Misogynistic view belittles women’s issues, social roles

Monday, May 18

Misogynistic view belittles women’s issues, social roles

Displacing blame doesn’t spare men from mastering own
penises

By Shannon McKinnonI am writing regarding Neven Jeremic’s
insulting Viewpoint column "Become the master of your own vagina"
(May 13). The pointless and sensationalistic headline is only the
beginning of Jeremic’s feeble attempt to address an issue about
which he has no understanding despite being Camille Paglia’s
disciple.It is disconcerting that Jeremic has apparently done
substantial research on the issue of rape and has still come to the
archaic conclusion that women’s power lies in their sexuality, and
men are helpless to control themselves in the face of it. He, in
fact, implies that men fit the description which he claims feminist
legislation forces upon women "inadequate, inferior and powerless
beings."Women being "provocative" and not accepting "full
responsibility for their sexuality" is, according to Jeremic, at
the root of the rape issue. Curiously, he makes no mention of male
responsibility with regards to sexuality or rape. The woman who
goes home with a drunken frat boy is "plain stupid," but the frat
boy himself is just a victim of her "subliminal
sexuality"?Jeremic’s argument that laws like the Violence Against
Women Act (VAWA) returns our society to Victorian attitudes about
male-female relationships directly contradicts his own espousal of
Victorian-like rhetoric concerning female sexuality. For Jeremic,
sexuality is something to be controlled, taken responsibility for
and feared.What is to be feared is a society where women are raped.
Whether the percentage be low or high is irrelevant. The fact that
rape occurs at all demonstrates that we live in a society governed
by the very kind of mystification and demonization of female
sexuality which Jeremic participates in.Jeremic also implies that
the Ms. magazine study conducted in 1985 is inaccurate and "grimmer
than need be" because of researcher interference, yet then proceeds
to interfere in exactly the same way by attempting to second-guess
these statistics. The point he completely misses is that these
statistics are designed to educate women about the world which
faces them which, however unfortunate it may be, includes rape.I
wonder what Jeremic has in mind when he suggests that UCLA discuss
sex and "stop sheltering young women." Perhaps he would inform them
of how to "judiciously" use their sexuality and convince them that
"provocative" behavior is what incites sexual violence, not the
rapist’s refusal to be master of his own penis.But perhaps the most
alarming part of this column is Jeremic’s short bio where he claims
to be "no misogynist" and that he has "more estrogen in his veins
than in most of the women reading this."One can only guess what he
means by this ridiculous statement, but it clearly shows the
defensive position from which he writes the piece. He has no
interest in addressing rape as the legitimate and serious issue
that it is, but rather uses it to promote conflict and capitalize
on sensationalism. "Feminism" should not be the identifier for this
column, but maybe "misogyny" should.