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This is the same RCMP that just got its ass sued for $100 million dollars because of its misogynistic treatment of women. A quick snip from that story –
“We hurt you. For that, I am truly sorry.”
Those were the words from RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson to every woman who was ever harassed, belittled, demeaned or assaulted in the RCMP, as he announced a stunning $100 million compensation package at a news conference in Ottawa Thursday.
“It’s an acknowledgement of the culture that has existed since its inception,” said Catherine Galliford.”
So, one of the most iconic and venerable institutions in Canada – one that is supposed to uphold the LAWS OF THE LAND and stand on the side of justice – also happens to be rife with patriarchal misogyny (the cosmic background radiation of our society). And they just admitted it. This settlement will get its own post, of course, but it helps set the stage for the other story which is the focus of this post.
Let’s mull over this headline and article from the Calgary Sun.
Male Mounties Launched Suicide Pool for Bullied Female co-worker, Lawsuit Claims
“One of the first female members of the RCMP Musical Ride was bullied, hazed and sexually abused by her male colleagues to the point they launched a suicide pool and took bets on when she would kill herself, according to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
It was like a dream come true for Caroline O’Farrell when, at 25 years old, she was accepted to the famed Mountie Musical Ride.
But the dream quickly became a nightmare.
The alleged abuse from 1986 to 1987 included being repeatedly doused with cold water and then dragged face down by the arms and legs through stall shavings which included horse urine and manure. Others would then kick the wood chips, dirt, urine and feces onto O’Farrell’s head and body.
One of the hazings allegedly occurred just before her bachelorette party.
In one humiliating episode, her male colleagues locked her in a tack room and held a mock trial – including costumes, a judge, prosecutor and defence lawyer – and demanded she give them her underwear.
In another incident in 1987, a fellow RCMP officer stuck his finger out of the fly of his pants and stuck it near her ear as she slept while another member filmed it, the lawsuit alleged.”
Shit like this is what patriarchy is for women. It is systemic attack on their worth as human beings and it happens in nearly every facet of society. Patriarchy is ubiquitous and sadly remains fundamental to our society. Did you know what the best part is? Dudes that deny the existence of patriarchy – it’s 2016 for heaven’s sake – we certainly don’t need feminism calling out the grave injustices against women and fighting to change them. (/s …FML)
Let’s look to AuntieWanda for feminist analysis of this situation.
“Oh but women just aren’t suited for law enforcement, that’s why there aren’t that many women in the fiel-” SHUT THE FUCK UP AND READ WHAT WOMEN GO THROUGH IN MALE DOMINATED CAREERS.
Even those who are charged with protecting others will savagely use their power against women in horrific ways. And this was a member of their team. Imagine what sort of abuses these assholes subjected ordinary folks to.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police started a suicide pool because of their abuses and torture of their fellow officer. It is not like they did not know the damaging effects of what they were doing, they made a fucking game out of it.
Beyond that, their conduct only lost O’Farrell her position. She was removed “for her safety”.
They [the higher ups] were aware of the problem, but instead of actually punishing those responsible, they punished the victim. They remove women from these positions for their own safety, but allow the perpetrators of violence and humiliation to keep their positions.
What does that say other than “Women don’t belong here”? What does that say other than “You will be hurt and abused by us and the only one punished for it will be you, by losing your job”?
And people wonder why there are still male-dominated fields, people blame women for not being interested, for not being strong enough, for not being able to handle positions of power. People blame women for their own abuses at the hands of the men in these fields, for them losing their jobs, for them leaving of their own volition when the situations are so much more complicated and horrific than any of that implies.
No one who knew of what was happening deserves to still be an officer. Even if they didn’t participate, if they did not fight against what was happening with every ounce of their power, if they didn’t stand up for their fellow officer and denounce the abuses she was facing, if they never spoke up or if they helped cover up it doesn’t matter, they do not deserve their position of power if that is how they will use it.
This is the most frustrating thing. “Well why don’t women just go into those fields then?” This is why. Because men will threaten, harass, and even physically assault us for having the audacity of wanting particular careers.
