19 November 2008

Sexisms of the day

I skim the newspapers. The dimensions of Finnish racism and sexism never cease to overwhelm me.

  • According to Helsingin Sanomat, this is what Jukka Halla-Aho, representative of the True Finns in the Helsinki council, writes in his blog: “The number of rapes will increase in any case. Therefore, as more and more women will undoubtedly get raped, I sincerely hope that at least the right women, the green-leftist reformers and their voters, will find themselves in the clutches of the rapists, who randomly select their victims. Rather them than anyone else. With people like that nothing else works, except when their own multiculturalist views turn against them.” (translation from the HS Int’Ed) His statements have been covered in the media, which is warranted, to say the least. He is a POLITICIAN, not some random "hörhö", awwright and a part of his job is that he should be critically assessed! One of his recent comments in an interview for Helsingin Sanomat is about as far as you get in terms of craziness. Halla-Aho says that it would be fair if it is the same persons that promote "multiculturalism" that will end up being raped (source). So, Mr. Politician, you conceive rapes as being something that can be FAIRLY done to somebody? This guy is obsessed with his racist agenda and he discusses rape as a natural fact that simply "follows". He is not interested in women being hurt, he is interested in "proving" that immigrants are shady scum. I mean, how can this guy keep his position in the council? WHO THE FUCK elected him? How will he improve local politics in Helsinki? This guy belittles the attention Halla-Aho's comments have given rise to by ridiculing the "upset" women of the Green party. What can I say? If a guy in a political position talks about rape as somehow more or less warranted, then I think he should be held responsible for having said that. And he is not the only one to talk about violence against women in this sexist, racist way. That is why statements like this one should not be glossed over as some slip of the tongue or some small outburst by a fairly right-wing politician. Once again: PEOPLE VOTED FOR THIS GUY! On his blog, Halla-Aho is immersed in a pseudo-philosophical thought experiment by which he aims to prove that he is not responsible for women being raped. He pictures himself as the man of reason and criticizes those who are "upset" by his perspective for having deserted the light of Reason. - I see a general tendency in this. Violence against women is discussed in a way that transformes it into questions about RATIONALITY, totally abstract (and corrupt) perspectives on responsibility. Halla-Aho urges his readers to acknowledge that his thinking is based on a solid mattress of sound arguments. This deceives his readers into thinking that this guy is serious, that he has an open mind to things, that he does not "abandon Reason". And by that, he wants to legitimize a racist, sexist perspective. On the Helsingin Sanomat discussion board, people are discussing Principles, The Freedom of Speech and the stupidity and over-sensitivity of the Green party women. I read the following and I don't know what to think anymore:
Käsittääkseni vihreät naiset ovat osaltaan syyllisiä raiskauksien lisääntymiseen, koska he ovat ajaneet maahanmuuttopolitiikkaa, joka väistämättä lisää raiskauksia. Halla-ahon kirjoitus taas tuskin on johtanut yhtenkään raiskaukseen, joten hän tuskin voi tällaisesta olla vastuussa.

(As I understand it, the women of the Green party are partly to blame for the increase in rapes, because they have developed a type of immigration policy that will, by necessity, increase the rate of rapes. Halla-Ahos writings, on the other hand, have hardly resulted in one single rape, so he is not to blame for this.)
  • For a few weeks now, media has churned out news articles about the MTF Imatra priest who, according to his own statements, has been asked to resign from his position. As always, it's very unclear what goes on within the church. Bishop Paarma claims that Aalto's sex change is no problem for the church but that he is "surprised" about the media debate. Of course, yellow-press hunger for sensationalism may have shone through here, I don't question that. But there is something in Paarma's comments that makes it clear that he thinks this is none of our business: "don't poke into the Church's internal affairs!". This puzzles me greatly. Oppression and discrimination at the workplace is NOT a "personal affair". But what shocks me about this affair is the poll made by the newspaper Etelä-Saimaa, according to which 60 % agreed that Aalto could keep his job and how it is implied that we should take this as a sign of benevolence among people. But what about the rest - 40 %? Why the hell did they think that Aalto would not be a suitable priest or why were they unsure of what opinion to take?

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