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Can the high level of violence in patriarchal cultures be attributed to people's chronic, if largely unconscious, rage over the denial of their freedom and pleasure? To what extent is sanctioned or officially condoned violence - from war and capital punishment to lynching, wife-beating and the rape of 'bad' women to harsh penalties for 'immoral' activities like drug-taking and nonmarital sex to the religious and ideological persecution of totalitarian states - in effect a socially approved outlet for expressing that rage, as well as a way of relieving guilt by projecting one's own unacceptable desires onto scapegoats?

Ellen Willis#26

PoliticsGenderSocietyViolence

About this quote

What does it mean?
The quote suggests that widespread violence in patriarchal societies may be an outlet for suppressed rage over denied freedom, with sanctioned violence serving as a socially approved release.
In plain terms
Violence can be a socially accepted way to vent suppressed rage.
What can you take from it?
Address underlying grievances instead of normalizing violence.

Where it applies

  • legal reform
  • gender equality
  • conflict resolution

Putting it to work

  • promote inclusive dialogue
  • reform punitive laws

Questions to consider

  • How does my culture channel frustration?
  • What alternatives exist to sanctioned violence?

Another view

Not all violence stems from suppressed rage; some is driven by ideology or profit.

More from Ellen Willis

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  2. I believe in the separation of sex and state. I also believe that social benefits like health insurance should not be privileges bestowed by marital status but…

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  3. For a decade Americans have been steeped in the rhetoric of 'zero tolerance' and the faith that virtually all problems from drug addiction to lousy teaching ca…

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