BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

A must read in a series from Echidne of the Snakes' blog : ...Oh, With Gals, Too, Naturally. This is the second post in my series about the very simple and basic reasons why I became a feminist and why I still see lots of work for feminism. You can read the first post here. There will be more posts and they are not in any particular ranking by value of importance. This series differs from my usual writing style. I'm trying to let the immediate response come through and to use other parts of my mind and memory more than the analytical machine I mostly employ. I'm trying to view this planet from the outside, to ask questions about the taste of the water we drink and the color of the air we breathe. This is hard to do, because each and everyone of us is immersed in the systems in which we live and we don't see them as systems. Please remember that, especially if you start feeling that I'm accusing individual men or women of what I discuss here. Let us begin by looking ...

From The Confluence: Pop quiz: Robert is a 20 year-old black man who was raised in the ghettos of Chicago’s South Side by a single mother. He has committed a violent crime. The reason he committed the crime is: A. He is black B. He is a young male C. He comes from a single-parent home D. His economic situation (poverty) E. Insufficient data I would hope that everyone picked “E” as the correct answer, because we simply don’t have enough information to answer the question. Although “A” is obviously wrong, not that many years ago it was believed that blacks were predisposed to commit violent crimes. Answers “B,” “C,” and “D” are all considered by social scientists to be factors that contribute to violent crime. Let’s try another: Ali is a 20 year-old Iraqi man who was raised in the Anbar Province by a single mother. He has detonated a car bomb. The reason he detonated the bomb is: A. He is a Muslim B. He is a Muslim C. He is a Muslim D. He is a Muslim E. He is a Muslim Whe...