I am going to quote here from a response to a comment I made on a friend's FB post about Isla Vista: "... the misogyny claim has no legs. This is not a cultural issue but a mental illness issue. No one doubts that he was ill." (The 3-dot edit was to remove my actual name. My friend did not make this response, otherwise we'd have parted friendship some time ago.)
To be clear, this response was posted by a fellow who lives for provoking. It's also clear that he provokes because he hopes to convert those who do not think his way. As though some "A-Ha!" moment will happen just because of his words.
(more below tangerine cloud...)
I thought about how to respond to this post for awhile because I couldn't just let it go. Eventually I wrote that misogyny is the mental illness of culture and that it was both ridiculous and dismissive for a MAN to say that the misogyny claim had no legs.
But now I am wondering about my world-view. Have I been similarly dismissive of cultures with which I am not entirely familiar? Or am I just feeling unsure because I've expressed myself forcefully and that's not "ladylike"?
Is it cultural, this hatred of women? Or is it something that afflicts brains everywhere, in every single culture, and every gender? Is it an illness "valued" in some cultures?
Even asking those questions makes me feel little like I've also come down with the mental illness of misogyny. Hush, little girl, don't talk so loud.
Just as a small wrap-up line: I'm pissed at the guy I mentioned in the first paragraphs. But out of respect for my actual friend and his FB "sanity" I am not going to unload on the poster any more than I have already.