[femmeInterrupted]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Seems to me, a simple approach might be a more logical format for a potential instant breakthrough. For example.....so if your sister, mother, grandmother are in bed in their own home, asleep, and a man breaks in and rapes them.....they were dressed too provocatively? Shouldnt have been there? Egged him on?

Rape is rape. Adolesents girls are raped, elderly women are raped, nuns are raped, chuldren and babies are raped, men are raped. Fit the lack of logic to the situation.

Pardon my exuberence. I was working on a rape project today. Just spill over.

Found the anaolgy:

I think it's important to remember that rape is not a crime about sex. It's about power and control. That's why 7 year olds and 77 year olds get raped...Both demographics hardly fit the going standard for 'sexy' in today's society. It is however, a sexualized violence. It's about power OVER. It's about the dehumanization of women and children, the commodification of women and children, and the idea that is so nastily pervasive under the male gaze. Entitlement.

Personally, I don't think your exuberance needs pardoning, although I find myself in the same position often. I think it's O.K. to be passionate about things that require and are deserved of that passion. Violence against women is surely something that everyone SHOULD be passionate about.

I've been doing some research and reading into the gendered nature of anger and outrage. Both natural and appropriate emotions and responses to things that elicit that response. Again, violence against women and social justice comes to mind.

I think as feminists we need to have the discussions around anger, which is problematic in that
A) most examples of anger are that of aggression. It is gendered.
and
B) the notions of what it is to be a woman with anger. We AREN'T supposed to be. We are urged into forgiveness and passivity. We are told that in order to heal we need to let go of that anger. Globally, that's a LOT of women working on reclaiming lives derailed and greatly effected by woman abuse and sexual violation. That's a lot of sisters living lives altered by the reality of sexism, misogyny, racism, heterosexism...

So instead of pushing my anger away, I'm sitting with it, as is sometimes good to do with ALL uncomfortable emotions, because it's there for a reason.

Be passionate! Be angry. Be whatever it takes to feel enough to get active and create change.

Thanks for sharing