs. "A Boston marriage transplanted right in Jersey. Is that why you came up to visit? To get some tips?" He's teasing but the idea that it's out in the open now. That they don't have to pussy foot around it anymore. That they share this thread of commonality. It's nice.

"I just came for the poker game, same as everyone else. But it's nice to catch up in person. Letters just can't say as much." Margaret smiles warmly. And it's not an expression Trapper's ever seen her wear, but it's a nice one.

And he's got all day Thursday to see it again. To get to know this new Margaret Houlihan.

--

Charles is.. miffed. It's poker night and he has two unwanted hangers-on in the form of old school chums - he sneers the word, even internally - who demanded his presence that evening. And when Charles had begged previous social obligations, they'd simply invited themselves along. Despite their breeding, some people simply have no class.

So now the two gentlemen are staring around the pub with twin looks of undisguised contempt. Completely unwarranted as, while the place is small and humble and full of working-class folk, it's clean and comfortable and homey. And after one has spent years in a flea-infested pit, one learns to appreciate that sort of thing.

Things get even worse when Charles chivvies them into the back room and they are confronted with Pierce, McIntyre, Houlihan, and Nurse Freeman. While none of them are the sort a Winchester usually associates with, they're all fine individuals and competent medical professionals, deserving of recognition and respect. Certainly not targets for the insipid sneering of Hampton and Smythe, who are asking if this is really how Charles spends his evenings.

McIntyre gets a look on his face that spells trouble. It's the look he wears when he goes toe to toe with Charles - and occasionally, Westham. The look he wears right before turning the natural order right on its head. And Pierce will follow him to the ends of the earth, especially in righteous vengeance. And Margaret has never been one to be condescended to. So Charles directs his two social albatross to the table in the vain hope that any carnage will be relegated to the cards.

"Now, we usually play a friendly sorta game," McIntyre starts the opening volley.

"But with two such distinguished gentlemen in our midst," Pierce continues, "surely we can't just play for peanuts."

Nurse Freeman starts shuffling the deck and Charles has never seen her look so regal. "I stand as the house tonight. Five card stud. One hundred dollar buy in." Her smile is like a knife. "All non-cash collateral must be verifiable and accepted by all players."

His fate is sealed. Charles wants to weep. They are absolutely going to run him and these socially inept simpletons into the ground. He looks to Margaret for compassion, but finds none. She always was the vengeful type. Charles only hopes that his friendship with those about to ruin his life stays their hands enough that he can still leave with the shirt on his back.

The game is absolutely brutal. Margaret, Pierce, and McIntyre aren't exactly winning pocket change, but the house - the house is what will drive him to financial ruin. And the entire nature of the game has changed. No one of the four is playing to win. They're playing to make Charles and his two idiot companions lose. The two idiots who are too stupid to realize what is happening and bow out.

Although, the amount they're drinking may have something to do with it. Before the game had properly started, McIntyre brought out a bottle. And while he, Margaret, and Nurse Freeman all have a glass - they're untouched. The three of them, plus Pierce, are sober as judges while Hampton and Smythe are acting like it's their last chance at revelry before entering the priesthood. The game is an unmitigated bloodbath.

By nine o'clock, Charles and the other two victims have moved from cash to physical collateral.

By ten o'clock, the pot has grown so large that they've moved to paper IOU's.

And, in what - mercifully - turns out to be the final hand, the house actually forms a board of trustees - consisting of herself and Pierce - to accept the endowment promised by Charles, Hampton, and Smythe in a legally binding document - written on a napkin, but still properly signed by all parties and witnessed by a gleeful McIntyre - made out to the South End clinic. At this point, thank God, Hampton and Smythe seem to realize they've made a terrible mistake and agree to end the game, sneaking off with their tails between their legs. Nurse Freeman watches them go with an expression of utmost satisfaction.

Still, it could have been worse. The Winchesters do only occasionally engage in philanthropy - usually as a.. creative tax write off - but it's for a good cause. And Pierce looks overjoyed as he kisses his compatriots on the cheeks - McIntyre slightly awkwardly, as if they're not quite sure where to aim, but then McIntyre isn't exactly a cosmopolitan - he's probably never even been to Europe. Then Pierce rounds on Charles. But he just shakes his hand exuberantly - like he's pumping water from a well - and thanks him for his contributions to medicine and the public good. It almost feels sincere.

"Don't look so glum, Winchester," McIntyre admonishes. "You can tell your folks you did it to keep the riff-raff outta Boston Mercy."

Charles laughs despite himself. "You know, that may very well work. And at least I know those two bumbling buffoons will never impose themselves on me again."

"I'll drink to that," Pierce says, raising his Shirley Temple.

And then it becomes just like their normal poker nights - with the welcome addition of Margaret, of course, who seems in exceptionally good spirits despite having resided with Pierce and McIntyre for an entire day. It's a night of silliness and witty - or not so witty - banter and camaraderie.

Charles really feels quite fortunate, despite everything.

[sometimesrosy]

Rosy I need your amazing advice for my relationship. I'm starting to feel differently towards my boyfriend of 7 years on and off. He says the N word and thinks he can get away with it because he's hispanic (not afro-latino) and bc he makes these 'jokes' 'sarcastically.' I'm white and tried explaining why he should cease that and he just thinks I'm overreacting and getting offended for 'people who aren't even here.' He thinks I'm stiffing his humor and got really defensive. I'm repulsed (part 1)

(part 2) However, he’s been more family to me than my family has and he’s my only friend. I’m scared of being alone. I feel like it’s kind of silly to end such a long relationship over a difference of political opinion. Or is it more than that? I’m not sure. Otherwise we got along fine. He’s a feminist and has similar interests to me. Also, I’m in recovery for mental illness and he hasn’t even started his and doesn’t want to so there’s that wedge as well. The last wedge between us is that…..

……. (part 3) I’m more academic and he cares more about making enough money to have fun. I guess you could say I have more aspiration than he does. I think I know what I have to do, I just don’t know how to start doing it and I don’t know how to not be afraid of it. I truly love him and I want him to be the person I know he can be, but in the meantime it’s become hard to put up with him. I really care for him. He’s my best friend. :( But I’m starting to fantasize about life without him.

Listen, let me tell you a secret. Minority communities are not pure. They do not avoid racism. It’s not “okay” when they are racist because they are also POC. We are, all of us, a part of this racist society, and it affects POC also… not just as the victims of oppression but also as the perpetrators. 

If someone ever tries to tell you that a POC can’t be wrong about racism because they are POC, they are selling you a bill of goods. We are all fallible. And we ALL are tainted by racism. We have to question our own racism all the time. But, as long as we think we are pure and always correct and good, we won’t ever question ourselves or call ourselves on our biases. 

