Jacqueline Rose documents the violence in our world, especially towards women. She points out that despite the rape charges against Trump–and the sexual transgressions he committed and bragged about–women still voted for him. “…In the words of a Souther Baptist woman, asked on BCC television how she could vote for Trump given his moral failings, [she answered] “We are all sinners.” (p.17)
Rose provides harrowing statistics about how many women are killed each hour and how many rapes occur each minute. Even worse are the vicious attacks of transgender people and Asians. The sad fact is that violence is rising all over the United States. Not a day goes by in Western NY when a shooting isn’t reported on local TV and in the newspaper. Right now there have been 39 homicides in Buffalo and 122 people shot and wounded.
I’m convinced the problem is too many guns in the hands of unstable people. And, of course, the drug gangs have the best weapons.
How is the violence in your neighborhood? How are you dealing with the rise in violence? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: On Violence and On Violence Against Women 1
1 I Am a Knife – Sexual Harassment in Close-up 35
2 Trans Voices – Who Do You Think You Are? 81
3 Trans and Sexual Harassment – The Back-story 137
4 Feminism and the Abomination of Violence 169
5 Writing Violence-From Modernism to Eimear McBride 199
6 The Killing of Reeva Steenkamp, the Trial of Oscar Pistorius – Sex and Race in the Courtroom 229
7 Political Protest and the Denial of History – South Africa and the Legacy of the Future 265
8 One Long Scream – Trauma and Justice in South Africa 293
9 At the Border 325
Afterword 359
Acknowledgements 369
Notes 373
Index 411
I live (with Alice and our feline pal Ninja) in a relatively sedate middle-class town in a county stricken by more than its share of poverty. Recent stats for the town:
Population: 13,843
Rape: 3
Robbery: 13
Aggravated Assault: 14
Burglary: 51
Larceny-theft: 200
Motor vehicle theft: 28
Arson: 2
Now, this is with the same sort of gun saturation as currently, perhaps a few less driven by the Enthusiasts terrified that a Democratic Admin was going to snatch all the guns away…I tend to think the rise in violence has been driven, as much as it has happened, by the encouragement of Trumpian yahoos (including Trump himself, of course), and the frustration that Trump was able to ride given the domination of the Democratic Party by the neoliberals, who often haven’t even bothered in recent decades to talk a good game to those who are hurting most. Alice is Taiwanese-American; my sister is transgender; the encouragement of idiot thugs by the fascist fanboy ex-president didn’t help their lives, though they haven’t been touched by new violence so far, but the recent increase is not cheering (even worse? part of the same picture and probably mostly from the same causes–acting out that seems excused by idiots in power fanning flames, frustration that life is ever harder than it was and the notion that anyone who is having a harder time is a Loser or is being held down or somehow threatened by Them, whoever the convenient Them might be). That we’re hearing more about police violence probably means we’re getting better reportage of it, in light of recent events, rather than that there has been more of it…and the current Admin’s resistance to moving toward a National Health Service and similar aid programs (allowing the moratorium on evictions to lapse is not a good sign, either, even if the Supreme Court did knock the stuffing out of the current act) simply means the pressures will continue, helping to justify those women (and others) who think of Trump as their sinful but useful tools to justify to themselves continuing to think that way more easily, as life keeps getting tougher for most of us. Sorry if crime is spiking close to home there…certainly there’s never been a lack in Philadelphia, where it bleeds and leads while crime in, say, Camden or Dover are pretty much glossed over, unless they are particularly grotesque. The latter won’t encourage viewer paranoia sufficiently among the bulk of the local audience.
Todd, gun violence in most U.S. cities is up. Last year, 355 people were shot in Buffalo. The 2021 statistics are higher after just 7 months. The Pandemic–instead of slowing down violence–seems to be adding fuel to the fire.
That last isn’t too surprising, alas…more boredom, angst, drug and alcohol overindulgence, and the idiots pointing people at other people.
