"First time in US history a law established who would be the victim and who would be the offender before any incident ever occured." is flatly false. When an over-age person and under-age person have consensual sex, in any situation or gender combination, the over-age person is presumed the offender and the under-age person is presumed the victim, no matter who initiated the contact, what the circumstances were, and what the relative positions of the participants was. This is a much more extreme presumption than what VAWA does, which is, basically, treat female-on-male violence as non-existant and assumes male-on-female violences is the initiation of the event.
(That, of course, ignores that most crimes have a 'pre-established' victim and offender. If I break into your garage, the law presumes I am the offender and you the victim, even if I did it to recover my lawnmower. I'm assuming you mean it establishes the 'victim' and 'offender' based on demographics rather than circumstances.)
The biases of VAWA can't be blamed entirely on feminist dogma. It is the traditional, VERY conservative (and in the view of the feminists, very sexist) moral standard that a gentleman NEVER strikes a lady, no matter the provocation. It just isn't to be done. VAWA reflects that.
(In old movies, when the man strikes the lady, it generally reflects the 'low' or 'scandalous' nature of the man - Rhett struck Scarlett, but Ashley doing so is unimaginable. When C.K. Dexter Haven(Cary Grant) pushes/strikes Tracy Lord(Katherine Hepburn) in the opening scene of "The Philadelphia Story", it signals his own dissolute state as a drunk as well as that of the marriage She had more or less literally 'tossed him out on his ear' seconds earlier - that violence was 'allowed', if funny(old trope - women hitting men is funny), but his was shocking, though funny because it is unexpected.)
10.24.2007 10:00am
Commenting on Dean's World is a privilege, not a right. Dean is your host, you are his guest, and you should behave in that fashion. Dean is not your babysitter, nor is he your punching bag. Please remember this. In general, you are free to disagree with anyone on any subject you wish, but abusive behavior will not be tolerated.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.
(That, of course, ignores that most crimes have a 'pre-established' victim and offender. If I break into your garage, the law presumes I am the offender and you the victim, even if I did it to recover my lawnmower. I'm assuming you mean it establishes the 'victim' and 'offender' based on demographics rather than circumstances.)
The biases of VAWA can't be blamed entirely on feminist dogma. It is the traditional, VERY conservative (and in the view of the feminists, very sexist) moral standard that a gentleman NEVER strikes a lady, no matter the provocation. It just isn't to be done. VAWA reflects that.
(In old movies, when the man strikes the lady, it generally reflects the 'low' or 'scandalous' nature of the man - Rhett struck Scarlett, but Ashley doing so is unimaginable. When C.K. Dexter Haven(Cary Grant) pushes/strikes Tracy Lord(Katherine Hepburn) in the opening scene of "The Philadelphia Story", it signals his own dissolute state as a drunk as well as that of the marriage She had more or less literally 'tossed him out on his ear' seconds earlier - that violence was 'allowed', if funny(old trope - women hitting men is funny), but his was shocking, though funny because it is unexpected.)
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.