Fangs*

Sage, of Persephone's Box, tagged me with a a meme - the idea was to steal a letter to MPs she'd written about stopping violence against women and encourage people to send it in. She had specific proposals, some of which I disagree with (really against longer prison sentances), but most of which were important steps.

I can't take up Sage's tag, because I don't have any faith that anything Sage suggests will make a difference, and I don't have suggestions of my own.

My great grandmother was a temperance activist. From what I know of her life, I'm fairly sure that as well as being a morality statement, she took this position because of the violence she had seen.

I think she was wrong; history strongly implies restricting legal access to liquor. But sometimes, when I'm yet again overwhelmed out how little I can do about violence against women, even among the people I know, and the enormity of the problem - I'm not so sure.

At least she suggested a solution. Everything I can think of that would make a difference, is so vague, so insurmountably large, that I never know where to start.

I don't like this; it's not my style. I tend to believe I know how to make change and I like fighting for a better society. But I just don't know how women can change a world that doesn't believe we are people.

PS I'd like to say a special fuck you to the World Socialist Webiste whose review of Volver said this:

Even Volver, which is one of his lighter works, touches on a range of painful personal themes—the loss of a loved one, marital infidelity, financial difficulty, etc., but from a far too comfortable angle and with a tidy resolution that tends to trivialize the events.

I don't know much about that movie, but I do know that child abuse, and an abusive husband play a central role in the plot. While it's rare to see such blatent disregard of the politics of violence against women, the attitude behind it is far commoner than I can cope with among left-wing circles.

*That state in tag where you cross your fingers and can't be tagged - may have a different name where you come from.