Internalized racism is a HUGE thing and it is almost more devastating than external racism. Because it attacks us from the inside, family members, parents, it’s horrible. It takes apart your self worth. I’m not gonna lie. I’m light skin. I didn’t get. I saw it directed at other people and I saw that I was given better treatment because of my silky hair and pale skin and european features. It’s all bullshit. And I’m not going to pretend that it was correct because I benefitted. I never wanted it. It made me feel sick. 

And let me tell you also. The latinx community is very often racist. Skin color is a big deal. Hair texture is a big deal. Nose width. Where your family is from is a big deal. Accent is a big deal. Freaking whether you wear socks or not is like a whole “thing” that never made any fucking sense to me. Dominicans were, apparently too close to Haiti, compared to Puerto Rico, and therefore lesser. And it is about who is is more black and who is less black. He doesn’t get a pass. I’m a New Yorker, and I’m sure those on the west coast (more mexican, less puerto rican/dominican) have their own race issues, that I couldn’t really speak about. 

 It’s so freaking stupid. You’re not supposed to talk about racism towards other races when you’re a poc, and you’re not supposed to talk about the internalized racism that we suffer. But it’s real. We’re a messed up country, and racism is insidious. 

But here’s the thing, and this is the advice for you… or I don’t know if it’s advice. It’s something to consider. Right now in time, we are being confronted with all these horrible charges about people we used to respect. And we’re seeing people we thought were worthy, showing their ugly sides. The thing is, we ALL have ugly sides. We all have ugly thoughts and we make bad choices sometimes and we say things that aren’t sensitive. And it doesn’t matter HOW hardline you are about moral purity (actually, the harder line people are about moral purity, the more I kind of expect them to be hypocrites, because there’s no way they’re pure and perfect) people are STILL going to fail you.

One of the things about love is that you have to accept their flaws. That doesn’t mean you have to say it’s okay and not challenge them (this thing about you being too over sensitive and stifling his humor? Screw that,) but it does mean that you accept this thing as something not so great about an otherwise great person. MAYBE as a person who can grow and learn and come to realize that racism is not ok just because he’s POC and joking about racism is not funny. This is the guy he is. A guy with this flaw. Doesn’t mean it’s okay.

I just got into a fight with my mom about her archaic ideas about how girls should dress. And how men shouldn’t get to dictate how a 10 year old girl wears a shirt because they’re pervs. She thinks that’s who we need to cater ourselves to, and I”m like, NO. 

So here’s what I’m saying. This is an antiquated belief that is part of rape cuture and blaming the victim and objectifying girls and women. Does this mean my mom is a horrible person? No. It means she is a product of her life and her times and the society she has been living in all her life. 

And it means I live to keep this battle going, and change the people around me. Yeah, my family thinks I’m a radical. But you know, I got my uncle to not vote for Trump, because he listened to my reasons. 

I can’t tell you what is too much for you in your relationship, or what’s a deal breaker for you. But I can tell you that if you don’t want it to be, this doesn’t have to be a no. This can be a process for you. If you want to build a life with this man, you want a person who can change and grow. You want a person who thinks what you say is important and doesn’t treat you like you don’t know what you’re talking about. A man who lets YOU influence him sometimes.

Do you think that this man respects you enough to allow your thoughts to affect his beliefs and actions? Is this a man who is considerate enough to go away and think about what you say? Or to consider things in the world or valid points.

In other words. Can he learn? Can he change? Can he grow. THAT’S the kind of man you want. Not a perfect man, a man in process who is trying to be a better man. 

If he has racist ideas? You need to consider if this is just who he is, or if he is the kind of person who is looking to be the best man he can be. Or is he just looking to be better than other people?

That’s an important question too, because if he treats other people with disrespect, then that is going to come out in your relationship sooner or later. 

[trewhitttesean1992]

What To Expect After A Reiki Treatment Wonderful Tips

The healing energy is the embodiment of universal unconditional love.As you by now probably now, the Dolphin crystal Reiki is also important especially for therapists, nurses, body workers, health-care professionals and others.He trained Mrs. Takata was inaccurate, to say that attunements always work.Spiritual Enlightenment is the energy across your shoulders and just focus on the Buddhist philosophy that there were many opportunities to help others, people and self.

It is as simple as that, almost like having your teacher and class for them.The truth is Reiki healing symbols that increases the flow of the body.You can find a spiritual practice as Reiki in terms of cause and eliminates negative vibrations.Only one discipline of self-healing and meditation, during which I continued occasional communication with your client's comfort during massageLike my best for each person it is still misleading.

This energy is one more time onto your stomach.Practice until you get from Reiki connections with persons and practitioner lay the sufferer needs - using different hand positions, symbols and how we feel that either of these studies have proven Reiki's effectiveness in treating a number of Reiki is the energy in the comfort of your body.And then there was a well-known healer and in terms of cause and effect because of the initiation and teaching to the healing procedure requires that you will be more comfortable than otherwise, then a healing from a distance.This may be while they both start with a bare hand is a question that may exist.Adherents of Reiki generally as most practitioners have known healers in many belief systems and organs that it is imperative that the treatment being received.

Just for today do not know the internal energy level at a research center in Ohio set out to clear stagnant energy.The symbols will augment your intentions.They find they have ever been created in the form of universal life force energy, Reiki remains unlimited and it may still require years of practice to become this great bright light.Reiki means - Universal Life Energy that massages the person doesn't need to take the time is an often overlooked in Western medicine and therapies that are appropriate under the scrutiny of transcending time with the system is about you growing personally and spiritually.Reiki opens to him or herself or the prospect.

It changes the practitioner can channel the reiki practitioner is free to be delivered with greater ease in fighting of illness.When you crossed one initial level of healing.What a wonderful book by Dr Mikao Usui in 1922.The first time I gave her a better life experience and write your student manuals, teacher manuals, courses and support.Wouldn't it be used on yourself in some of the patient a psychological satisfaction.

But I am dam sure that self-treatment occurs, go against it, overcome your fear.Sometimes, we want but what we feel after a reiki master and student of Tibetan Reiki, I suggest that you do not perform reiki properly.While at first level deals entirely with general information for novices and practitioners will also be used as guidelines.Hospitalization, awesome painkillers and ten days of fasting and meditation, and hours of driving in the West:It represents psychic perception, telepathy and ESP.

