The Furies
It’s no accident that the Furies were women:
According to Hesiod’s Theogony, when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea, the Erinyes [Furies] (along with the Giants and the Meliae) emerged from the drops of blood which fell on the earth (Gaia), while Aphrodite was born from the crests of sea foam. According to variant accounts, they emerged from an even more primordial level—from Nyx (“Night”), or from a union between air and mother earth.
And then there were the Maenads:
In Greek mythology, maenads…were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of the Thiasus, the god’s retinue. Their name literally translates as “raving ones”…
In Euripides’ play The Bacchae, maenads of Thebes murder King Pentheus after he bans the worship of Dionysus. Dionysus, Pentheus’ cousin, himself lures Pentheus to the woods, where the maenads tear him apart. His corpse is mutilated by his own mother, Agave, who tears off his head, believing it to be that of a lion. A group of maenads also kill Orpheus.
That mention of the death of Orpheus at the hands of the maenads reminds me of this:
Reading this piece by Sarah Hoyt brought all of this to mind. I recommend that you read it if you haven’t already. I’ve been alarmed for a long time about what we’re teaching boys and girls about themselves and their interactions. It seems a kind of madness. And that’s why I, along with Hoyt, feel this way:
Lately, I’ve been getting deeply, profoundly depressed…
So many things are winding up, it’s not even worth listing them all. The most proximal one, though, is the accusation against Kavanaugh, which, even if true, would not be in any way actionable nor, barring this behavior persisting into adulthood, mean anything about his character as a grown up…
And reading her piece left me with a feeling of even deeper depression. As does the accusation du jour.
As did finding this (at least it doesn’t seem like a popular item; there are no comments or ratings).
[NOTE: And no, of course not all women are like this, jumping on the bandwagon of accusations and male-hatred. But way too many are, and way too many men are jumping on, too. Politics can’t be the only explanation. The nature of humankind seems to make us susceptible.]
I used to think the Muslim practice of covering women from head to toe and forbidding their interaction with men sans an escort is to protect the women. Silly me. It is to protect the men.
I am retired, living comfortably in a nice part of the country with no financial or medical concerns, and yet I, too, am increasingly depressed about the state of affairs in this country. I see little reason for hope regarding the future of our republic, or for the restoration of sane and sound relations between men and women, right and left, white and black.
Like neo, Sarah Hoyt is on my daily must-read list. She’s kind of been on a roll the past week or so.
Rx for political chicanery from the opposition: vote, win. Repeat. Repeat as many times as necessary.
Meanwhile, file charges for illegal behavior where appropriate. Hillary, the Clinton Foundation, the DNC, etc., etc., ad nauseam. The rule of law needs to be asserted and let the chips fall where they may.
P.S. Repeal the 19th?
LOL. Something is going to come along to make all this fade into the background. And the women and whatever other genders who like to behave like banshees will be drowned out for a long time.
One more try on this one. All these extremes — in “gender theory,” in antifa, in politics in general, and maybe in some of the arts as well — reflect a social extreme that will not last indefinitely. My view is that the stock market’s highs and, until fairly recently, the extreme lows in interest rates, have fueled a mood of euphoria and also, inevitably, envy. Envy explains a lot of the political antagonism to Trump, IMO.
But on a larger scale, periods of euphoria like this also encourage a lot of social experimentation. There are many different motivations that go into that, but financial prosperity is the single most ennabling condition. It sets up the kind of confidence, perhaps overconfidence, in which a city like Chicago can imagine paying out guaranteed incomes to all its citizens — even though Chicago is one step from bankruptcy.
Think of the ’60s. That was a huge peak in financial assets. Also, of course, the Roaring ’20s. They were followed by different kinds of bear markets, one slow and using inflation, one fast and using deflation, but the social mood changed significantly each time. We’ve experienced three financial bubbles since the internet/tech bubble of 1998-2000. I don’t know how many we get, but since several measures of asset pricing show current price ratios as being the highest ever, we are going to experience the down cycle too, sooner or later. And much of the insanity that has accompanied the blowing-up of these bubbles will be extinguished along with the pricing euphoria. The retrenchment on the social side is probably good, that on the financial side will be difficult, assuming this scenario plays out once again as it historically has done.
