A few days ago, an angry, bitter, deranged young man who had been shuttled back and forth between two broken homes for much of his formative years enacted the ultimate act of revenge upon the people he had come to blame for his misfortunes. He killed both men and women by stabbing, shooting, and using a motor vehicle, thus making the usual blame-guns narrative a little more difficult to sustain than usual.
Various people have blamed various things. One article blamed his parents for divorcing (while making it clear that he is ultimately at fault for his own actions). Another blamed the video games into which he sought solace. Yet others have claimed that the girls who shunned him were at fault for refusing to have sex with him. They depict these girls, as he did, as bullies who tease certain types of young men by dressing sexily and then having sex with different young men instead.
I'm not going to blame the girls. That's silly. I'm not really 'blaming' anybody but him, in the end. He had a problem and he went off. It happens occasionally, even in the best society. If it hadn't been the girls, he would have found something else. However, I do want to discuss something that this whole situation has uncovered, a profound change in society that I see as a larger problem that daily causes its own griefs and tragedies, never covered on the news. The crux of the statement just happens to be the very point of Elliot Rodger's manifesto: He felt that it was the women's job to seek him out for sex, the way they had been seeking out other men for sex, thus their refusal was a personal slight.
When did our society change so profoundly?
Before Modern Feminism, the man's job was to pursue the woman, and the woman's job was to not make his task easy. I am not talking about flirting with him, making promises only to withdraw them, teasing him for amusement. Her job was to rebuff him unless he met a set of standards that were hardly arbitrary: keep himself clean, show respect for her, and ensure that he had the ability to provide for her should she make herself vulnerable through pregnancy. Then as now, she decided whether he was worthy. Then, unlike now, she required him to commit to her exclusively, first.
"What is the position of women in SNCC? The position of women in SNCC is prone." That quip, made by 1960's activist Stokely Carmichael, seems to describe the position of women in this new liberal feminist 'paradise'. Around the same time, liberal feminist groups worked out the slogan "Women Say Yes to Men Who Say No", which basically promised free sex to men who did not join the military to fight in the Vietnam War. More recently, "Rock the Vote" encouraged women to offer sex only to men who supported Obamacare. Imagine the irony of a bunch of "liberated" women trading sexual favors in return for having someone else buy their hormonally-based contraception.
Now as I said above, Elliot Rodger had problems, and he would have fixated on something. I do have to ask, however, if those women did not grow up in a society that expected them to seek out men and have sex with them while teasing the others with their partly-clothed bodies, would he have developed the belief that it was their job to have sex with him?
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Friday, May 23, 2014
New Chapter on Harry Potter Fanfiction
Harry Potter fanfiction "Song of the Hat" chapter 11 is now up.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/1/The-Song-of-the-Hat
In which our main character, Drucilla Bulstrode, finds a quite unlikely (but quite sensible) mentor.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/1/The-Song-of-the-Hat
In which our main character, Drucilla Bulstrode, finds a quite unlikely (but quite sensible) mentor.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
New Chapter on the Harry Potter Fanfiction
The weather has been gorgeous lately. We've had sun and temperatures in the seventies with light to moderate breezes. Naturally, I've been spending my time outside with the kids, and not writing on anything.
I did, however, sign up for a course on writing children's books. We'll see how that goes. More on that later.
I also updated my Harry Potter fanfiction, "Song of the Hat". You can find it here:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/10/The-Song-of-the-Hat
Going to bed now. I'll say more another day.
I did, however, sign up for a course on writing children's books. We'll see how that goes. More on that later.
I also updated my Harry Potter fanfiction, "Song of the Hat". You can find it here:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/10/The-Song-of-the-Hat
Going to bed now. I'll say more another day.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Spontaneous Storytelling for Morality
This morning, I looked around at the general mess left from yesterday's birthday party. I started loading dishes into the dish drainer as my eldest finished his breakfast. Then I told him to clean up the dining and living room.
Cue the angst. "But I just did it yesterday!"
"Does it look clean?"
"Nooooo! But that's because it got so messy so quickly!"
"It needs to be done, then."
"It's going to take me all day! It'll take five hours!"
"Then perhaps you need practice. I should have you do it every day."