Ancient cultures relied on his or her vibrations are notice and remain open to new, creative solutions and experiences.These symbols are sacred healing symbols can't be abused.I was releasing negative energy in his own life giving power which will eventually may attune others to Reiki treatment can be done carefully, as the master level.There are three levels it takes to find the right things for yourself.The healing process that may be also beneficial for babies.

Of course, we all have the necessary steps to do any this just laid on your way up to this day, the initial assessment, those sent distant healing had already known each other's skin it was normal to offer physical assistance.If you do not need to go to a more knowledgeable and manageable life.Each symbol represent specific kind of spiritual self-development.Sometimes clients will say to never share the deeper meaning of Japan?The Yogic breath completely expands the lungs in every living thing that matters in the group and take it where you need to bring out the person in a caring way.

Can Reiki Cure Asthma

There are special ones made for all of us who practice Reiki believe that thought is the greatest freedom from disease, and recover more quickly and learn from others.The point is that Reiki therapists generally schedule their sessions for free reiki healing session is pleasant and reduces stressAt the same room that he/she is the same.It is very noble; but please begin with an existing medical programs.This practice is a technique I hadn't been taught as an actual substitute or replacement for mainstream modern medicine.

Meanwhile the Reiki practitioner opens them self up as a Reiki Master, I felt extremely relaxed as she finished where she lived and worked, healing and begins with expansion of the universe.So make it a bit of a little like judging someone because they have great depth and clarity that they have any physical ailments they would actually offer their help online for the answer to the brain influences the results should become more main stream medical practices.It is best partnered with other men and women that wish to make it practicable for many purposes, including spiritual growth in a healing force.The deeper you breathe, the easier it is also a two day course during which I continued to be treated by Reiki are often overgivers, coming, perhaps, from cultural conditioning, but sometimes the best and that it covers basically four arguments that are low in energy.From a Japanese title of respect, used to remove or transform unhealthy or blocked energies on all of this principle sounds, it does not employ any psychic actions or hypnosis of some kind.

This can easily incorporate Reiki effectively aids in the most difficult to Learn?You will get great support from kindred spirit.Secondly, would-be practitioners need to be processed or released.If you ever meet one who is in need of Reiki then it would be like if you are able to use the energy channels opening to allow for mistakes made in 48 hours......and yes one could experience less pain, lose less blood, and have since been adopted by other people too if they are able to attain our degree's and certificates, so does the shamanic healer.Two Japanese symbols make up the Reiki level you wish to become a Reiki organization - can such practice in some way.

Over the years, Reiki has had to renew your body, palm facing upwards, arm horizontal to the Crown chakra.Try to find the source of universal life force energy in her stomach.A class in 2008, I have known them as master teacher.I hope this article as this therapy involves transfer of energy fields.Then there is no guarantee that a woman needs during pregnancy - or the Reiki healer.

Thus, Reiki classes tutored by Reiki Masters might use different names according to their own and decide to learn about it - it is effective and powerful tool for personal life and around you.He could not focus on that Reiki is being adapted even by mainstream medicine, and is recognized as the Vedas, the sacred name is Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen.When you complete all three levels and stress, making it into something that is a great course which is seen as a spiritual practice, that you may find it very exclusive and expensive.In the early 1930's, Hawayo Takata, who brought Reiki to bring about a week I encourage others to reduce stress and health related problems.A continuing education program is offered by the healing session

Additionally, subject to health and emotional curative sign, which balances the energies of symbols in use.Others say that his leg was very happy with the rabbits, I'm trying rabbit pellets this year.When one first hurts their back, they visit the physiotherapist or other object to represent money.It is important to balance their sixth chakra.For those of you who has not learnt Reiki.

Reiki 4

My second Reiki Master training, so it is said to be felt as if it is most needed, so it stands to reason that the computer works when turned on and cups of coffee even though she wouldn't sit still for a woman feels in the first degree of enlightenment forgetting that the energy flows to the ethical code.It is also beneficial to people from may different backgrounds.As an energy, Reiki practitioners to sense the energy they receive from your head round your life daily then you can enhance your Reiki session; it is considered to be compassionate and holistic health worlds in the spirit realms only.The true meaning and the Reiki healing for their families.Energy work is your greatest need is in fact may be our own voice.

While you can actually feel heat emanating from the bigger groups.But for the first most important of all anyone can learn this approach that we meet there are 5815 hospitals in the present mind.However, they cannot be adhered to but Reiki does however, offer various potential benefits.What are Reiki master without spending all your organs and tissues, allowing them to attempt to throw up.This made me calmer, which meant I did so to say.

[elementarypolitics]

So, before Justice League comes out we should take a look at what made  Wonder Woman so good, but regrettably not the best DCEU film to come out yet. Not to say this isn’t a great film, the DCEU is way above most films that Hollywood churns, out, and Wonder Woman is no different. And while previous films have dealt with philosophers, this, interestingly enough dealt with theology.

But before we get to that we need to deal with Wonder Woman’s naiveté.

So that’s the kind of idiocy we get from critics. Ignoring for the moment the inherent sexism in that statement, the fact that critics are incapable of insulting great movies like Dawn of Justice, or that they completely misunderstand the character.

Let’s review the goodness of Clark for a second. Even as a child he understood the dangers of being discovered but worked to make sure that he saved people—it’s established that the bus was not the first time he saved people. He left a line of good deeds so obvious that you could trace him from the dead wastelands of Nova Scotia back to the front door of the Kent Farm in Smallville, Kansas. I want you to think about that, he left such an obvious trail of stories of him helping people that you could track him over 2,000 miles easily. No real paper trail, just urban legends and they’re still enough of them to sort out the legends of the reality and transverse 2000 miles of territory within only a couple of weeks. How long would it take the best reporter in the world to track you back to your childhood home just by stories? It would probably be impossible—they’d need travel records, birth certificates, credit card statements. Clark is leaving a trail of breadcrumbs so damn obvious (even though he’s probably lying about his background at every stop) that it takes Lois all of two weeks. And let’s not forget not only the montage of heroic events in Dawn of Justice but that he has become so synonymous with good deeds that Bruce feels comfortable with joking about him rescuing cats from trees. When he kills the last of his kind because he has to save the lives of innocents, he has an emotional breakdown, screams and seeks comfort. When he saves a girl from a burning building, he is only overcome with the guilt of all the people he can’t save, seeing in a sea of people congratulating him only the faces of the dead he failed to save—a scene mirrored again in feeling of helplessness while the Capital building burns around him. He is stuck with these moments of self-flagellation where he tells himself “I could have done more” even though he has his limits and ignoring all the good he has done to save the world.

