by Quercus
I don't have much to say about these stories in the news today, but I felt compelled to share them and let them speak for themselves.
I am sad that these sorts of people exist, but you and I know that they do. A part of me is very grateful that stories like these get publicity. Maybe news items and tragedies like these will erode away the "Mother on a Pedestal" mentality of our society. Not all mothers are good. Not all old ladies are sweet.
Mother in Texas gets 99 years for beating 2 year-old daughter and super-gluing her hands to the wall:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/12/texas-mom-gets-99-years-for-gluing-toddler-to-wall-beating-her/
and
http://www.wwltv.com/home/Texas-woman-who-super-glued-daughters-hands-to-wall-gets-99-year-sentence-173926161.html
Internet Black Widow bail hearing postponed for a third time:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/10/12/ns-black-widow-court-bail.html
and The Fifth Estate's documentary on her, prior to the death of Fred Weeks:
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2012-2013/2012/10/the-widows-web.html
Timeline: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2011-2012/theliespeopletell/timeline-friedrich.html
What do these stories have in common, other than that both women are mothers? Both of these women claim that they were abused, and perhaps they were. But regardless, it isn't an excuse. It will never be a sufficient excuse to me. In fact, if you were abused, you ought to know best of all not to abuse in turn.
Okay, well, your question was, "What do these stories have in common, other than that both women are mothers?"
ReplyDeleteWell, how about sociopathy/pshycopathy?
I mean, what the F*CK???
"When I laid her down is when she went into a seizure."
Okay, I avoided this post of yours. I didn't want to read the news stories. The horror.
I just now read every word of each link you provided. It was exactly what I didn't want to do before. The difference was, I was ready, I think. You see, I have a REALLY hard time with the whole abuse-against-children thing. My whole body shakes and I sweat and I feel sick.. but, okay, I read it and I watched the video of that filthy excuse of a human being testify, and I'm glad they gave her 99 years, except, there's a shitty, mother-animal part of me that wishes that they would superglue HER hands to a wall and beat her to near death.
Okay, well, maybe I exaggerate. I don't think I could stand by and condone that..
unless
it was personal.
Get it?
I'm not beautiful, I'm not benevolent, I'm not even "good", for whatever that means..
I would definitely not only condone the punishment of this monster but I would gladly administer it.. if I was personally moved enough and involved enough and close enough to her victim; if she had hurt one of my own.
There.
The ugly truth of my humanity.
I absolutely abhor these child-predator monsters enough to become their own worst nightmare.
Not proud of my feelings, here. I just know why I avoided this post for so long, and now you do, too.
As far as the "Internet Black Widow"..
well, please tell me why that was easier to read? I mean, that was really horrible. Those men were loved-ones of entire families. I DID feel the injustice and the horror of it..
but
the stuff with the children just cuts me in half, floors me, floods me, consumes me, affects me viscerally. That is why I avoided your post for all this time.
So, what do these monsters have in common? I don't know, because, one of them preyed on an innocent of her own flesh and blood, and the other used master-manipulation to prey on multiple adult others. I guess you could narrow it down for certain to this:
Zero Empathy.
Hey SCW,
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe I shouldn't have shared these headlines after all. I didn't mean to upset, and I think I was operating under the false assumption that because they were national news stories, that everyone had already heard of the articles at least in passing.
Anyway, I'm sorry if it upset you. :-(
It upset me too. I know all about sociopathy/psychopathy, and yet part of me wants to scream out every time that "I don't understand how anyone could be so cruel to another person!" (or to an animal, for that matter - human cruelty knows no bounds).
The only silver lining I see, and it's a major stretch, is that perhaps we've eroded the bloody "Monument to Motherhood" just a little in our society's collective psyche.
Some mothers, perhaps even "many" mothers, are monsters through and through. Some are so awful that they bludgeon innocent children to death.