"Then I'll never get any schoolwork done at all, because I won't have time!"
I'll spare you the rest. It went on for a while, and got ridiculous. Yes, more ridiculous than the notion that picking up toys and carrying dishes to the sink will take up five hours of every day, and taking up five hours of a day at any activity will prevent him from having the time to finish a curriculum that typically takes him 4-6 hours depending on the day, including breaks and food. (With a recent average of two, since we are close to the end of his year and half of his books are finished.) Anyways...
Improvisational storytelling in such situations comes to me so easily that I used to assume that every mother gained it as a natural skill, like the ability to change a diaper and remember what your five-year-old had for lunch. Since then, I have heard from people who tell me that my gift is not all that common. If it is inherited, I definitely inherited it from my mother, who does it all the time. On my father's side, my semi-famous great-uncle poet credited his mother's ability to invent songs and rhymes on the fly while cleaning the house, and engaging her children in the process as if they were playing a game. (They didn't exactly have television, or radio, or electricity, in the late 1800's Ukrainian slums.)
The skill is definitely strong in my line.
"Do you know what comes of this? Do you? The way you treat your mother is the way you will treat your wife. Oh yes, it's true. The way you treat your mother and your sisters, growing up, is the way you will treat your wife. Do you know what will happen? Let me tell you.
"At first she'll ask for your help when the house needs to be cleaned after a party, or when the kids are acting up and she can't keep ahead of her chores. You'll whine and complain just like you're doing here, try to blame everything on her..." I approximated (and may have exaggerated) the whine in his voice. "'Oh I won't have time for my job if I do that, and then I'll lose my job, and we won't have any money anymore!' So she'll ask at first, but she'll get tired of your emotional abuse, and she'll stop asking. She'll do everything herself. She'll be afraid to seek help from you.
"Guess what happens next. She burns out. She gets burned out, so exhausted she can't think, just working and working all the time, doing her chores and yours. And then do you know what she'll do? She'll divorce you." This produced a moment of silence, which I allowed to cultivate for a moment before picking up my narrative. "She'll divorce you for neglect, and for emotional abuse. And do you know what she'll say when she exits the courthouse after signing the divorce papers? She'll say..." Here I paused and changed my expression (and tone) from dramatic to a mixture of relief and slight disbelief. "'I don't have to wash his socks anymore. I don't have to take out his garbage anymore." The relief gives way to excitement. "I'm going to go out and see a movie tonight! I haven't gone out to a movie in ten years!"
Back to lecture mode. "How would you feel if your wife divorced you and then said that? You wouldn't like that, would you? Who do you think washes Daddy's socks? I do. And you know what? I don't mind doing it! Do you know why? It's because when I have a house to clean, or a party to set up, or misbehaving kids, I know he's got my back. You want to be like Daddy. He's a hard worker, and he cares for us. He might grumble a little when he has to take out the garbage, but he does not gripe at me, and he does not blame me. He does not say, 'I bet you fill it up so fast just to give me more work to do!'" Here, of course, I had cut in the kid-whiny tone again.
"So I'm going to make sure you learn. You're going to learn how to clean, and how to do it without complaining. I'm doing this for the sake of your wife, so that she will never have to go through what you put me through this morning. Do you understand?"
A mumbled yes. This is actually the first full vocalization from him, since all of my repeated questions have not incorporated any answer-me pauses, implicit or explicit.
"Good. Now clean the living room and dining room."
Cue the angst. "But I just did it yesterday!"
"Does it look clean?"
"Nooooo! But that's because it got so messy so quickly!"
"It needs to be done, then."
"It's going to take me all day! It'll take five hours!"
"Then perhaps you need practice. I should have you do it every day."
"Then I'll never get any schoolwork done at all, because I won't have time!"
I'll spare you the rest. It went on for a while, and got ridiculous. Yes, more ridiculous than the notion that picking up toys and carrying dishes to the sink will take up five hours of every day, and taking up five hours of a day at any activity will prevent him from having the time to finish a curriculum that typically takes him 4-6 hours depending on the day, including breaks and food. (With a recent average of two, since we are close to the end of his year and half of his books are finished.) Anyways...