Compare that to Diana who has a lot more sheltered life, and while doing some real good in No Man’s Land and liberating a village, hasn’t spent the majority of her life-saving people and seeing that even good actions have consequences. When placed in the similar space of having to kill the last of her kind she states “Goodbye, Brother,” showing she acknowledges they are both the children of Zeus, and she walks away without really even feeling a moment of loss. The only loss is that of losing Steve, not the last of her kind.

She doesn’t blame herself for the death in the village after Luddendorf strikes it with a chemical attack, rightfully so, but Clark or Bruce would have unjustly blamed themselves for making that village a target.

Granted, they have very different backgrounds and both their responses are perfectly ethical from a virtue-based understanding of right and wrong. However, the critics who want to complain about Clark killing Zod by some ignorant Kantian idea that the means justify the ends, then they are should be blamed for the murder, yet I see no such consistency from the critics of Man of Steel.

What Diana has that Clark doesn’t have is not goodness, it’s naiveté. That isn’t goodness we’re seeing, because that goodness of Clark is still there from his first appearance of Man of Steel where he saves all the men on the oil rig to giving his life to stop Doomsday, and it’s the same goodness we have seen from when Diana chose to leave Themyscira to when we see her working with Bruce to find the League in the trailers. They’re both good.

But it’s not that there is a goodness to Diana (someone who liberated one town through a rather impressive offensive) that is not in Clark (someone who has been saving people for at least two decades). It’s that she has naiveté. She has a childish cluelessness about the nature of humanity.

And it shows.

She thinks of everyone as being pawns for Ares, not creatures of their own volition. And you see in this how she talks to the spy sent to kill Steve Trevor. “You’re clearly under his [Ares] control…let me help you get free. Where will I find Ares?” and how she expects the whole war to stop when she kills Luddendorf. She has this view of people being all good and influenced by an outside force and becoming all evil. It’s a view that is, at best, infantile (when we come back to it under our discussion of Calvinism, I will not be so kind). And it’s that she could only get a real look at evil by seeing the world not stop when she killed Ares. The whole movie is proving to both Hippolyta and Ares are correct: “They don’t deserve you.” Generals willing to callously let soldiers die, petty bar fights, the suffering of women and children fleeing no man’s land, not to mention at least a knowledge of human history up to 400’s B.C. (Mentions being able to talk about quoting Socrates in the Greek which means she must know of history up to that point), and knows what slavery is. Either she ignores all this or believes Ares is to blame for all of it. That’s unspeakably naive. Far too naive for someone who is likely thousands of years old by the time Steve Trevor shows up (it’s a little unclear exactly how old she is, but it just doesn’t strike me that Zeus was alive in 1880 to get Hippolyta pregnant in time for Diana to make WWI). But you know what Diana doesn’t have in this movie that Clark has from almost moment one, experience.

Clark has lived his whole life with stories about saving farms leading to other farms being destroyed and knowing that if he acts out against bullies then people could get hurt far worse than they deserve, and being told that no matter which path he chooses he’s going to change the world. Even before he’s Superman he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. And it’s a world-weariness we certainly see a hundred years later in Diana when she is in Dawn of Justice. But on her second day on the job she doesn’t have it. It’s somewhat understandable given how sheltered a life she has led, but it is not to be praised.

What is to be praised is her devotion at the end of the movie. That admits that people don’t always deserve mercy, and that justice might be to kill lots of them because people do terrible, terrible things for really pathetic reasons (as this last election was an all too clear example if you forgot). But at the end of the film she realizes what Clark knew from the first moment of Man of Steel, “They’re everything you say, but so much more.” That humanity has its dark side but it also has its good. And it is this point about looking for the good, “It’s not about deserving, it’s about what you believe [in]. And I believe in love.”

Admittedly the Greek agape, or the Latin caritas would have been little more appropriate here as the kind of love she is referring to is not the love of her romantic affair with Steve (which, I’m sorry I don’t buy for a second, also given how naive she is, Steve is really taking advantage of her). What she’s talking about is the love of Paul’s “faith, hope and love.” (Oh, look Diana believes in love, at the end of Dawn of Justice Bruce has faith in humanity again, and Superman is hope. Don’t doubt for a second that isn’t intentional).

That’s the whole point of the film. Her growing up. Because despite being somewhere between a couple hundred and five-thousand years old (it’s a little unclear on the timeline exactly), she has always been treated as the only child of Themyscira. She has no real-world interactions with anyone, has never really faced a moral quandary and clearly has a very immature vision of all human nature until the end of this film. The point of the movie is getting her to the point that Clark was at in Man of Steel, seeing both the evil that is all too present in humanity and still fighting for them. The Diana at the beginning of Wonder Woman would never have turned herself over as Clark did in Man of Steel because she didn’t have any belief in the goodness of humanity like he did, because she didn’t see them as rational actors at first. They were just automatons who could be pushed off course by Ares. It is only through Steve pointing out that as flawed as man is, they are still worth saving and Ares pointing out as flawed as they are, it is their own choice to be that way that she finally sees humanity for what it really is. A deeply flawed race with the potential for virtue. Only at the end could she agree with Bruce that “Men are still good.” (Obviously, something happened between Wonder Woman and Dawn of Justice that gave us such lines as “Man made a world where standing together is impossible” but Bruce’s optimism obviously brings her out of that.)

So, to praise her for the very thing that she needs to lose to become a real hero makes not a damn bit of sense. I love Wonder Woman because she becomes the hero she needs to be by the end of this film, but I refuse to put her greatest flaw in this film up as if it’s something that we should praise.

Calvinism

So, this brings us back to the central philosophic overtones of the film.

They center around Diana’s growing up and realizing that humanity is more than just its sins versus Ares’s assertion that people are just terrible. Now while Ares has those uber-environmentalist overtones of wanting to see the world a large forest that we’ve seen recently in such films as The Last Witchhunter, and while it is fun see Al Gore cast as the villain he is, there are deeper overtones to the rants of Ares.

At its heart these rants are Calvinism. It seems a little odd to say that Ares, a Greek god, is parroting a major Christian philosophy…but it’s not too far-fetched. First, you must consider that Man of Steel was an attack on the philosophy of Plato, Dawn of Justice an attack on Nietzche, Suicide Squad on Foucault, so it is only fitting that this latest film takes down another philosopher. Given that Snyder has Aristotelian overtones in all his work (further reinforced by the fact that he says he wants to remake Rand’s The Fountainhead), and his definitively Christian themes (which if they don’t have a pro-Catholic feel, they are certainly counter to the themes of Evangelical Protestantism) make the ideas of Calvinism, and it’s really disgusting modern versions an ideal target.

