Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 09, 2010

I was actually expecting to get the cartoon for Feb. 8, but here I am making the first comment for Feb. 9. So anyway, I will re-post my comment from yesterday (it was the last one, so I expect no one saw it):

@piratePTG, you are saying? that men shouldn’t fight in wars? so then if the sexes are to be equal, neither should women.

not sure what else your post could possibly mean.

or that the men are too young? so they shouldn’t be fighting till they are older?

@joe, you say “there is no cure for war-zone-related PTSD”. excuse me, but how do you know? how can you be sure? Shouldn’t you better say, “At the present time, there is no known cure….”?

Just because no one has found one yet, doesn’t mean none exists.

@pbarnrob, what did ike say? These posts often confuse me, because I’m not that familiar with recent American history.

Well … can’t we do that AND castrate the rapists? It doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive, does it?

On comments today,,,”Whew”..

There was a big case in NC ten years or so back, where a judge gave three convicted rapists their choice: either to be castrated or spend a long time behind bars.

Now like most everyone else, I was jumping up and down and yelling “Cut it off!” until I read an Ellen Goodman editorial in which she said she’d had similar sentiments, until she stopped and thought about it: would the victim feel particularly safe knowing that there were three violent criminals, walking the streets, having been castrated and quite possibly blaming her for it?

Just think how we can mutilate women who commit violence against fetuses. They’re even more innocent. …just suggesting alternatives to your brutal and barbaric impulses.

It’s just a cartoon folks - stop trying to be so wise.

Though just a cartoon, it is a serious subject that needs discussion (as can be attested by looking at the comments).

My opinion? Addressing violence with violence only breeds more violence. We have a long history to show it despite our most base impulses to get revenge. Court martial (and imprison) those who abuse fellow soldiers sexually. In general, imprison those who commit rape and other forms of sexual abuse - for a very long time.

Just a reminder - it;s te old men with more experience sending the youg in-experienced men off to war - why dont we change that around? Might find peaceful solutions a little quicker then….

Ok going back to the strip. I am also guilty of fantasizing of fellow female GI’s. I did see some guy divorce his wife and hook up with a five over there. I wonder how that plumper soldier is going to capitalize off of her status?

Oh, and guys, have you ever heard of exposure threapy? I have heard that some combat vets have felt better after that.

Joe Doty’s right, rape isn’t about sex but about domination, and rapists who have been castrated still can, and do, rape. The demand for castration as a punishment for rape is a useless knee-jerk, emotional reaction and displays a total ignorance of human biology.

@ emory458 - Heh, heh! As the old saying goes, if the fat old men who declare the wars had to fight them, we’d have world peace overnight.

Joe-Allen said

“Why is the stout-looking woman talking to Melissa thinking she looks sexier in a war zone when her uniform looks just like the ones the chunky men wear?”

Are you saying the uniform makes her look like a “chunky” man? In panel four GT shows that the uniform doe’s not hide her breasts. Even if the uniform hid that fact the soldiers she’s serving with know she’s a woman.

Melissa’s friend knows soldiers in war zones are lonely and missing intimate relationships. She says “Back home, we’re fives, sixes.” She knows the arbitrary rating system used by some people may change the number they rate someone depending on the situation, like the “dark bar at closing time” scenario.

If Melissa’s friend were a real person I would want her to know there are men who find chunky women attractive in any situation and she may even find one who would honestly rate her a nine.

If you are so worried about violence against innocent fetuses wear a condom, get a vasectomy or keep it in your pants and you won’t have to worry about it all… if you are against abortions, don’t have one. You take care of your family and I’ll take care of mine. Worrying about other people’s private parts is way too much government control!

“If Melissa’s friend were a real person I would want her to know there are men who find chunky women attractive in any situation and she may even find one who would honestly rate her a nine.”

If you have never been a “chunky woman” going through adolescence, you’ll never be able to appreciate how much like heaven it must seem for her to be found desirable by entire platoons of he-men.

