Kalamity K

The Daily Chaos of Kalamity K
2005-09-02 03:24:28 (UTC)

Tears of Rage, Sickness, Despair

An except from an article from CNN:

"One displaced resident at the Louisiana Superdome,
however, issued a warning to authorities who may be headed
to the stadium, where up to 30,000 people had sought
refuge after Monday's hurricane and now await evacuation
to Texas by bus.

"Please don't send the National Guard," he said. "Send
someone with a bullhorn outside the place that can talk to
these people first."

He described scenes of lawlessness and desperation, with
people simply dragging corpses into corners.

"They have quite a few people running around here with
guns," he said. "You got these young teenage boys running
around up here raping these girls."

Elsewhere, groups of armed men wandered the streets,
buildings smoldered and people picked through stores for
what they could find.

Charity Hospital, one of several facilities attempting to
evacuate patients, was forced to halt the effort after
coming under sniper fire."

And you can't stop it. I can't stand to think it, but I
guess you can't stop it. A guy with a gun is running
around and raping women, girls. Who's going to stop him?
who's going to get in the way of his gun? Who's going to
risk having their head blown off to save someone they
don't know?

I feel so sick. I can't remember the last time I felt so
sick. I feel such despair for the human condition right
now. It never changes, does it? In times of war, in
times of anarchy, in times of desperation and lawlessness,
the troublemakers always, obviously, go after those
perceived to be weaker than they are. Women are always
targeted. Raped, beaten, humiliated. You know...when you
think about it...there is still such a prevalence in the
world for people to think of women as lesser
people/citizens, as not as good or as smart or as worthy
as the men. Historically, it's been that way, and it's
only changing slowly. But when you think about it, it's
amazing how contradictory that is - when you consider that
in some cultures (some might say all cultures, to
differing degrees) an entire family's honour can be
disgraced when a woman has sex outside of marriage or when
she is raped or otherwise attacked, violated, hurt. Women
aren't seen as good enough to be equal to men, but they
have the kids to bear and raise, the house to run, the
family to keep together. Women can't drive in Saudi
Arabia but they can be doctors. It goes on and on and
on. I can't stand it. It makes me so sickened to think
about. I just can't stand it. I just want to scream...

I want to know why this doesn't stop. I want to know why
people can't stop just taking and taking and taking and
hurting people in the process, humiliating them,
destroying their lives.

I want to know why it has to come down to rape and
humiliation and power, time and time again. There are
places in the world that will order a women raped in order
for a family's honour to be restored or for repayment
because someone else's honour has been sullied. What is
it, because it's easy? Because that's what people really
think women are for? Because that's what people really
think men are for?

I can't stand it. I can't stand it. I can't stand it. I
love being a woman, despite my rants and raves. But it
makes me feel so desperate, so sick, so upset, so
confused, so angry.

I don't care if it's one guy in 30 000 who is going around
the place with a gun and raping people. It's too many. I
want to blame people for onlooking, for averting their
eyes and pretending not to see, for gawking, for doing
nothing.

But can I? Would I do something in their place?

And the most sickening answer of all: I'd probably let it
happen to, to save my own selfish life.

And what does that make me? Absolutely no better than the
perpetrators.

K2




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