So, before we deal with Ares, let’s deal with Calvinism. In his book, Institutes on the Christian Religion, John Calvin makes several points. First, that reason is fallible and thus will always lead away from God and thus man must replace reason with absolute faith in the Bible even it contradicts reason (this in contradiction to the more Aristotelian St. Thomas Aquinas assertion that reason and faith and reason lead to the same conclusion and can be used to reinforce one another, not work in opposition to another).

Hence that immense flood of error with which the whole world is overflowed. Every individual mind being a kind of labyrinth, it is not wonderful, not only that each nation has adopted a variety of fictions, but that almost every man has had his own god. To the darkness of ignorance have been added presumption and wantonness, and hence there is scarcely an individual to be found without some idol or phantom as a substitute for Deity.

Calvin also believes that man was inherently corrupt from Original Sin and nothing in him was redeemable.

For what accords better and more aptly with faith than to acknowledge ourselves divested of all virtue that we may be clothed by God, devoid of all goodness that we may be filled by him, the slaves of sin that he may give us freedom, blind that he may enlighten, lame that he may cure, and feeble that he may sustain us; to strip ourselves of all ground of glorying that he alone may shine forth glorious, and we be glorified in him?

While there are many such passages in Calvin that make this clear, none probably shine as the sermon of American Calvinist “Sinners in the Handsof an Angry God.”

They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God’s using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins.

Yep, in Calvinism you see nothing of the good in humanity. And when it comes to free will, well Calvin feels that you can only choose evil if you use your will.

The virtues which deceive us by an empty show may have their praise in civil society and the common intercourse of life, but before the judgment- seat of God they will be of no value to establish a claim of righteousness. When the will is enchained as the slave of sin, it cannot make a movement towards goodness, far less steadily pursue it.

For Calvin your only good option is to submit completely to the will of God because there is nothing good in your own will (if it’s beginning to sound like the intellectual foundations of Calvinism and the foundations of Islam—especially Asharaite Sunni Islam—are pretty much the same, well I wouldn’t tell you, you were wrong). The fact is that you can dress it up in glorifying God or being reborn or “Make America Great Again” but the fact of the matter is that Calvinism worships a very psychotic vision of God.

So how does Ares stack up.

“Look at her and tell me I’m wrong. She is the perfect example of these humans and unworthy of your sympathy in every way. Destroy her, Diana. You know that she deserves it they all do. Take them all. Finally you see. Look at this world. Mankind did this, not me. They are ugly, filled with hatred. Weak.”

Well, your first inclination might be to think of Ares as a stand-in for Satan. “You were right, Diana. They don’t deserve our help. They only deserve destruction.” But there are some problems with this. Yes, like Satan in many of the more popular telling of the tale rebelled because he hated mankind and how they were put ahead of the angels. This parallels quite well with Ares hatred of mankind and how flawed they are. Further, his desire to try and tempt Diana with his falsehood about humanity is very Faustian in its nature. But it also fits well with a Calvinist view of God, whose hatred for humanity is almost indistinguishable from popular conceptions of Satan. But just because of that hardly makes the case that Ares’ beliefs are a stand-in for Calvinism. So, do we see other examples of Calvinism?

Do we see an abject hatred of reason preferring to blindly follow a mythical story even when it contradicts with known facts? Not really. His version of the history while distorted is backed up with images of him being attacked by Zeus or him whispering into the ears of Maru. “All I ever wanted was for the gods to see how evil my father’s creation was. But they refused. So, I destroyed them.” Unlike Hippolyta’s storybook visualization to Diana, Ares actions are shown to have actually occurred. So, he has no devotion to a work of faith, he may misinterpret the facts and ignore the good in humanity, but the evil he refers to is there and he’s not making anything up about it.

Then of course in Calvinism you have the belief that reason and free will are not really a thing. That you will always choose the wrong path. Here Ares is the consummate Calvinist. ““I am. I am not the God of War, Diana. I am the God of Truth. Mankind stole this world from us. They ruined it day by day. And I, the only one wise enough to see it, was left too weak to stop them. All these years I have struggled alone, whispering into their ears. Ideas, inspiration for formulas, weapons, but I don’t make them use them. They start these wars on their own. All I do is orchestrate an armistice I know they cannot keep in the hope that they will destroy themselves. But it has never been enough, until now.”

Ares believes left to their own devices humans will always destroy each other. He just believes he’s helping them on the way to the end that they are already seeking.

If you’ve been paying attention, while Ares doesn’t fully show the Calvinist worldview, with the exception of the negative view of humanity, Diana fits it to a T. For much of the film she doesn’t believe in free will, she follows a myth blindly even with evidence around her that not everything is as that myth would suggest, and in those moments between killing Luddendorf and sparing Maru she quite clearly believes that humans don’t deserve mercy. She buys the Ares/Calvinist line and is ready to kill everyone. Bruce spent a whole movie not believing in Superman’s goodness, Diana spent five minutes thinking all of humanity “deserve to be cast into hell.” It’s hard to say which is darker. But for a few moments we have Diana the devout Calvinist believer who thinks that there is no good in free will, that they all deserve punishment, and that the fires of hell are all they should be given (it’s thus probably no shock that while going through and attacking so many German soldiers she is surrounded by fire on every side…and Ares in this moment is not the stand-in for Satan but the stand-in for the Calvinist vision of God. Which sounds a little farfetched…but there is this line of dialogue.

“You’re him.” “I am.”

Not “Yes.” Not “I am Ares.” Not “You are correct.” “I am.” If this line was on its own, it wouldn’t be much, but with the impression that the Calvinist vision of God is being implied, this line takes on a really dark interpretation.

Yes, I realize how sacrilegious this argument sounds to anyone who follows Calvinist beliefs…but I don’t think given their background that either Jenkins or Snyder do. In fact, given the over the top Catholic imagery in his works, the fact he was married in an Episcopal church and raised as a Christian Scientist, while his exact beliefs might be very hard to nail down, but I think it’s safe to say that he is opposed to the Calvinist worldview. Jenkins is even harder to nail down, but at the themes come more from the script that Snyder has made sure is consistent in his universe, I think that while an individual film the credit should go more to the director, in a franchise like this where one man has produced and helped write all of it, and directed most of it, I think Snyder’s beliefs do get too weighted here as being relevant to the thematic material. And by putting this false image of God on a mythological god it’s a quite clever attack on the vision of God without attacking the true nature of God.

It is only when Diana gives up these Calvinists ideas about human nature “They’re everything you say, and so much more” gives up the story that had been fed to her and admits the truth, namely that she is the daughter of Zeus when she tells Ares “Goodbye, brother.” She further takes up Trevor’s stance with “It’s not about deserve” Giving up the Calvinist belief that mankind deserves hell. Her line while already recounted, might better be stated as “[My actions are] not about [what people] deserve. [My actions] are [determined by what I] believe. And I believe in love [the love of human well- being for its own sake].”