Todd, scapegoating is an ancient tool to focus anger and frustration.
@Todd:
Obviously you’re really moved by this, wish you and your family the best of luck.
Violence against women is obviously a worldwide problem, we have a lot of abominable and crazy situations here too. Sometimes I read a site on unsoved crimes and mysteries in Germany and I shudder – because most of those cases involve women – and children.
Seems to be a never ending story …
Thanks. Indeed, too many decide they get to attack those they can attack relatively easily…
Todd, too many people feel that a gun can solve their problems.
Or that fists will.
Wolf, we’re experiencing a wave of violence against Asian women. Because of Trump’s “China flu” comments about Covid-19, attacks on Asians is up 146%.
Asian men, as well…particularly if elderly.
And this apparently unsupported nonsense is, of course, designed Not to help:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-republican-report-says-coronavirus-leaked-chinese-lab-scientists-still-2021-08-02/
Todd, Fake News and misinformation causes more division and violence. Just look at what happened on January 6, 2021.
This report (that Reuters is reporting about) is from the clowns who want anything but anyone looking at the events of 6 Jan.
Just yesterday there was a fatal shooting in the apartment complex located directly across the street from the high school where I work. We’re 35 miles and a lake away from New Orleans (where there were multiple gun fatalities this past weekend) and we like to think our middle-class community is safe—but nowhere is immune to gun violence and crime. As for violence against women, it is part & parcel of the reactionary nature of the right-wing machine where “otherization” goes hand-in-hand with white supremacy, patriarchal evangelicalism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and—of course—misogyny. And it doesn’t help that so many women seem to view those sort of traits as being indicative of a “real man.” God help us!
Deb, yesterday’s newspaper had a story that 36% of whiskey drinkers are now women. There’s been a shift from wine coolers to “hard stuff” during the Pandemic. You’re right about the misogyny running rampant in the U.S. Trump’s antics opened the floodgates for white supremacy, patriarchal evangelicalism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and conspiracy theories to run amok. The result, all too often, is more violence.
10 shootings here in Columbus Ohio over the weekend, but they missed me.
Dan, here’s a sample of the Crime Blotter for July 2021:
7/29/2021 Gowanda Man Sentenced for Sex Crime Involving Child
7/29/2021 Teen Indicted for the Murder of His Girlfriend
7/28/2021 West Falls Man Indicted on Rape Charges
7/28/2021 Defendant Pleads Guilty for Attempting to Sexually Assault Another Patient at ECMC
7/28/2021 Drunk Driver Indicted on Felony Charges for Killing Passenger in Cheektowaga Crash
7/28/2021 Accused Gunman Indicted for Killing Man Inside Convenience Store in City’s Genesee-Moselle Neighborhood
7/28/2021 Springville Man Indicted for Assaulting Teacher in Parking Lot Outside of School
7/28/2021 Defendant Sentenced for Fatally Shooting Victim Inside Auto Repair Shop in September 2018
7/27/2021 Buffalo Man Sentenced for Sexually Abusing a Child
7/27/2021 Five Teenagers Indicted for Crimes Involving Burglary, Kidnapping and Rape
7/27/2021 Brant Man Indicted for the Murder of Angola Woman
7/27/2021 Jamestown Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter for Fatally Stabbing Victim in November 2017
7/23/2021 Jury Finds Virginia Man Guilty of Assault Charges for Randomly Attacking Two Victims
7/23/2021 Buffalo Man Indicted on Attempted Murder Charge for Shooting, Critically Injuring Victim in City’s Leroy Neighborhood
7/22/2021 Former Employee Sentenced for Stealing More Than $15k from Local Non-Profit Organization
7/22/2021 Child Sex Offender Sentenced for Attempted Rape
