The recent appearance of Dr. Ford before the U.S. Senate inspired this mix of thoughts which I've been churning in the cement barrel of my brain.
Part One. General Psychological Mutterings.
#1. Individuals tend to see themselves and their actions as reasonable. This is due to the fact that they know what thoughts went into their decisions.
#2. People tend to see the actions of others as mysterious or wrong. They don't know what went into the decisions.
#2a. The exception to rule two is when the actions of others are similar to those we would make. Because of this, cultures tend to view their way of doing things as the reasonable one.
#3. Rule 2a extends to people who share similar looks or share the same background. Part of the reason for this is perspective: aspects of race, gender and background extend to culture, i.e., this is how we do things. Part of this is due to an ease and willingness to accept the viewpoints of ourselves and to separate out a group of "others."
Part Two: Applying this to Politics.
#1. The British Empire saw themselves as reasonable. They were a beacon unto the world and a civilizing force.
#2. The British Empire saw the Irish as ireful, war-like, belligerent, etc.
#3. During the 19th century the British Empire engaged in wars of acquisition and repression, including such crimes against humanity as the two Opium Wars and the invention of concentration camps in the second Boer War (1900).
#3a. In the meantime, the Irish had no foreign wars, only internal squabbles and were starved out of their homes by their absentee landlords, i.e., the British.
The point is not so much that the ruling class writes history, it's that the ruling class is blind to its own history. I suppose I should add a disclaimer that I am not suggesting the British Empire was all villain and that Ireland was all hero.
Part Three: Applying this to Male and Female Perspectives.
#1. In the United States, in cases where the culprit was identified, 90.3% of murderers are men. Not surprisingly, nearly 99% of the perpetrators of rape are men. For aggravated assault, the figure is 83%.
#2. In spite of this, men see themselves as the rational sex.
#3. Men hold most positions of power. Men dominate the national discourse.
#4. Ergo, men excuse their irrationality and even their violence. Even more than that, they are unwilling to see the consequences of their actions.
#4a. Although on a less grave note, I think a good example of this is in the film "Broadcast News." When the news ran an exposé on date rape, the otherwise sympathetic character Albert Altman (played by Albert Brooks) said, "You really blew the lid off of nookie." The women, in union, hissed at him: he didn't get it.
#5. As a general rule, men overlook and excuse their culture of violence toward women. This occurs for both large and small offenses.
#5a. Some men see it as a biological imperative. We as a species are hard-wired for war.
#5b. Some reflect back on their own actions and their own justifications.
For all the above reasons, men just don't get it.
It isn't merely hard-wired. It is also cultural. The United States has a homicide rate four times that of the United Kingdom. (5.35 versus 1.20 per 100,000).
We can change our culture, in fact, culture is always in flux. Homicides in the United States have dropped by 50% in the last twenty-five years. We can edit ourselves, to think beyond the prejudices of our narrow outlooks. Harm is not defined by the perpetrator; it is defined by the victim. We must use other eyes to see.