Ms. Jackson, exactly where is the double standard? Is it a double standard to critique one sex’s behavior, but not another’s? Must all references to one sex or another be split 50/50? Is there some other proportion that is acceptable? Does the ‘double standard’ test apply to some topics but not to others? Which ones qualify and which do not?
From your first comment, you seem upset that Ms. Mac Donald did not advise rape crisis centers to admonish men, as well as women, about the potential sexual consequences of getting drunk. Given that rape crisis centers cater almost exclusively to women, just what good would be done by such an advisory? (With the obvious exception of stroking your sense of fair play?
Why shouldn’t an article concerning rape – a crime whose victims are over 90% female – speak predominantly to the female sex? Why this insistence on including men in a discussion which concerns women in such a greater proportion?
I do not see a double standard in Ms. Mac Donald’s writing. She is encouraging women to take responsibility for their own safety. This sounds empowering for women: far better than telling them to rely on the police or college counseling and judicial services after the fact. She doesn’t endorse the behavior of men, she doesn’t ignore it completely, but in an article aimed at women, the message would be diluted (or at least made much less readable) by adding “and men, too” throughout.
If you want to address the behavior of men when it comes to rape, please do: obviously some men can be boorish, immoral, and even criminal. But I don’t see how you can insist that men be critiqued in an article that is not directed at men, and more than I could be offended that, in an article about breast cancer, only women are mentioned even though men, too, can get this type of cancer – though at a miniscule rate compared to women.
I reject your assertion that I am embracing a double standard – though you are welcome to try to explain to me why I am wrong. (And ad-hominem attacks like in your previous comments are not argument.)
In your blog at http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_display.cfm/blog_id/14418, I note that you name-call those who disagree with you, “knuckle-dragging rednecks,” and assert that you have Ms. Mac Donald “rattled.” I don’t know about Ms. Mac Donald, but I’m getting a bit exasperated with this. Make an argument and I’ll read and consider it, but enough with the name-calling!