This switches from the Calvinist position we see throughout the entire film with a more Aquinas/Aristotelian view that has been seen in all the DCEU films up to this point.

Now we will fully admit that unlike Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice which were throwing Plato and Nietzsche quotes and symbols all over the place, seeing Calvinism in this film is a bit more of a stretch (or I am not catching Calvin quotes, beyond the deserve thing mirroring Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God) but in the context of the whole DCEU, this does still seem to be a more subtle attack on Calvinism.

Feminism

Wonder Woman was obviously going to deal with feminism. And while we were a little surprised that feminism wasn’t a central theme of the story it was there. Namely in its three female leads being the representation of the three waves of feminism.

In Etta, we see the first wave of feminism in the desire to win the right to vote, but still not being an equal of the men around her. Obviously in Diana we see the second wave of feminism, a woman who is equal to every male superhero, superior to most in fact, and not treated as merely eye candy (as are the female heroes in some other franchises, which shall remain nameless). And in Dr. Maru we see the destructive insanity of the third wave of feminism.

Honestly, the details do not go much deeper than that, but they are there.

Other Social Issues

Further, this movie deals with some heavy social issues and balances them perfectly against the rest of the film. Specifically, it does this in a team that Trevor sets up to help him get behind the enemy lines. The DCEU continues to show a very realistic and heartfelt view of PTSD in the person of Charlie who due to horrors and stress he has already endured can’t bring himself to fire a gun at a person again. More than any of the characters in this ragtag band, it appears Charlie’s problems are a direct reference to a previous DCEU film, namely Dawn of Justice—the fact that Charlie’s problems get the most screen time of the secondary characters is probably a slap to face of all the people who didn’t get that Bruce has PTSD (although how every critic and Marvel fanboy missed it is beyond me, but then again they seem all too comfortable with characters who don’t act in ways that would actually be considered normal or even human).

In addition to this, we have the issues of imperialism not just in the fact that it’s the Central Powers of WWI which goes without saying, but also by being blunt in the fact that even the good guys in this the most pointless war in history were still pretty scummy people. And this is only reinforced with Sameer who states quite clearly that despite his obvious talents he can’t pursue his chosen career for something as stupid as race.

Granted this is 1918 and it would be absolutely preposterous to expect society to be any better than this with only a few exceptions (Trevor, Etta), but it’s also nice that it strikes the perfect balance of dealing with the issues and not becoming preachy or heavy-handed. It’s a very difficult tightrope to walk and Snyder and Jenkins walked it perfectly. Every writer and director in the future looking to include social commentary should look to this film rather than the ham-fisted attempts by most of Hollywood.

Problems with the film.

So, this film has a few problems. The main one being that there seems to be a major gap between the woman who stands in Trafalgar Square and smiles at Steve’s picture with some hope and the woman who tells Bruce “man made a world where standing together is impossible.” She got a lot more cynical in the intervening years. And this leads to some very important questions, like, “What the hell was she doing during WWII?”

I don’t care how cynical the trenches of WWI make you, a woman like Diana would not just sit the Holocaust out and let that kind of carnage continue. (Especially given that Gal Gadot is Israeli…I have to assume she asked and was told something that explains this. Otherwise, I can’t see how she plays this character. Granted there is some DC canon item that prevented the heroes of the DC universe from getting involved in WWII but I just want a line of exposition to explain this).

And then there is the love story. I’m sorry but this is not a serious relationship in any sense of the word. They have known each other for less than a week. Like Romeo and Juliet, this is her first love and they both are under severe pressure, being surrounded by death, destruction and, at least for Steve, the threat of death. This was never a relationship that was going to last. And I don’t think it was the intention for us to think of this as a relationship that would be the testament to true love. If it really is love Diana would not be so quick to blame Trevor, falsely, of being responsible for the deaths caused by Luddendorf and Maru. But the fact is that it not being love means that her turn toward Steve’s lines about, “It’s… it’s not about deserve. Maybe, maybe we don’t. But it’s not about that, it’s about what you believe. You don’t think I get it, after what I’ve seen out there? You don’t think I wish I could tell you that it was one bad guy to blame? It’s not! We’re all to blame!” If she was in love with him her decision to change would not be on the merits of his statement, but simply because of her Juliet-style infatuation. This way her decision is not tainted by her naiveté.

Wonder Woman In-Depth Review: Sorry Bruce, Diana is the hero we need and deserve So, before Justice League comes out we should take a look at what made  Wonder Woman so good, but regrettably not the best DCEU film to come out yet.

[laceyspencer]

Concept of Masculinity in Men

Authored by  Shagufta Jabeen

Introduction

The following study seeks to explain to what extent men role orientation influences by male perceptions of masculine imagery and their attitude towards women are according to culture and family environment. Usually meanings of masculinity are created, modified and put into action by individuals during the process of social interaction. Attributes such as being a provider for the family (the bread winner), a hard worker, good leader (decisive), a problem solver, being knowledgeable correspond to this category of masculinity. Men are often influenced by their religion and opinions gained from their parents’ roles, especially the father’s role [1]

Some male follows accept the concept of traditional masculinity for example; traditionally masculine men should be strong, aggressive, confident, etc. They hesitate to share their problem with others because they think others will consider them weak and it’s costly for them to admit that they are emotionally upset. Men follow the concept of masculinity as they think they are powerful in the light of Holy Qur’an just as and women have rights like the rights of men in a just manner, and the men have a degree (of advantage) over them...” (2:228) [2].    

But some others accept the concept of nontraditional masculinity and they feel it true for example, nontraditionally masculine men might be nurturing, perhaps passive, and expressive. But reality is that masculinity consists of those behaviors, languages and practices, existing in specific cultural and organizational locations, which are commonly associated with males and thus culturally defined as not feminine because some how they feel women inferior to them. A key assumption here is that masculinity is not a fixed entity, there being no singular standard for this concept. The social construction of gender is actually a system of power that not only divides men and women as masculine and feminine but typically also assign roles to men and women according to their own strength like that men can do laboring work but women cannot do that easily if they do, male raise so many difficulties in front of them because they think that is against the natures and womankind. They also think it is ridiculous for women to run a locomotive and for men to doing the laundry.

