Tiptoeing

around the dinosaur By Elaine Charkowski In response to my statement male violence is the worst problem in the world, a woman emailed me and wrote: "I do not believe that male violence is the cause of the world's problems, but a symptom of a very sick system that produces violent men and submissive women. If you say that violent men are the problem, then what is the solution short of suppressing or eliminating them?" So I wrote: Violent men created the "very sick system that produces violent men and submissive women," which is patriarchy. Thus, I stand by my statement that male violence is the worst problem in the world. Furthermore, I trace the source of all the isms and oppressions to male violence. These include racism, sexism and colonization, both external and internal. Internal colonization is seeing ones self through the eyes of the oppressor. Male violence is also the source of genocide, war, homophobia, nationalism, cruelty to animals, slavery, economic oppression, prostitution and all sexual slavery, and child abuse. Male violence includes the plunder of Earth and all her resources (animal, vegetable and mineral). It is the systematic murder of the Living World, upon which humanity and all other living beings depend. How can we solve the problem of male violence, the worst problem in the world? Where do we begin? Men control all the power institutions. These include the military, education, technology, law, the economy, media and male-god religions (spiritual backup for their earthly atrocities). I cant solve the problem of male violence single handedly. However, what I can do is name male violence as the worst problem in the world. This is because naming an oppression and the oppresors is the first step toward ending it. I will not be discouraged, deflected or distracted. I hold all men responsible for ending male violence. This includes non-violent men because all men profit from a world in which male violence exists, especially male violence against women. As more and more women and men take up the cry and shout from the rooftops that male violence is the worst problem in the world, more and more people can offer their solutions. We can learn from each other and create the synergy necessary to end this horror. Hopefully hundreds of millions of women and men will soon be joining this discussion. Questions to Ask Ourselves

 Is naming male violence as the worst problem in the world a serious threat to patriarchy, the social structure of violent male power? I believe it is because the linguistic contortions, generalizations, obfuscations and denials are incredibly numerous and varied. Their endless repetition reveals that male violence must never be named as the worst problem in the world. Naming male violence would threaten the power of violent men-and also of men in general who benefit from the patriarchal system. Any possible evasion must be used to avoid naming male violence as the worst problem in the world! These include: "Not all men are violent," Its capitalism, "Women are violent too," "Its racism, Its colonization," Its genocide, "Women collude with men against women," "Women profit from male violence," "Its gun violence," "Men also suffer under patriarchy," "Violent society creates violent men," "What about Margaret Thatcher?" "Women also oppress women," "I love the men in my life who are not violent," etc. The suffering of those who are directly affected by the various types of male violence further clouds the focus on male violence. Thus, women would say sexism is the worst problem, people of color would say its racism, Jewish people would say its anti-Semitism and so on. However, the fact is that MEN are the common denominator in all these abuses. Even when women collude with men, or a member of a dominated race collude with racists, it still does not change the fact that men are in charge, just as collaborators did not change the fact that the Nazis were in charge. What is the source of our resistance to naming male violence as the worst problem in the world? Is it original thoughts from our own minds or, have we internalized this resistance after being inflicted from the patriarchy to protect itself? Have we been mentally colonized to avoid naming male violence so we wont wake up and end its 6,000 years of carnage? In the article "What is it About Men That they're Committing These Horrible Massacres?" By Meghan Murphy http://www.alternet.org/gender/what-it-about-men-theyre-committing-these- horrible-massacres?page=0%2C1&paging=off, she writes, But what about the men? Its a question thats been avoided by the mainstream within the context of mass shootings. The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut sparked thousands of conversations across the continent about gun laws, mental illness, and violence. And sadly, weve been here before." She adds, "In the midst of all this horror, we are, understandably, up in arms, demanding change, grieving all the while. But within all this righteous anger, we are very carefully tiptoeing around the common denominator. In 31 of the school shootings that have taken place since 1999, the murderers were all men."

Why do both women and men often flinch away from speaking the truth, that male violence is the worst problem in the world? Do women fear that naming male violence will make violent men rape and kill them? They already are. Going Out of Our Minds is a book by Sonia Johnson in which she focuses on male violence against women. In Chapter 10 Telling the Truth, Johnson wrote, To be female is reason in itself to be in servitude, to be hated wounded and killed in every country, every culture of the world. Are women afraid that the men in their lives will stop loving them if they speak up and name male violence? If these men oppose male violence, they will understand and their love will endure. Do women fear facing the painful and heartbreaking fact that we live in a world in which so many men hate and have contempt for them? Isnt the global epidemic of male violence against women and the multi-billion dollar male-dominated porn industry, in which women are degraded, tortured and even murdered, proof of mens widespread hatred and contempt? Sonia Johnson wrote of the time her daughter phoned her one night. She said in an uncharacteristically small voice, an anguished, bewildered, very shaky voice, Mom, why do men hate us so much? Do non-violent men fear that violent men will ridicule, beat and even murder them for betraying the masculine Brotherhood by opposing male violence? They already are. The message to non-violent men is that betraying the "Brotherhood" will get them ridiculed, scorned, beaten and even killed. White men who opposed racist male violence in the US were often beaten or even murdered by violent racist white men. Too much space has been created for the acceptance of violent men to act out their unlimited depravity (the mass murders of Jewish people, indigenous people, black people, women during the witch burnings, nationalist genocides, ethnic cleansing etc.). However, not enough safe space exists for non-violent men to speak out. The message non-violent men got from the murders of Gandhi, MLK, the Kennedys and other non-violent men is clear to see. Non-violent men get the carrot and the stick. The stick is ridicule, beatings and even murder. However, the carrot is male privilege, the loss of which may also silence many non-violent men. These are reasons for silence but not an excuse. Non-violent men must no longer remain silent and avoid naming male violence as the worst problem in the world. Silence is complicity. Are women and men afraid that we wont know how to build a new world based on kindness and respect? Are we afraid of taking personal responsibility for creating such a world?

 Violent men are already killing the world and everything in it! So, what do we have to lose by naming male violence as the worst problem in the world and addressing it?