It finally comes to this, & it is serious. Some find it terribly disturbing. Some are laughing, smirking, & cheering it on.
As we sit here at our computers, viewing this screen, a life-size representation of Sarah Heath Palin hangs from a noose in the eaves of Chad Morrisette’s house in West Hollywood, CA. This kind of display is very, very dangerous, friends. It speaks to the character of those who erected it, yes, but that’s not all. It’s getting national attention, and sinking into the collective consciousness of our nation.
Yes, recent death threats against Senator Obama were vile, & the offenders are right where they belong – in jail. The authorities in whom we place our public trust are handling the threats justly; the public would not have it if they didn’t. And yet, the public is watching Mr. Morrisette & draws the only conclusion it can. While threatening Mr. Obama is a crime, this murderous display against Mrs. Palin is okay. It is tolerable. It is an acceptable paradigm of soft violence toward her, and women.
As we watch, we’re getting the point. A threat against Barack Obama is being dispensed with swiftly, as it should. Yet, Sarah Heath Palin’s likeness still hangs from the rafters in that West Hollywood house. The perpetrator gets interviews & his voice echoes through our living rooms. His freedom crows in the face of human decency, & remains unchecked by legal authority.
Have you ever wondered what a perpetrator of violence against women does, psychologically, in order to carry out an assault? It’s a mental trick called objectification. It allows the mind to dehumanize the victim in order to shed inhibitions, short-circuit normal human empathy & compassion, so that a violent act can be perpetrated. (Ever see Silence of the Lambs? The weirdo with the girl in his basement? That’s objectification.)
I suggest that Mr. Morrisette’s display, whether he intends it or not, plays the same psychological trick with our collective minds. It objectifies Governor Palin so that psychological violence can be perpetrated against her. As the nation looks on, she is an object, & can be psychologically shredded, strangled, & left twisting in the wind. And the worst of it, friends? The very worst is what it does to our culture’s view of the humanity of women. It's suggesting that we as women can be objectified, made public targets for ridicule & humiliation, & that there is no recourse. Not one ounce of legal or criminal remedy is available for this viperous display. So, down it sinks, into our new understanding of how we view women in our culture.
Can we not draw the inferences here, friends? Do we not understand the implications for women? Can't a woman be strong, have opinions that go against the grain of group-think, and be allowed to survive? Can't a woman hold traditionalist views & join in the public discussion without being shredded & strangled, as if she’s some rag-doll Halloween joke? Is Sarah Heath Palin not a mother? A wife? A beloved daughter? Is she not a human being? (Nor am I?)
Where, dear friends, are Women’s Advocates? Where are the feminist legal challenges, demanding 'hate crimes legislation' to make Mr. Morrisette’s actions punishable by law? Where is Arianna Huffington, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey? Where is Mrs. Obama – herself a legal mind & a minority twice over – demanding legal remedy for this display? Madonna? Sandra Bernhardt? (Oh, I forgot, they already led the charge …)
I’ll tell you where they are. They’re standing on the ticket line, & they’ve sold themselves out. They’re so ravenous in their shortsighted political hunger, they don’t even know that they’ve become the aggressors. Their silence makes them complicit in setting up this paradigm of soft violence against women. About the psychological violence heaped on Governor Palin, you can almost hear them whispering, “Going around talking like she does, acting like she does…She was asking for it...” They have now become the perpetrators that they revile. (Am I wrong here? I'm willing to say so, if I am. Have I missed the public feminist outcry?)
Funny, when Gov. Palin was first nominated, she was accused by the Left of setting women back because of her stances on ‘women’s issues’. Most of the culprits above piled right on. They had the national floor, & their accusation was validated by an all-too-eager media.
I may be a lone voice in the wilderness in this lowly blog, but I’m making an accusation of my own. If women are being set back, if women are being oppressed, it’s now because of standard Feminists. In their silence, they are reinforcing this paradigm of soft violence against women who’re not in their lock step. The Left rests their accusation on a balky, slanted opinion that they own ‘women’s issues’. Upon what evidence does my accusation rest? It’s not mere opinion. It’s in plain view, hanging from the eaves of a West Hollywood house, and in the silence that swirls around it, causing it to twist ever so gently in the wind.
As we sit here at our computers, viewing this screen, a life-size representation of Sarah Heath Palin hangs from a noose in the eaves of Chad Morrisette’s house in West Hollywood, CA. This kind of display is very, very dangerous, friends. It speaks to the character of those who erected it, yes, but that’s not all. It’s getting national attention, and sinking into the collective consciousness of our nation.
Yes, recent death threats against Senator Obama were vile, & the offenders are right where they belong – in jail. The authorities in whom we place our public trust are handling the threats justly; the public would not have it if they didn’t. And yet, the public is watching Mr. Morrisette & draws the only conclusion it can. While threatening Mr. Obama is a crime, this murderous display against Mrs. Palin is okay. It is tolerable. It is an acceptable paradigm of soft violence toward her, and women.