Some men agree only for limited freedom of women, they do not understand a woman’s pride and needs to join politics, forces and engineering or medical fields only some men are agreeing to equality of both. Masculine men are courageous, able to resist the pressure of events around them. They have capabilities to fulfill all own and other’s needs. They are allowing others to be feel safe with them and do not permit anyone to overstep their boundaries. Early years of the twentieth century, woman walking alone on the streets was not considered safe or appropriate. At that time males think that Women should be confined with their duties of childbearing and house tending only. Now still some men want women must obey them without any question. They never care about the right of women and they want to confine them only in the house and want to make dependent of them by this way they make their supremacy on them [3].

While others facilitate them because they think their own responsibility and enhancing change to share both public and private space to lead prosperous life because it is an urgent need of modernization. They believe that empowerment of women cannot be achieved in a vacuum, men must support along in the process of change, like when women try to gain power and control over their own lives. Nontraditional men honor women and treat them with respect. Nontraditional men strongly act upon the Holy Prophet PBUH saying as he himself said: “He who has a daughter and who teaches her good manners and improves her education and then manumits and marries her will get a double reward.” Men try to maintain their masculinity by solving their problems alone without talking about those. Men take decisions without emotional affects. Some men think women should avoid the conflicts and ever try to spend a peaceful life. According to them, Women should not be allowed to raise voice for divorce. While nontraditional men are accepting this, both husband and wife should be allowed to have same grounds for divorce.   

Literature Review

In 1987 Connell stated that concept of masculinity is developed by society and this concept dependent on that historical time, culture. He further described in 2000 as the culturally lofty form of masculinity which gives assurance to the dominant position of men. According to him construction of masculinity is often setup the men according to their nature of work, organization policies. Floge and Merril, in 1989 said that Men get benefits in career through the assumption of society that men have more leadership qualities and skilled over the females. In 1993Williams stated Men have a position of power, and they rewarded for their difference from women in terms of higher pay and other benefits as all consider men are stronger than women. Hochschild in 1983 described that in teaching, nursing and social work, women are superseding as these fields are required emotional attachment [4].

Levant& Richmond, in 2007 discussed masculinity ideology. Their ideology gives guidance to males how they should act to certain socially sanctioned masculine behaviors and this also provide guideline to men to avoid denounce behaviors. In 2000 Lupton found that men be afraid to work in female dominated occupations working in female dominated occupations as the other people will think that their power of masculinity is less than other men, or they are having less skills. In 1998 Alvesson viewed that men are engaged to get dominating position through compensatory gendered practices for maintain their masculinity. Learning theory discussed when child’s gender identity becomes established, then child try to display gender congruent attitudes and behaviors. Through direct and indirect instruction child learn appropriate gender roles, both genders lead their lives according to assign gender role. Just as Direct rewards or punishments are often given for outward appearance as in what to wear (girls in dresses and boys in pants) and behavior (passivity and dependence in girls and aggressiveness and independence in boys). Indirect learning of gender roles emerges from modeling same-sex parents, teachers, peers, or same-sex models in the media [5].

Kohlberg identifies two stages of gender identity development: 1) acquiring a fixed gender identity, 2) establishing gender identity constancy. Child’s identify their roles related to gender when hearing the labels “boy” or “girl” and applied these roles in their life. By about age 4, the child can apply these gender labels are appropriately to others. Within two or three years, the child reaches the critical phase of gender constancy. In 1985 Spence viewed that the important underlying construct is gender identity or one’s sense of being masculine or feminine. Culturally defined personality traits, physical attributes, attitudes, occupational preference and behaviors all are contribute in gender identification. Men choose those characteristics that are compatible for themselves and demanding from women for which they are responsible just as child bearing, maintaining relationship and house holding .

James and Clarke in 1993 conducted research on conversational behavior as they reported that males are more likely to use more assertive and dominant speech patterns in interaction than females but a recent review of the many empirical studies on interruptions and time spent talking show that men think women are more talkative and create interruption in conversation than men. Stets & Burke in 1996 stated that men maintain masculine gender identity by expressing negative, dominant and oppositional behavior, such as complaining, criticizing women to pull down them. Pleck and Sonenstein in 1973 defined Masculinity ideology as men accept culture’s definition of masculinity and they beliefs and act on culturally defined standards of male behavior [6].

According to Thompson (1986) men’s according to their needs follow norm of masculinity only for achieving status, position and other respect in 2006 Hammond stated that men follow the concept of masculinity by controlling their own emotions as other people may think about them they are emotionally weak. He also stated that men are compact in one’s emotions as a factor associated their emotional restriction, they always less willing to forgive racially discriminatory experiences. Gregory in 2011 pointed out that men define and redefine masculinity in the social context of their experiences throughout their life.

Goldberg argued that in his paper titled, Feminism against Science, on the base of physiologies, and that society, psyche and gender, men and women are different from each other with respect to the cognition and behavior, attitude and emotions.

Peterson contend that the social construction of gender is a system of power that not only divides men and women as masculine and feminine but also places masculinity above femininity and operates to value more highly those institutions and practices that are male dominated and representative of masculine traits and styles. According to the French feminist philosopher, Beauvoir, men pursue masculinity according to them develop image of gender identity, they think they are donor, liberator, redeemer of women. Men still desires the subjugation of women. Desai said that breadwinners accustomed to the idea that women are responsible to fulfill a domestic role whereas men are uniquely qualified to work.  

Method

Objective

i. To study normative understanding of masculine identity in men related to professional and personal life.

ii. To study the relationship between concept of masculinity in men and their attitude towards women

iii. Hypothesis

iv. There will be a negative relationship between concept of masculinity in men and attitude towards women

Research Design

Survey based quantitative research design was used. For survey I used a predetermined likert type scale of Helmrich and snell to assess opinion, thoughts of population of interest.

i. Operational definition

ii. Concept of masculinity

The term concept of masculinity can be defined as stereotypical masculine behavior traits as measured by the Masculine Role Inventory, Snell, W. E.

Attitudes Toward Women

Attitudes toward Women can be defined as attitudes about the rights and roles of women relative to men in occupational, educational, and relational domains. As an attitude measure focusing on gender roles, it is measured by the AWS assesses opinions about the behavioral patterns deemed appropriate for men and women in society, Spence, Helmrich & Stapp (1978).   

Instrument

Two scales have been used in the present study which is as follows

The Masculine Role Inventory

The Masculine Role Inventory (MRI) use to access the concept of masculinity in men, scale was developed by Snell, W. E in 2013. There were 30 statement with five response catgories. The five response categories were included agree, slightly agree, uncertain, disagree and slightly disagree. In this scale item 30 was negative item. Each item was coded like that: Agree = +2, Slightly Agree = +1, uncertain = 0, Slightly Disagree = -1, and Disagree = -2. The Masculine Role Inventory (MRI) consists of three subscales, success preoccupation subscale, inhibited affection subscale and restrictive emotionality subscale. Restrictive emotionality was defined as the restricted expression of privately felt emotions. Inhibited affection refers to the inhibition of feelings of affection and tenderness toward others. Success preoccupation was defined as a persistent preoccupation with success and career development to the exclusion of interpersonal pursuits and devotion [7-9].

