Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site hcrvx1.UUCP Path: utzoo!hcrvax!hcrvx1!tracy From: tracy@hcrvx1.UUCP (Tracy Tims) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Men/Hate, Women/Love. Message-ID: <1038@hcrvx1.UUCP> Date: Thu, 13-Dec-84 21:54:28 EST Article-I.D.: hcrvx1.1038 Posted: Thu Dec 13 21:54:28 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 14-Dec-84 01:35:22 EST Organization: Human Computing Resources, Toronto Lines: 49 It seems to be fashionable for ethically enlightened females to assume implicitly that women are inherently more reasonable than men, and that men are the primary causes of the violence and hate in the world. I suspect that this view is caused because 1) Traditionally males have taken *visible* roles in the traffic of hate and violence, 2) The recognition of hate and violence of as an undesirable phenomenon is a recent development, and 3) Because of 2) we are focussing of the most visible features of hate first, that is, 1) above. As well, there is a failure to distinguish what might actually be two separate phenomena: the discrimination practiced by the patriarchy against women, and the general existence of hate and violence. The ethically enlightened woman (who opposes both of these) to bundle the two phenomena carelessly. This may be partly due to the nurturing role that women have visibly had. I think that there is discrimination that is NOT related to hate and that there is hate which is not related to descrimination of women. And vice versa. I suspect that a more accurate view of violence and hate will have to encompass the whole social structure that supports it: *including the women who support it*. And I have met enough of the to know that they are not scarce. I have met many men who deplore hate (and give love freely) to know that what they are is not purely a female 'thing'. The existence of hate and inhumanity IS NOT per se, a sex related issue. There may be more ethically enlightened women than men; that fact does not constitute a proof that women are essentially nicer and more cooperative than men. Studies which contrast male and female behaviour in problem solving situations say nothing about the behaviour of men and women in the context of a nation at war, or a nation in the grips of paranoia. It would be truly interesting to know just what factors were being contributed by what sexes in those situations. Hate and it's acceptance is a highly social phenomenon, not just an individual or sex-linked phenomenon. I advocate a wholistic approach to the understanding of society's ills. There are too many egocentric assumptions running around that depend on analysis of isolated cases and unrealistically small systems. Tracy Tims {linus,allegra,decvax}!watmath!... Human Computing Resources Corporation {ihnp4,utzoo}!... Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 416 922-1937 ...hcr!hcrvax!tracy PS. As you may figure out, my understand of life leads me to belive there are no simple solutions to it's injustices and evils, and that there are no simple scapegoats to crucify.