I'm conflicted, though. Anna Valerious (Narcissists Suck) has said that it's good to 'shelter the innocents' - to not burden those who had GOOD MOTHERS with the horrors of what a BAD MOTHER can look like.
And I agree. But I think that for the safety of all children, who are our collective responsibility and blessing, we can't shelter BAD MOTHERS and allow them to lurk in the shadow of the "Sanctity of Motherhood" statue!
My MIL commented once on church sermons for Mother's Day and Father's Day. The pastors of any protestant Christian church will ALWAYS comment on how "not all fathers were loving fathers" and be very gentle and accommodating to those listening who may have had a jerk for a Dad.
And for Mother's Day? Only once, this year at my church, did I hear a small comment to the effect that not all of us had "loving families". While this is a step in the right direction (parental equality in the tyranny dept!), I did notice that "families" served as a euphemism for "mothers".
No one wants to offend the mothers. Is it 'cause we're all secretly terrified of them? Or does our society suffer from an Oedipal complex as Freud asserts? :-)
I don't know. All I know is that women are every bit as capable of being evil as men, and that I'm very glad that horrible person is getting 99 years for something so heinous that earthly justice is incapable of rendering suitable punishment for, and rather dismayed that, yet again, the "Black Widow" married and murdered another man.
Don't you wonder how it would be different if she were a man? ;-)
Hey, no-- don't apologize! I had a choice of whether or not to open those links..
ReplyDeleteand, maybe I'm mistaken about this, but I think I remember Ms. Valerious saying that thing about sheltering in the context of not even bothering to try to explain to the adult children of normal parents what it was like for us.. but it has been so long since I read her blog, maybe I'm remembering it all wrong. Either way, I agree with you that for the safety of all children we can't cover this heinous shit up.
I guess I thought I was putting my big girl panties on and grabbed the ugly panties instead, and I had quite a nasty reaction. Thanks for letting me let it all hang out on your blog!
I see you have a bunch of new blog posts, now. I better get busy reading. I've been away for a while. :)
Umm, to answer your last question..
I guess I never did wonder how it would be different if that "Black Widow" was a man.. but now that you mention it, and certainly not to defend what she did, I guess there have been more than plenty of men in history who have manipulated and disposed of women as they wished, and did so quite comfortablly under the law. You know, the law that THEY created. (Think kings.) It also went on in more subtle ways throughout the times in the "civilized" world after the time of kings and queens when women were still property. Furthermore, this shit (and more) STILL goes on today against women in the back-assward world of the mysoginistic little donkey-fucking men.
*comfortably
ReplyDelete(Sillly stuttterrring fingerrs.)
Never you mind, though, about the clumsy, unedumacated sentence structures. Let's pretend we don't see those. :D
Ha ha ha - there's no grammar police here! Oh wait, there ARE no grammar police here! Or is it, 'In regards to those policing 'grammar', none such exist.'?!
DeleteI don't know. I went into the sciences for a reason. ;-)
Your sentiment ROCKS! I have a feminist streak that's served me well in the rant-department in the past. Just like many girls from Asian or South-Asian families, I have been cast in role of "uterus, cleaning-lady and wet-nurse" in my parent's eyes. The brothers can run around having fun, enjoying freedom, driving cars purchased for them, and I could walk miles in the dark on a dusty road to a bus stop, only to be expected to make dinner and clean the bathroom. Now as an adult, I'm the one to "GIVE" my NM grandbabies and to look after EF & NM in their old age (and all the other aged relatives too, for that matter).
You know what? I reject that culture and substitute my own! Screw it! Let the "little kings" provide for my parents as they reign over their little kingdoms!
"Honour the Lord your God who brought you out of servitude in the land of Egypt" (scratch "Egypt" and stick in my hometown, and you'll see why I'm so grateful to the Lord above! Yeeeeeuck! What a hole I was brought out of!). ;-)
(I love "back-assward" - I use it all the time!) ;-)