Why I'm a Feminist, Reason #564

A poem. With links in it. And it may be triggering,

It seems I exaggerate
Irrationally I harp on the negatives
There are many good men
It's not all a vast conspiracy
So why keep exaggerating the problem?

Then I read:
The judge said the victim
was provocatively dressed
so the sentence should be lenient
Ten years old, she was.

Then I read:
a woman with opinions
only needs to be raped
with a big black dildo
then she'll stop talking

Then I read:
The man, previously sentenced
for sexual abuse of his oldest daughter's friends
had sole custody of his son and younger daughter
He started abusing her when she was three.

Then I read:
The doctor raped the woman
while she was under anesthetic

Then I read:
The sentence for the three boys
fifteen years old, who had gang-raped
a thirteen year-old, was lowered
because they hadn't damaged her

I do not say all men are like this
I do not say the world is all bad
I acknowledge that these are individuals
making their own choices to hurt others

All I'm saying is,
I wish it it were exaggeration

Cause and responsibility

Yesterday a woman working at RFSL, the Swedish LGBT rights organisation, was attacked by a man with an axe. Apparently he came into their office and asked her some questions, and during their conversation he took out an axe and attacked her with it. He hit her in the head.

I heard about this on the radio while driving home from work. The thing that struck me was that the reporter said "It's not known what caused the attack".

Beg to differ.

First, to quote my favourite M.D. - it's got an ass, technically that makes it a who.

The idea that the cause of the attack is unknown is ridiculous. The attack was caused by the man taking up an axe. Now, the reason may be unknown, though at a guess it was homophobia. But the cause isn't some anonymous thing that forced the man to take up the axe. It was his choice. It was a person who chose to do this. It wasn't the victim's fault, or the RFSL's, or anyone elses. Noone else caused the attack.

It really bugs me when reporters use words that take the responsibility away from the perpetrator in that way. By talking about "what caused it", they're saying that it wasn't his own actions that were to blame, it was some unknown cause for which he bears no responsibility. And that's just plain wrong.