Nothing is actually true until it has been mocked in the XKCD web comic.
https://xkcd.com/2051/
Ford’s polygraph test released and contradicts details of prior accusation. Polygraph letter says “4 boys and a couple of girls” were at party. Letter to Feinstein says “me and four others.” Also, the test was whether a statement which does not identify Kavanagh is true. Also indicates she took the test on 8/17/18 in Maryland. Unclear how she got there from California – on a dangerous airplane?
There will be a backlash.
There always is.
There will be a reaction. (The third law of socio-politico-dynamics?…except that the reaction cannot be guaranteed to be equal…)
There always is.
The ONLY question is what form it will take.
Doesn’t anyone think of consequences?
Doesn’t anyone think of ramifications?
Not in the age of social media, I guess. Of not so much “instant gratification” as instantaneous gratification.
(Though to be fair to the Democrats, they believed—they were absolutely certain—that they were on the cusp of a [fill-in-the-blank] year reich. Alas, foiled by…the Russkies? Again…?)
“….contradicts…”
Alas, the accusation does NOT have to be true.
That is the “beauty”—the “elegance”(!)—of the accusation.
The ONLY question (another ONLY question, I guess…) is just how many “deplorables” will reject this evil.
(And how many decent Democrats—and others not thus politically aligned—will likewise reject this evil…and become “deplorable”….)
Who needs the Russians when the Americans are self-dividing all on their own, thanks to identity politics? That includes overreacting to the vile, obviously partisan accusations of three women, and their multitude of political handlers and opportunists, by diverting their hysteria onto “women” in general. It’s just not helpful to say nothing of fair and only serves to amp up the drama and stress of this exhausting and dispiriting episode. Stop! The divide is not man/woman but progressive/everyone else including conservatives. And I do agree there will be a backlash.
On second thought, I probably should have written, “….Alas, foiled by…the Russkies, together with not a few Americans?….”
Years ago, when I was toying with law school, I used to attend trials. One was a man about 40 who had been accused of molesting a girl by her statement. The jury came back with a “not guilty” verdict and his relief and that of his family was a lesson. Then about ten years ago, in Orange County where I lived at the time, three middle school girls accused a teacher of molesting them. He was arrested but the girls finally they admitted they had made it up after he scolded them for not dressing for gym.
Then there is this case.
The teacher sued and was awarded $150,000. He was beaten by inmates after being arrested.
My youngest daughter’s favorite teacher was her male 8th grade teacher. His wife was also a teacher at the same private school.
You could not pay me enough to be an elementary school teacher and I think I would also decline a high school job. At one time I was thinking about retiring to an island in Puget Sound and thought it might be fun to teach high school biology. Not now.
A culture that virtually requires unchaste relations between men and women, that thinks it’s the height of justice to kill the unborn for any reason, that says it’s a good thing to let 12-year-olds decide to take hormones to adjust their birth sex to whatever sex they desire to be, etc., is not a healthy one, so all the male hatred really doesn’t surprise me.
I think public schools are child abuse. My grandkids are in a charter school. The guy who is running as a Democrat against the Governor of Arizona describes himself as a teacher. He has his kids in charter schools.
I wish I could afford private schools for my grandkids but tuition is stratospheric now.