7/21/2021 Buffalo Man Arraigned on Murder Charge for Fatally Shooting Victim During Dispute on Broadway
7/21/2021 Defendant Arraigned on Attempted Murder Charges for Shooting Two Victims on City’s West Side
7/21/2021 Buffalo Man Arraigned on Forcible Touching Charge
7/19/2021 DA Flynn to Serve as President-Elect of National District Attorneys Association
7/19/2021 Gunman Arraigned for Shooting Three Victims Outside Downtown Restaurant
7/16/2021 Bicycle Riding Gunman Arraigned on Attempted Murder Charges for Double Shooting in Allentown
7/16/2021 Buffalo Man Indicted on Attempted Murder Charge for Shooting Woman Outside of His Quincy Street Home
7/15/2021 Brant Man Arraigned for the Murder of Angola Woman
7/13/2021 Teen Driver Indicted for Unlawfully Fleeing, Causing Crash That Seriously Injured Buffalo Police Officer
7/12/2021 Caller Sentenced for False 911 Report Resulting in Serious Crash Involving Responding Police Officer
7/12/2021 Ice Skating Instructor Sentenced After Pleading Guilty to Grand Larceny for Stealing Nearly $100k from Student
7/9/2021 Adolescent Offender Accused of Stealing Vehicle Indicted on Felony Charges for Injuring Multiple Police Officers
7/8/2021 Cheektowaga Couple Arraigned on Drug and Gun Charges
7/7/2021 Tonawanda Man Pleads Guilty for Sexually Abusing Child
7/6/2021 Maserati Driver Pleads Guilty to All Charges for Causing High-Speed Crash That Killed Two People in South Buffalo
7/6/2021 Inmate Sentenced for Attacking His Defense Attorney Inside the Erie County Holding Center
7/2/2021 Franklinville Man Indicted on Hate Crime Charge for Threatening Protesters with Knife in North Buffalo
7/1/2021 Driver Sentenced to Prison for Intentionally Crashing Vehicle into Downtown Nightclub
Way too much desperation and contempt.
Is this one a crime?
“7/19/2021 DA Flynn to Serve as President-Elect of National District Attorneys Association”
Too many DAs, such as the idiot who screwed up the Bill Cosby prosecution and went on to further ineptitude in “defending” Trump through narcosis-inducing rambling during the second impeachment, are criminal themselves…
Todd, more weirdness still cycles around since it was unleashed by Trump.
How’s the violence in our neighborhood? Well, there isn’t much, if any. You’d never know it if you watched the local news or read the Daily News or the Post, but most violence is committed by drug gangs and is in a few smallish areas of Brooklyn and The Bronx. Why they can’t just round up these known gangbangers and lock them up, I don’t understand. The other part that has certainly seemed to increase in the last year or so is attacks by the mentally ill who should not be walking the streets unmedicated. They push people onto subway tracks or down stairs, or bash people (often women, often Asian) over the head, seemingly at random. I’m not even talking about the Trumpians deliberately attacking Asians about COVID. I agree with George – get the guns off the streets, or lock up those caught with them, and the statistics will turn around.
Jeff, our local crime is very low. But Buffalo’s crime stats are through the roof. Much of it is drug-related.
TOO MANY GUNS. GUNS CAUSE DEATH AND INJURY. GET RID OF GUNS!
Don’t give that bullshit abut guns don’t kill people, guns do because you can’t pull the trigger if you don’t have one to pull.
The huge flaw in our Bill of Rights is the right to bear arms. Useful at the time, horrible in modern times.
Take every handgun in private hands and melt it down. Make tools, electric cars, eyeglass frames, things that help people, not kill them.
TAKE THE NEW ZEALAND APPROACH.
Rick, I totally agree with you. The Second Amendment doesn’t guarantee possession of assault weapons.
I said Bill of Rights, but yes, it’s the 2nd Amendment. George, I’m not just talking about assault weapons, I’m talking about handguns.
Horseshit! Bill “Horndog” Clinton was the biggest sexual predator/rapist to ever occupy the White House!
Bob, Clinton and Trump have a lot to answer for.