Spare me the faux moral outrage
Spare me the faux moral outrage over men making women feel sexually “uncomfortable” coming from those in the media, politicians and people who have no interest in making the changes that will put an end to women being sexualized and marginalized.
For decades, the media has been stirring people up about high profile celebrity/political figures who abuse women. (People really get excited about a scandal when it’s a person they don’t like.) But it’s an exercise in hypocrisy. Politicians still haven’t passed the Equal Rights Amendment for Women first proposed in 1923. Media advertisers make a bundle using sexuality to sell products. Men are proud of their “trophy wives”. They like to flirt and put the moves on women; and some women prefer it that way.
The character assasination media circus surrounding Gov. Cuomo only served as a titillating distraction; ignoring the real issue of males being conditioned in our society to expect dominance over women. It did nothing to help the reported 1.9M women annually raped (not kissed on the cheek) who go unnoticed.
Will people stop buying the magazines that portray women as sex objects? Will media sources ban pornography from their airwaves? Will people boycott X-rated movies? Will people speak out against churches that demand that women be submissive? I haven’t seen any change in the way women are culturally portrayed as sexual bait, have you?
When it comes to social situations where men are “flirting” or making condescending remarks, I think women must be vocal about what offends them. Silence perpetuates men being clueless and women’s victimization. It’s evident to me that both men and women find it very easy to express moral outrage against public figures while never examining whether their attitudes and actions (or lack of) contribute to the problem of women being demeaned in our society.
Martha Hodges
Kailua-Kona
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More thought needed
An Aug. 13 letter to the editor titled “Think again” needs to be rethought.
The letter asserted that 20 MW wind turbines should replace the existing wind turbines in Hawi. The only planned 20 MW wind turbines are experimental and offshore. They would be over 1,100 feet tall, 300 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower that dominates the Paris landscape.
The equipment needed to build such a monstrosity would have to be imported to Hawaii and brought to Hawi in Kohala. Roads would need to be widened to handle the massive blades.
The Kohala-Waimea transmission line would need to be upgraded. New steel poles would dominate the landscape.
The Alabama author of the letter states without citation, “Bird strikes, which are rarely published but always occur, would be significantly reduced as well.”
Replacing blades before they need to be replaced makes no sense. Wind turbines can be part of the renewable energy portfolio when they are sized and placed in ways that support community values.
The existing wind turbines meet that standard.
Henry Curtis
Oahu
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West Hawaii Today
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