Why aren’t more women in construction, the military, law enforcement etc.? This is fucking why. Men make us fear for our lives.”
Well said Wanda. Any questions?
We are on ‘easy-mode’ today as hollywood movie posters are not exactly puzzles wrapped in mystery shrouded in illusion – when it comes to illustrating the faint glow and hum of the patriarchal superstructure of the society we inhabit.
Well here we have the standard Avengers movie poster. Everyone in their heroic pose, but something is a little different for Black Widow. It seems, somehow (*gasp*) that some of her superpowers must come from displaying a well defined tuckus to the gaze of the viewer.
Is anyone else showing off their super-tuckus? Evidently not.
Through the magic of the internet, let us witness a great equalization, and redraw our poster.
And there we have it. Butt-power for all. Now tell me again about how equal society is and how we need to move past these tired and dusty feminists concepts like patriarchy and sexism…
Gleaned from [Stardate:Whenever]. (ed. edited for format and spelling)
The internal thoughts of one woman and her friend – their ‘joke’ about performing femininity. A small portal of insight into what women living under patriarchy have to deal with.
“I think I’m going to perform femininity today.”
“Oh, you don’t have to but whatever makes your feel comfortable.”
Standing at the mirror of the bathroom I am verbally acknowledging I am doing something that is a performance. I am also listening to someone verbally confirm that I dont need to do so. I am listening to someone who I seek healthy validation from, tell me that I do not need to perform femininity.
I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not contingent on performing femininity. I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not wrapped in the validation of men. I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not serving society’s aesthetic desires.
I still put on makeup because there is a confidence that comes with performing femininity.
This is the toxicity of being a woman, even knowing that you are worth something because you exist, you still internalize a confidence in performing.
That confidence is more powerful than my academically trained mind.
That confidence is more powerful than my feminist history. That confidence is more powerful than my authentic worth.
I’m writing this post to remind women that the patriarchy is hard to fight and sometimes you will fall into the confidence that comes with pleasing a male-centered society. Whether that be wearing makeup, ignoring a sexist joke, or doing more than your fair share of work. There is a safety in doing what is expected, in an attempt not to stand out.
Feminism is a difficult political line to toe and sometimes you will fail to live up to the party line. You are no less a feminist when you fall down if anything your failings are further proof that the patriarchy is real and it’s crushing, controlling, and destroying women’s lives. It’s okay and I still see you as my sister. For the women who wake up and fight femininity-normativity, in whatever way they might do, I want to congratulate you”
“Male violence against women does not simply take place in the cocoon of an individual relationship. It is structural, it is systemic. The pattern, the overwhelming consistency with which women are the victims and men the perpetrators should be a big clue. Male violence against women is not random, it has a function and that function is to maintain the social order of male dominance: patriarchy. Male violence against women is a cause and consequence of inequality between women and men. In the UK, the mainstream is very quick to identify ‘other’ religions as oppressive to women but this is equally true of Christianity. Religion reinforces and upholds patriarchy, forgiveness is just another of its tools. We do not need to forgive male violence against women unless we want men to continue to dominate women.”
Smells like 1984…
“Identity has become the axis of so much university activism because, for all the radical posturing associated with it, identity politics does not threaten the established order of society. It promotes a moralistic and self-indulgent anti-politics, where a person’s use of language and the purity of their thinking matters more than confronting collectively the material conditions and social relations under which they are forced to live. It creates a simulation of political struggle – one that doesn’t merely fail to challenge the material inequality and unfreedom of late capitalism, but fundamentally aligns with the dynamics and interests of its atomised, spectacle-driven society. It is a perfect mirror of consumerism, playing-upon the individual’s desires for real freedom, only to perpetuate and prettify the conditions of their alienation.”
Control the language, control the people. Look how far we’ve fallen – stating woman = adult human female is suddenly a radical act with the potential of ruining lives/careers.
“[T]he goal of feminism is not to validate every feeling that every person has ever felt. the goal of feminism is to liberate women from patriarchy, and feminism will accomplish this by being critically analytical in order to reveal the truth about sex and gender, in order to build a world that accommodates female bodies to the same degree that the world accommodates male bodies”
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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