Hi Judy, You beat me to it. I was going to post Violet Sock's blog about this story which she says the media pretty much buried. Her take on it is that the dudes don't see it as a "hate crime." I'm glad to see Bob Herbert write about it.
http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/2009/08/07/dudes-search-for-something-important-in-hate-crime-to-be-upset-about/ http://tinyurl.com/lcdlo2 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote: > > From the New York Times: > > August 8, 2009 > Op-Ed Columnist > Women at Risk > By BOB HERBERT > > "I actually look good. I dress good, am clean- > shaven, bathe, touch of cologne yet 30 million > women rejected me," wrote George Sodini in a blog > that he kept while preparing for this week's > shooting in a Pennsylvania gym in which he killed > three women, wounded nine others and then killed > himself. > > We've seen this tragic ritual so often that it has > the feel of a formula. A guy is filled with a > seething rage toward women and has easy access to > guns. The result: mass slaughter.... > > We profess to being shocked at one or another of > these outlandish crimes, but the shock wears off > quickly in an environment in which the rape, murder > and humiliation of females is not only a staple of > the news, but an important cornerstone of the > nation's entertainment. > > The mainstream culture is filled with the most > gruesome forms of misogyny, and pornography is now a > multibillion-dollar industry much of it controlled > by mainstream U.S. corporations. > > One of the striking things about mass killings in > the U.S. is how consistently we find that the > killers were riddled with shame and sexual > humiliation, which they inevitably blamed on women > and girls. The answer to their feelings of > inadequacy was to get their hands on a gun (or guns) > and begin blowing people away.... > > Life in the United States is mind-bogglingly > violent. But we should take particular notice of the > staggering amounts of violence brought down on the > nation's women and girls each and every day for no > other reason than who they are. They are attacked > because they are female.... > > We would become much more sane, much healthier, as a > society if we could bring ourselves to acknowledge > that misogyny is a serious and pervasive problem, > and that the twisted way so many men feel about > women, combined with the absurdly easy availability > of guns, is a toxic mix of the most tragic > proportions. > > Read more: > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/opinion/08herbert.html?_r=1 > > http://tinyurl.com/nazqyf >