Don’t any of the millions of women who are buying into this evil nonsense have sons, or brothers, or husbands, or grandsons? Have they thought about what may happen to them in the future as a result of this insane process they have set into motion? All anyone female needs to do now to destroy a man is to make a claim. No evidence is required, no corroboration, no credibility, not even any probability or likelihood. What will happen to my sons and grandsons, my brothers and nephews, if they want to enter public life someday, or if they only want to live ordinary lives but manage somehow to annoy some woman? If they live blameless lives from the moment they enter puberty until then, it won’t help. All anyone has to do is lie, and they’ll be celebrated for it. And, for that matter, what about my funny, affectionate little toddler granddaughter? Right now, she adores her daddy and her big brother and her grandpa — who, she is fully convinced, loves her stuffed bunny as much as she does, so she generously puts it into his arms as soon as she sees him, knowing she can trust him to give it back when she needs it. How on earth is she going to preserve that ability to trust in men as she grows up in this climate?
How will our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters, beginning their lives in this stew of hatred and suspicion, going to know how to live together in any kind of healthy relationships?
Okay, I guess I may be overreacting, but I am really depressed about all of this. Maybe I wouldn’t be if I didn’t have children and grandchildren, but as it is, it’s hard to be anything but.
Mrs Whatsit:
They’re not worried because their sons, or brothers, or husbands, or grandsons are all Democrats, and therefore will never be accused.
Actually, I think these women aren’t thinking beyond today and the task for today: get Kavanaugh, get Trump, get Republicans, ends justify means.
And I don’t think you’re overreacting. It’s profoundly depressing.
We let the left deterime the meaning of words. We let them determine wrong from right, rationality from dogma. We surrendered the battlefield. Time to take it all back with a vengeance. No quarter, no squishy mercy. The left has no boundries, and shows no mercy or humility. Doubled down on their assaults with a cold heart giving them no quarter. Revenge is a virtue, nothing to be ashamed of.
We are not in a cold, ideological war, we are in a lukewarm warm, soon, on the present trajectory it will be a hot, circumstances, a locked and loaded war if the current circumstances are not shut down with a heavy hand. 2 years maximum.
“how many decent Democrats”
No such thing anymore, the character assassination of Kavanaugh is irrefutable proof.
neo on September 26, 2018 at 10:03 pm at 10:03 pm said:
(response to Mrs Whatsit)
Sad to say, every word of your comment here is right on the money, neo.
Mike K, Mrs. Whatsit,
If it’s at all possible for you, homeschool those grandchildren. Mike K you said earlier that you once considered teaching high school bio. If you are qualified for that you are far more qualified than most K-12 teachers. I would describe homeschooling as a demanding part time job. Demanding because it needs your full attention for several hours a day. Elementary age kids can only absorb 3-4 hours of academics a day and at the middle and high school level they actually need less attention as they spend more time reading, researching and writing than listening to lectures. There are so many great resources out there for homeschoolers. Classical history and science, great books and Saxon Math. Pick you own extras. It’s a wonderful life – a school do over – and no exams!
If you want to know more about my experience homeschooling send a private message. Neo is there a way to give my email address without posting it here?
Molly Brown, I’d love to. Right now, they live too far away from me and scattered in different states — but that could change. I’d also like to see my children consider homeschooling their children — but they are all so wound up in challenging jobs that I don’t think it’s likely to happen.
Neo, of course you’re right that Democratic women are assuming that their sons and grandsons won’t face this treatment and that it’s properly directed only at those evil conservatives. As for public life, they’re probably right. And I agree also that the bloodthirsty women who celebrate treatment like that meted out to Judge Kavanagh aren’t thinking beyond the ends they want to achieve today. But they should be, as I’m not at all sure that only Republicans are at risk. Yes, Democrats own the media — but they also own academia, and what they’ve managed to do there with Title IX kangaroo courts puts all young men at risk, regardless of their political sympathies. The Title IX idea that where there’s an accusation, there must have been an assault, and where there’s a man there must be a rapist, and where there’s a woman there must be a victim, is spreading out of academia into the rest of the world — and I wish these women would think about what it’s going to be like for their sons and daughters to grow up in the world they’re creating based on that idea.
However, it’s also true that I feel a little better today, after Kavanagh’s heartening performance. The decent people aren’t all gone yet.
Mrs Whatsit:
In the university setting, all males are especially at risk. Including Democrats.