Improvisational storytelling in such situations comes to me so easily that I used to assume that every mother gained it as a natural skill, like the ability to change a diaper and remember what your five-year-old had for lunch. Since then, I have heard from people who tell me that my gift is not all that common. If it is inherited, I definitely inherited it from my mother, who does it all the time. On my father's side, my semi-famous great-uncle poet credited his mother's ability to invent songs and rhymes on the fly while cleaning the house, and engaging her children in the process as if they were playing a game. (They didn't exactly have television, or radio, or electricity, in the late 1800's Ukrainian slums.)
The skill is definitely strong in my line.
"Do you know what comes of this? Do you? The way you treat your mother is the way you will treat your wife. Oh yes, it's true. The way you treat your mother and your sisters, growing up, is the way you will treat your wife. Do you know what will happen? Let me tell you.
"At first she'll ask for your help when the house needs to be cleaned after a party, or when the kids are acting up and she can't keep ahead of her chores. You'll whine and complain just like you're doing here, try to blame everything on her..." I approximated (and may have exaggerated) the whine in his voice. "'Oh I won't have time for my job if I do that, and then I'll lose my job, and we won't have any money anymore!' So she'll ask at first, but she'll get tired of your emotional abuse, and she'll stop asking. She'll do everything herself. She'll be afraid to seek help from you.
"Guess what happens next. She burns out. She gets burned out, so exhausted she can't think, just working and working all the time, doing her chores and yours. And then do you know what she'll do? She'll divorce you." This produced a moment of silence, which I allowed to cultivate for a moment before picking up my narrative. "She'll divorce you for neglect, and for emotional abuse. And do you know what she'll say when she exits the courthouse after signing the divorce papers? She'll say..." Here I paused and changed my expression (and tone) from dramatic to a mixture of relief and slight disbelief. "'I don't have to wash his socks anymore. I don't have to take out his garbage anymore." The relief gives way to excitement. "I'm going to go out and see a movie tonight! I haven't gone out to a movie in ten years!"
Back to lecture mode. "How would you feel if your wife divorced you and then said that? You wouldn't like that, would you? Who do you think washes Daddy's socks? I do. And you know what? I don't mind doing it! Do you know why? It's because when I have a house to clean, or a party to set up, or misbehaving kids, I know he's got my back. You want to be like Daddy. He's a hard worker, and he cares for us. He might grumble a little when he has to take out the garbage, but he does not gripe at me, and he does not blame me. He does not say, 'I bet you fill it up so fast just to give me more work to do!'" Here, of course, I had cut in the kid-whiny tone again.
"So I'm going to make sure you learn. You're going to learn how to clean, and how to do it without complaining. I'm doing this for the sake of your wife, so that she will never have to go through what you put me through this morning. Do you understand?"
A mumbled yes. This is actually the first full vocalization from him, since all of my repeated questions have not incorporated any answer-me pauses, implicit or explicit.
"Good. Now clean the living room and dining room."
Thursday, May 15, 2014
The Song of the Hat - Fanfiction
I'd like to start my 'renewal of purpose' with the one thing that I have been working on throughout these empty months.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/1/The-Song-of-the-Hat
This is a Harry Potter fanfiction, set about 15 years after the ending of the series. I am writing from the perspective of Millicent Bulstrode's (self-created) younger daughter, focusing on what it's like to be from a Slytherin-strong family in the aftermath of one of the worst wizarding conflicts in recent history.
I'm nine chapters in, and I have a younger sister who is always begging me for more, so this is an active story. Feel free to have a look.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8662596/1/The-Song-of-the-Hat
This is a Harry Potter fanfiction, set about 15 years after the ending of the series. I am writing from the perspective of Millicent Bulstrode's (self-created) younger daughter, focusing on what it's like to be from a Slytherin-strong family in the aftermath of one of the worst wizarding conflicts in recent history.
I'm nine chapters in, and I have a younger sister who is always begging me for more, so this is an active story. Feel free to have a look.
After an unexpected hiatus...
I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted on this blog.
