Just reading a post on Shakesville (http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2010/07/feminism-101-your-underdog-lovelorn.html) about the way potential rapists can hijack our romantic cultural assumptions for their own devices. Rather chilling was a romantic movie trailer displayed with an ominous soundtrack. Very interesting. Makes us question. Keeps our eyes open. But, it's sad, really, that even sweet romance might be leading us astray.
Always makes me hanker to go back to when life was simpler. When life was simple, we trusted our politicians, our institutions, our police. Ah, yes. I look back with wistful tears to when life was simple: Spring, 2010. Before the G20 meeting in Toronto. Before we understood that about 1,000 folks could be incarcerated illegally simply for being on the street. Before we knew that folks could be shot, beaten, verbally abused, thrown in cages, denied basic rights and respect. Oh, those were the days, eh? All the way back in May.
I wonder what I might have done had I understood beforehand that I could not trust the politicians, the institutions, or the police. Folks, until about sixty days ago, I wouldn't have believed that a story like this one (http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/alex/2010/07/woman-shot-g20-police-speaks-out) was possible. Not in the fair City of Toronto. Not in Canada. No.
So, I am resolved to have no romantic cultural assumptions of any kind. I will not aid and abet a potential rapist, just because he has a great story of romantic love and is carrying a bouquet of flowers. And my respect for politicians, institutions, and the police remain but it is no greater than I would respect, say, the McDonalds Corporation or Walmart. Eyes open.
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