High school for “chunky” women can be pure hell. Your long-time friends desert you because you’re not “cool” enough any more, your peers either avoid you entirely or say cruel things to you behind your back or directly to your face in groups to get a laugh, you’re assigned cruel nicknames, and all during a time when you’re most sensitive and vulnerable.

Both women here do share something in common. They both do want to be found attractive, but on their own terms and on their own time. That seems fair enough.

Many states offer the voluntary castration for a lighter sentence trade. It actually helps many offenders who take the option. Castration reduces the amount of testosterone the body produces, and lower testosterone often leads to a reduction in aggression. However, most offenders will go to prison for longer before taking physical castration. We also have to be careful with the label of “rapist” or even “sex offender.” A drunk man who relieves himself in an alley is technically a sex offender. And many states have their statutes written in such a way that an 18 year old who has consensual sex with his 17 year old girlfriend can be put in jail for rape. The parents have the right to press charges, even if the girl doesn’t want to. I am very thankful that the La. legislature considered that and put safeguards in the statutory provisions.

Such serious debate. Let me just add, the Army has a talent on selecting uniforms that completely counter the female form. Even so, six months in the desert allows the mind to work wonders.

The woman with Melissa reminds me of a sergeant in my platoon in Germany .

Nemesys, what you said is so true.

I wasn’t a “chunky woman” in high school but I am now. Some people can be rude no matter what age you are. It doesn’t happen often but I have had some nasty comments directed at me since I left high school.My oldest daughter was a “chunky woman” In high school and still is. It was heartbreaking for me to know she had to deal with mean people. I made a point of letting her know there are lots of people who are kindhearted and don’t judge others physical appearance with rudeness and mean jokes. Fortunately she has become a very confident and happy young woman. It may have helped for her to know her step-father thinks I’m attractive and loves me just the way I am.

I know its just a cartoon. But GT doe’s deal with some very sensitive, thought provoking subjects. Its interesting to read the comments and know what other people have to say.

well, war IS hell….

Castration for rape is unfair simply because we can’t be sure that all rapists are guilty. Women can and do falsely accuse. Better to be put away for a few years because of a false accusation than be permanently disfigured because of a crazy accuser.

I like your certainty, Mel. Hang tough.

@catters613 Your first post is spot on. I was going to write much the same thing until I read your post.

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On the flip side of the castration issue… suppose a woman were to rape a man (not that most men would complain) what would be the equivalent punishment for the woman? Looking at it in those terms, castration is “cruel and unusual punishment” because a man would not be given “equal protection” under the law.

dirtmusic said:

It’s just a cartoon folks - stop trying to be so wise.

————————————————————————

My question is, how did a sane person get his comments on this website?

Rape is about domination, as some have said.

Castration, or an orchidectomy (removing the working part of the testicle, while leaving the area looking intact) might be an answer if the violent impulses were always and solely the effect of too much testosterone.

But they aren’t.

Too little can also cause someone to be violent, since the body is likely to substitute adrenaline for the missing testosterone.

And there are people who are violent simply because it’s the way they learned to approach the world. It works for them, and so they continue to do what they have always done.

In my experience, changing expectations works better than anything else to help people control their behavior. We’re pretty much social animals. We do what we think is expected of us; what we think will win the admiration of our peers.

Until no one expects to ever be able to dominate another, until it’s unthinkable to force your will on others, until we really see each other as equally important, we’ll have rape. :(

The armed services could do more to protect women – like believing them when they say they are being sexually harrassed or have been raped – but the same is true in civilian life. And as for the abortion issue – in these cases, thank God they have that choice. As someone else said, “if you don’t want an abortion don’t have one” and we might add “if men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”

Hey lindz.coop, how much choice does a pro life fetus have?

“If you wanted to live so much, you should have chosen a different mother.”

Dwight David Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Audio-MP3 and Full Text, 17 January 1961.

And just how do we know it’s a “pro-life fetus” – did anyone ask it – no, that wouldn’t occur to us would it – because we know what’s best for it.

I don’t think abortion is about the welfare of the fetus so much as the welfare of the mother.

As a female vet who always had to watch her weight, I did sometimes appreciate the “I can have any man here I want” feeling, I admit..