Addressing the Root Cause of Hate
Crimes
by Pip Cornall
Recently several young women were allegedly harassed by a
group of young men at the Southern Oregon University. When
a young gay man came to their assistance he was allegedly
pursued by the group, spat on and repeatedly taunted and harassed
for being gay. The incident has promoted a supportive response
from the University and the community.
(PRWEB) June 18, 2005 -- The recent ‘hate crimes’
at the Southern Oregon University need to be seen for what
they are; a manifestation of a tenacious and powerful programming.
Firstly it is important to name the gender responsible. It
is not surprising that it was a group of men who allegedly
harassed a group of women and then aggressively harassed the
young man who came to their defense. Men are responsible for
99% of all rape and sexual assault (this was a sexist harassment)
and 90-95% of all other violence.
Secondly there is nothing inherently wrong with men. Most
men (75%) are unhappy with how they have been socialized,
especially with respect to attitudes about women and gays.
For thousands of years one half of humanity has been socialized
to dominate the other half. Historically, men acting without
equal input from women have been the political and economic
leaders and decision makers -- the ones who took us to war,
the ones who raped and committed domestic violence, the ones
who tolerated poverty and hardship. The old forms of masculinity,
the dominator forms, if continued, constitute one of the gravest
threats to the future of humanity.
Author Riane Eisler* says, “The centuries-old dominator
paradigm is not something inherent in women or men. Rather,
it is a matter of the gender-specific socialization required
to maintain a system in which -- beginning with the ranking
of one half of humanity over the other -- the primary principle
of social organization is one of rankings of domination ultimately
backed up by fear of pain or force.
Violence Prevention Educator Jackson Katz** agrees stating,
“What must be changed is our socialization as men and
not our essential biological nature.”
So we are looking at an attainable task, one which is well
underway as testified by the thousands of male and female
scholars, politicians, activists and workshop-leaders who
are working tirelessly to reduce male violence and questioning
age old assumptions about masculinity.
The young men involved in the alleged harassment last week
at SOU, are a product of an ancient conversation about women,
which still persists despite many years of the equity movement.
However we must be careful not to direct our wrath towards
the alleged perpetrators for that will not eliminate sexism;
it will simply shift the anger, not transform it. As Riane
Eisler points out, “Men are not the enemy -- it's the
programming, the dominator system itself.”
Misogyny and homophobia arise out of the dominator paradigm
and manifest as structural violence, which is rampant in the
US and will change as we change the structure. For example
America has a very low percentage of women in government placing
it 59th amongst modern democracies; a concrete statement that
women and their values do not matter. Is it any coincidence
that rape and gender-based violence are many times higher
here than in other comparable countries?
The ancient conversation about women socializes males for
dominance and not for equalitarian power sharing. It objectifies
and negatively stereotypes women and gays so that they can
be kept in their ‘place’ through intimidation
and fear. It lumps gay men with women because they are seen
to be similar. Unfortunately the myth of the “real man”
persists today, and he is defined as not “sissy, girly
or gay;” he is tough, dominant, competitive, shows no
emotions other than anger, and he is a stud.
But in defining males in this way, men, sadly, are being
groomed for failure in relationships with their wives or partners,
children and workmates; in other words men too are victims
of their own socialization. Male sexist language, like racist
language, sows the seeds of violence against women, gay people
and other men. Interestingly, research indicates that 75%
of men disapprove of the way they were socialized, nevertheless,
attitudes towards women, out of which violence and inequity
arise, are sustained by the tacit agreement of good men to
the hegemonic male myth still prevalent in most societies.
That the courageous young man, who spoke out to stop his
female friends from being harassed, happens to be gay should
be unimportant; he is simply a caring human being doing the
right thing. Any men who protect women from the sexist behavior
of other males will be taunted with derogatory put-downs such
as “faggot, pussy or girl,” terms that imply they
are less than “real men.” This is how males are
socialized to conform to the prevailing form of masculinity,
and that is what we must change. We can challenge this programming
in primary school by explaining to children that to be called
girly, gay or sissy arises from old male programming; some
boys are taught to use these gibes. Reminding children that
gays or girls are not inferior shows them that being called
these names need not be taken as an insult. A typical response
might be, “Thank you I know many girls or gay people
I’d be proud to be similar to.”
The alleged perpetrators of this so-called Ashland ‘hate
crime’ were agents of this lingering programming. The
same socializing that makes rapists and domestic batterers
also made us, which is why we, the largely silent 75% of men,
need to learn more about gender construction/gender violence
and to challenge all forms of sexist behavior, starting with
our own thoughts, words and deeds. We must see sexism, harassment
and rape as male issues and realize that the benefits of educating
and changing ourselves are more than we ever imagined. Every
man whom I know that has embraced these changes is grateful
to have done so!
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