Laura Bassett’s article in the 10/18/16 Huffington Post (Donald Trump and His Supporters are Actually Making Women Sick) has filled me with sadness and rage. Bassett presents her experience with male attacks, as well as those of several other women. This is not my first experience of sadness and anger because of the way males treat females. It’s becoming an ongoing condition.
I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had only one SPODS [Slimy Piece of Diseased Shit] force itself on me. It happened at a reception ending a week-long university writing conference. Fortunately the SPODS (whom I barely knew) announced its intention. “Hey, Huey, give me a big wet one.” I was able to whip my head around to avoid the filth. I went into some kind of dead zone for a minute or two. When I came to, the reception was going on and the SPODS had left. No one said a word, including me.
Two years later the the attacker was again at the conference. I asked the organizer to put the filthy creep and me in different workshop groups, which was done. I dreaded the reception. Then I learned that it (I don’t extend human status to SPODS) was not going to attend. I don’t remember if I shouted Hallelujah, but I felt it. However, as he was leaving the last meeting he approached a group of women, me a member, to say goodbye. He said, “Huey,” and held out his hand. I actually shook it. I should have yelled, “Get away from me, you turd.”
A woman in a short story I wrote realizes she is angry at herself for having put up with a predatory harasser for as long as she has. The attacker also makes life miserable for her colleagues. She eventually shoots him. Dead. After spending time with my protagonist, I realized I was just as mad at myself as she was at herself. I had gone along with what the SPODS wanted when I shook its disgusting hand because I didn’t want to make a scene. How wonderfully womanly of me. Calling it out as a turd would have been the appropriate response.
I have come to believe one of the major problems, perhaps the major problem, in achieving equality is due to women not getting white-hot angry at ourselves for putting up with hate, aggression and violence from filth on feet. We females are supposed to be graciously accommodating at all times—even when we get beaten and raped. I guess we’re supposed to go happily into death if it’s a SPODS killing us. I don’t think I’m overstating. The way our alleged justice system treats so many rape victims, and women abused by partners supports my contention.
I have no memory of verbal or physical filth being forced on girls when my generation was growing up. If some budding SPODS had grabbed a body part or even said something dirty to us we would have slapped him and told him what we thought of him. Today girls put up with all the crap little pieces of shit want to dish out. What went wrong?
The second wave of feminism gave women the freedom to openly admit we are—among other things—sexual beings and can enjoy sex. SPODS think that gives them the right to use our bodies for their purposes. (See Ross Douthat’s NYTimes 8/13/16 Op Ed). We have become TTFs. [Things to Fuck] We, of course, are useful to males in other ways. I’ll let you count all those ways.
Note: I do not think all men are SPODS. However, the alleged good guys stand around idly twiddling their thumbs, thus tacitly cheering on those who violate us. Females are prey and every female knows she can’t expect a male to help her fight off her attackers. Unless she happens to be a relative of a thumb twiddler.
Accept it, women, we have utility, but no intrinsic worth.
I’m sure many of you are objecting to much of what I’ve written. But how else explain female’s lot in life? How else explain a truly vile SPODS running for President of the most powerful nation in the world? Sexism is in us like a virus. Both sexes learn from birth that humans with penises are far superior to those not so endowed. Women’s support of the SPODS running for President makes me want to throw up. How can those females support a thing like that? I can only conclude they accept, even embrace, sub-human status.
At this time all I can do is write about woman-hating, calling out those who practice it. I’ve published a novel, In the Land of Two-Legged Women (Inanna Publications) in which a group of women take on the gender system of their world. I’m working on a new novel. It’s a story of women taking on another gender system—the one in our world.
Right now, other than my writing, I don’t know how to fight against female-hating unless it’s open warfare. Anyone can get guns in this country. Tasers are legal in the majority of states. Do we have to choose weapons?
What do you think? Please share ways of tearing apart a gender system that believes females aren’t worth respect and decent, fair treatment. Our girlish, womanly accommodating ways haven’t taken us very far century after century after century. In many ways we’re slipping back.
Remember, doing the same thing over and over and over without success is a mark of insanity. Let’s at least try to stop being insane.