Not long after my last couple of posts, my youngest went into the hospital for over a week. It's a long story, but the short of it is that it was an illness-triggered hunger strike, and we worked it out. After that, well... Have you ever noticed that events come in waves? Graduations, new babies, deaths in the family, financial struggles, and home repair... such are the facts of life. I can't blame my absence on these events alone, however. After all, bloggers write about such things, and I have in the past.
I finished the first draft of my first full-out book, a young adult, sci-fi novella.
Being drawn in by promises of fame and fortune that I already knew were a long shot, I tried to establish a proper "author presence" in preparation for revising and publishing my book. I started a new blog, one that didn't contain all these political and religious discussions that I feared might drive away readers who hate what I believe in. I tried to avoid posting anything inflammatory in it. I put up a pretty Facebook page with a pen name that looked believably like a real name. I started looking at publishing companies and trying to polish up the book to be, not only grammatically correct, but grammatically superior.
What happened?
I lost the will to write!
I stopped revising the book. I stopped writing new chapters on other books. I stopped posting on my blog and only wrote comments on other people's articles, some of which could have easily been polished, as many of my previous posts have been, for this blog. I fell into a months-long slump in which I tried desperately to find ways to make money through writing, while being dragged into a list of catch 22's due to new government regulations that prevented me from doing so! In short, I made the mistake of trying to become someone else so that I could lift the financial burden on my family just a little bit.
Yesterday, I realized (with the extremely helpful feedback from a good friend and fellow author) that it just won't work. I have to be who I am, even if it makes people mad at me, or I can't write the stories that I write.
And so here I am, returning to this blog, the place where I have dared to express opinions that are often bizarre and periodically inflammatory. Here I will stay. I can't be a mainstream author - that just isn't me. I will revise and publish my First Book chapter by chapter, probably on Fictionpress, and I plan to offer it in full form on Amazon for whomever still wants it even after reading it. More will follow. (More are already planned.) I'm a storyteller. I tell stories.
So be prepared, on this blog, to continue reading such odd political and religious thoughts as I have from time to time, as well as updates on my writing and other odd things that I do from day to day!
I hope you enjoy the read.
Not long after my last couple of posts, my youngest went into the hospital for over a week. It's a long story, but the short of it is that it was an illness-triggered hunger strike, and we worked it out. After that, well... Have you ever noticed that events come in waves? Graduations, new babies, deaths in the family, financial struggles, and home repair... such are the facts of life. I can't blame my absence on these events alone, however. After all, bloggers write about such things, and I have in the past.
I finished the first draft of my first full-out book, a young adult, sci-fi novella.
Being drawn in by promises of fame and fortune that I already knew were a long shot, I tried to establish a proper "author presence" in preparation for revising and publishing my book. I started a new blog, one that didn't contain all these political and religious discussions that I feared might drive away readers who hate what I believe in. I tried to avoid posting anything inflammatory in it. I put up a pretty Facebook page with a pen name that looked believably like a real name. I started looking at publishing companies and trying to polish up the book to be, not only grammatically correct, but grammatically superior.
What happened?
I lost the will to write!
I stopped revising the book. I stopped writing new chapters on other books. I stopped posting on my blog and only wrote comments on other people's articles, some of which could have easily been polished, as many of my previous posts have been, for this blog. I fell into a months-long slump in which I tried desperately to find ways to make money through writing, while being dragged into a list of catch 22's due to new government regulations that prevented me from doing so! In short, I made the mistake of trying to become someone else so that I could lift the financial burden on my family just a little bit.
Yesterday, I realized (with the extremely helpful feedback from a good friend and fellow author) that it just won't work. I have to be who I am, even if it makes people mad at me, or I can't write the stories that I write.
And so here I am, returning to this blog, the place where I have dared to express opinions that are often bizarre and periodically inflammatory. Here I will stay. I can't be a mainstream author - that just isn't me. I will revise and publish my First Book chapter by chapter, probably on Fictionpress, and I plan to offer it in full form on Amazon for whomever still wants it even after reading it. More will follow. (More are already planned.) I'm a storyteller. I tell stories.
So be prepared, on this blog, to continue reading such odd political and religious thoughts as I have from time to time, as well as updates on my writing and other odd things that I do from day to day!
I hope you enjoy the read.
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