Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Beating Up on Women

After writing yesterday about Liz Book and her quest to decriminalize and desexualize the female breast, I came upon three other stories about women being oppressed by our testosterone-charged society. Why do we beat up on women in America? Apparently simply because we can.

Two teenage high school girls in Florida decided to be like the boys and paint their bodies to show their spirit at a football game. Wearing bikini tops and shorts over their school colors, the girls were a big hit until someone complained that the the girls "appeared to be topless" and the principal confronted them.
"He just told us to leave," said (Monica) Cummings. "Just flat out, 'you ladies need to leave'. How come you're trying to kick us out, but the guys did it before, and he said I'm not going to debate this with you," said Cummings.
A 6 year-old Brooklyn girl is facing a $300 fine for making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of her home. On the other hand, New York sidewalk artist Ellis Gallagher has been decorating with chalk for years and hes never been arrested. Spokesperson Cathy Dawkins defends the Department of Sanitation for cracking down on the little girl.
“It’s a standard warning letter,” added Dawkins. “The property owner has 45 days to remove it or ask the city to remove it. We’ll inspect after that, and if the graffiti is still there, the property owner has another 60 days before we’ll write a summons.”
And finally, you have probably already heard about Ellen DeGeneres' canine incident, where the comedian adopted a dog from an animal rescue agency and then later decided to give it to her hairstylist's family. Once the agency found out about the change of ownership, they swooped down with the police and snatched the dog away from the children. An attorney for the agency explained why.
"She doesn't think this is the type of family that should have the dog. She is adamant that she is not going to be bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world ... They are using their power, position and wealth to try to get what it is they want."
Although the owners of the agency are women, they are acting like men, standing their ground upon a principle that has long since ceased to be valid. The same stupid principle that makes a school banish two girls for daring to be like the boys, or to threaten a little girl for making sidewalk drawings. Shame on all of these ridiculous people who stomp upon the freedoms of the weak simply because they can.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

No, a 6 year-old Brooklyn girl is not facing a $300 fine for making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of her home. The paper you quoted from was mistaken on several points. Her parents were threatened with a fine, not because they are her parents but because they own the property on which she made her drawing. (She drew on the stoop of the building, not on the sidewalk.) Mindless bureaucrats misapplied a law intended to make property owners clean up spray-painted graffiti. Here are links to two news stories from better-known, more reliable sources that agree on the details.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/14333014/detail.html?rss=ny&psp=news

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/13/2007-10-13_city_calls_girls_chalk_drawing_graffiti_.html?