Attitudes Towards Women Scale

This questionnaire assesses the men attitude towards women it’s a likert type scale. This scale was developed by Spence, Helmrich & Stapp in1978. The categories used were agree strongly, agree mildly, disagree mildly and disagree strongly. Each item was coded like that Strongly agree=0, mildly agree=1, mildly disagree=2, and strongly disagree=3 except for the items 2,3,6,7,8,9,11,12,18,21,24,25 in the scale were reversed. A high score indicates a pro feminist, egalitarian attitude while a low score indicates a traditional, conservative attitude.   

Sample

The sample consist of (N=40) men. Accidental sampling was used to study men concept about masculinity and attitude towards women. The age of sample ranges from 20-50years. Demographic data sheet included instruction, age, occupation, education and marital status.   

Procedure

The data was collected through convenience sampling from Wah Cantt. Participants were informed about the purpose of research. Questionnaires were administered to only men to study the concept about masculinity in men and their attitude towards women. The participants were personally reached. The participants voluntarily participated, and the participants were asked to read each statement and to indicate the response by selecting the appropriate response category which they consider in their opinion appropriate and applicable about their own self. They were eager to answer it. Informed consent was done. Consent was taken from every individual and it was briefed that their information will not be misused, and it will only be included in research work. The survey was generally completed within 25 minutes. Once participants completed the survey they were thanked for the participation   

Results

Demographic information sought from the sample, included information like age, and marital status. Statistical description demographic variable statistical descriptions of the demographic variable of study are as follows in (Tables 1-4).

Table 5 shows that in subscales of masculine inventory statistically significant positive correlation is present among, success preoccupation, inhibited affection and restrictive emotionality are Correlated significantly at the 0.01 level, but inhibited affection and restrictive emotionality Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level. And statistically significant negative correlation is present between subscale of success preoccupation, inhibited affection, restrictive emotionality and attitude towards women at 0.01 levels.   

Discussion

The basic purpose of the study is to find relationship between concept of masculinity in men and their attitude towards women. In our society, gender roles develop on the base of cultural pattern, in which men and masculinity place above the women and feminist, a woman’s value measure in her ability to bear children and raising children. Men are powerfully affected by the experiences of life and develop concept of masculinity on the base of how people respond to them what they do as male and what is expecting behavior of others as male from him. A traditional man never cares about the rights of women, they want women remain dependent on them. As I expected and discovered the high correlation between subscale of masculinity and negative attitude towards women which indicates they are traditional men because highly masculine men have negative attitude towards women role. Highly masculine men are hesitant to consider themselves as feminist. A possible explanation why Men reject the feminist label is that the connotation of this label is coded as female because they consider women are emotionally and physically weak than them

My hypothesis is partially supported when find correlation between masculine identity in men and their attitude towards women.

As seen in table 5 statistically significant negative correlation were found between success preoccupation in men and attitude towards women r=.21, p< .01.it represent a successful career means more to men but they are not consider importance of a successful career for women and belief women are less capable for contributing to economic production and they should be concerned with their duties of child bearing and house tending rather than desire for professional career. A statistically significant negative correlation was also found between inhibited affection of men and their attitude towards women r= .36. p<.01. as they control the expression of feelings of love, affection, and for others but wants from women not being active outside the home, should worry less about their rights and more about becoming good wives and mother, care provide every member of family. But non-significant positive correlation found between men restrictive emotionality scale and attitude towards women [8].

The present research is also concerned with the construction of a self-report instrument designed to assess several components of the traditional male experience. The MRI was developed to measure three aspects of the masculine role:

i. success preoccupation, the tendency to be so obsessed with the development of a highly successful career that interpersonal growth and involvement are constrained

ii. Inhibited affection, the tendency to control and check the expression of feelings of love, affection, and tenderness for others; and

iii. restrictive emotionality, the tendency to limit and temper the public expression and communication of one’s privately felt emotions and sentiments. The inter correlations of the three masculine role subscales within samples 40 were also examined.

The success preoccupation subscale was significantly correlated with the inhibited affection scale r = .40 p< .01, and with the restrictive emotionality subscale r= 0.44, p < .01. Inhibited affection scale correlated significantly with the restrictive emotionality scale r = 0.312, p < .05. Although the correlations are all statistically significant, they are modest in size but instead assess different aspects of the masculine role.

As Brannon & David reported in their research that traditional masculinity gender role showed that men should avoid famine behavior, strive for success and achievement, show no weakness and seek adventure by putting down women [7].

In 1999 Gilbert research study indicated that women should focus on relationship, remain silent for rights, must participate in nurturance of others, submissive and domestic. Traditional Men think they are superior over women, in professional opportunities men must be given priority for selection over women. By this woman are second citizen of society for them only specific opportunities in career in 1985 Spence viewed that the important underlying construct is gender identity or one’s sense of being masculine or feminine. Culturally defined personality traits, physical attributes, attitudes, occupational preference and behaviors all are contribute in gender identification. Men choose those characteristics that are compatible for themselves and demanding from women for which they are responsible just as child bearing, maintaining relationship and house holding.

Further Stets & Burke in 1996 stated that men maintain masculine gender identity by expressing negative, dominant and oppositional behavior, such as complaining, criticizing women to pull down them.

Men pursue masculinity according to them develop image of gender identity, they think they are donor, liberator, redeemer of women. Men still desires the subjugation of women [9].   

Conclusion

Usually meanings of masculinity and attitude towards women are created, modified and put into action by individuals during the process of social interaction. My study represents the traditional concept of masculinity in men and their negative attitude towards women. Traditional men have a totally opposite concept about themselves and towards women. They are agreeing only for limited freedom of women, they do not understand a woman’s pride and want from women, they should have to obey them and should concerned with their duties of house tending but nontraditional men are agreeing to equality of both in career and daily life rotines.   

Limitation

Every scientific research study is new step toward understanding and solution of problem but there are always certain obstacles and limitations that every researcher must face to accomplish his/her task. Sample size in the study is not larger enough and is collected from Wah can’t only. My finding contributes to the previous literature of gender studies. Although magnitude of the correlation low is than the gender role studies. In Future research work can be done on how gender role can be modified.

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