Patterns in Patriarchy
By Audrey deCoursey
The recent conviction for the murder of Annie Le, the Yale grad student, reveals a too-common pattern that we don’t want to see.
New Haven Police Chief James Lewis stressed that this crime was workplace violence, in an AP article:
“It is important to note that this is not about urban crime, university crime, domestic crime but an issue of workplace violence, which is becoming a growing concern around the country,” Lewis said, adding he wasn’t ruling out additional charges.
But the location of the crime is far less significant than the persons involved: a (white) man enacting violence against a woman (of color). There are many factors in play here, and preventing such horrendous crimes in the future will require a multi-pronged approach. But it won’t be ended unless we explore (and change) how men feel that lashing out violently against women resolves problems. Why do men resort to violence and why are women deemed their choice of victims?
It can be a scary world to be a woman in, and it shouldn’t be that way.
Audrey deCoursey is a Church of the Brethren pastor in Elgin, Illinois, and convener of the Womaen’s Caucus of the Church of the Brethren. This post originally appeared at her blog Brethren Priestess Online
Tags: Annie Le, Audrey deCoursey, Yale
October 8th, 2009 at 9:43 am
I just participated in a class on “diversity”. It was not a nice neat “this is corporate America” class but an “in your face – now what do you have to say about it” type of class. I learned that men rank themselves into a system of class based on power and money. Those not at the top or those who otherwise feel powerless look for ways to prove to other men that they have power, and it is usually at the expense of women. We learned that violence against women is not about women but it’s about how men measure power in their world when they feel powerless. There is much more but that’s it in a very small nutshell. One way to work on this problem is to educate men that their view of their privileged place is the world is skewed. Another way is to work on breaking down the class barriers. It’s about finding ways to genuinely love one another and to seek the best for each other. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven…
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