As we watch, we’re getting the point. A threat against Barack Obama is being dispensed with swiftly, as it should. Yet, Sarah Heath Palin’s likeness still hangs from the rafters in that West Hollywood house. The perpetrator gets interviews & his voice echoes through our living rooms. His freedom crows in the face of human decency, & remains unchecked by legal authority.
Have you ever wondered what a perpetrator of violence against women does, psychologically, in order to carry out an assault? It’s a mental trick called objectification. It allows the mind to dehumanize the victim in order to shed inhibitions, short-circuit normal human empathy & compassion, so that a violent act can be perpetrated. (Ever see Silence of the Lambs? The weirdo with the girl in his basement? That’s objectification.)
I suggest that Mr. Morrisette’s display, whether he intends it or not, plays the same psychological trick with our collective minds. It objectifies Governor Palin so that psychological violence can be perpetrated against her. As the nation looks on, she is an object, & can be psychologically shredded, strangled, & left twisting in the wind. And the worst of it, friends? The very worst is what it does to our culture’s view of the humanity of women. It's suggesting that we as women can be objectified, made public targets for ridicule & humiliation, & that there is no recourse. Not one ounce of legal or criminal remedy is available for this viperous display. So, down it sinks, into our new understanding of how we view women in our culture.
Can we not draw the inferences here, friends? Do we not understand the implications for women? Can't a woman be strong, have opinions that go against the grain of group-think, and be allowed to survive? Can't a woman hold traditionalist views & join in the public discussion without being shredded & strangled, as if she’s some rag-doll Halloween joke? Is Sarah Heath Palin not a mother? A wife? A beloved daughter? Is she not a human being? (Nor am I?)
Where, dear friends, are Women’s Advocates? Where are the feminist legal challenges, demanding 'hate crimes legislation' to make Mr. Morrisette’s actions punishable by law? Where is Arianna Huffington, Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey? Where is Mrs. Obama – herself a legal mind & a minority twice over – demanding legal remedy for this display? Madonna? Sandra Bernhardt? (Oh, I forgot, they already led the charge …)
I’ll tell you where they are. They’re standing on the ticket line, & they’ve sold themselves out. They’re so ravenous in their shortsighted political hunger, they don’t even know that they’ve become the aggressors. Their silence makes them complicit in setting up this paradigm of soft violence against women. About the psychological violence heaped on Governor Palin, you can almost hear them whispering, “Going around talking like she does, acting like she does…She was asking for it...” They have now become the perpetrators that they revile. (Am I wrong here? I'm willing to say so, if I am. Have I missed the public feminist outcry?)
Funny, when Gov. Palin was first nominated, she was accused by the Left of setting women back because of her stances on ‘women’s issues’. Most of the culprits above piled right on. They had the national floor, & their accusation was validated by an all-too-eager media.
I may be a lone voice in the wilderness in this lowly blog, but I’m making an accusation of my own. If women are being set back, if women are being oppressed, it’s now because of standard Feminists. In their silence, they are reinforcing this paradigm of soft violence against women who’re not in their lock step. The Left rests their accusation on a balky, slanted opinion that they own ‘women’s issues’. Upon what evidence does my accusation rest? It’s not mere opinion. It’s in plain view, hanging from the eaves of a West Hollywood house, and in the silence that swirls around it, causing it to twist ever so gently in the wind.
~~~
Women who care about women, it’s time for a paradigm shift. We must do better than this.
~~~
7 comments:
You point out yet another inconsistancy in our society. There are so many that lean on the side of injustice. Thank you for bringing accountability where it belongs.
Hi Susannah,I wondered about the women attacking Sarah Palin.(My husbands theory is its because she is hot!)But its usually us who pull another woman down and its sad.
Strange part is that they all call in at CNN to voice their opinions!
Very well said. The feministas are jelous of Sarah, because she seems to have it all.
We do have to do something or else...
Susannah
Our society has sunk to a new low in what is deemed right and wrong and it is unsettling to see it happening before our very eyes. Unfortunately, there are double standards when it comes to those who worship in a church and those that worship at a secular altar. It is beyond the pale to see Sarah's effigy hanging from a noose and there is no outcry. Great post! I linked your site to mine, I hope you don't mind.
What a great blog, thank you for being right on the money.
Let all hope and pray for John and sarah.
I love this! "Their standing in the ticket line and they've sold themselves out."
I was not aware of the effigy of Sarah Palin in East Hollywood. Thank you for pointing this out and being the lone voice. I have never understood the way people treated her either.
Thanks Jessica. It seems that the mentality that spawned the Palin effigy still defends itself while castigating others... *blech*
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