A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries A Gun By Linda Hasselstrom

The story of Crystal Bram, wife of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, is a picture perfect case of how many women are trapped and beaten by the men they love. Chief Brame had his wife on a schedule like no other. He would time her on how much time it would take to get to and from the store, how long to walk to and from the mailbox, and always when was David (their son) coming home? Crystal wasn’t every other woman though; her husband was the Chief of Police in Tacoma, Washington. With her husband’s position with the police department Crystal found it hard to get the proper assistance she needed. When she confronted him about stopping the abuse and control on her life, he would respond to her asking, “Who are you going to call? One of my buddies?” Eventually she did report this issue to the police, only for it to fall on deaf ears , and the City Manager prevented further investigation. When a journalist reported what Crystal had brought up, the president of the Tacoma police union threatened the writer. Crystal eventually filed for divorce. In response her husband accused her of having a bad temper and physically abusing him for multiple years also. Crystal was only about 5 foot tall and 100 pounds. This story has a sad ending as Chief Brame used his police duty weapon to fatally shoot Crystal and then turned the gun on himself. (Carter, 2003)

Female police officers have been saddled with a stigma ever since they were finally allowed to join their fellow male officers on the force in the 1970’s. It is said that when a female officer is being harsh, she is often called anything other than firm. However, when a male officer is harsh, he is considered firm and just being a man. Female police officers are dubbed incapable of being able to perform their duties equivalent or superior to a male officer simply because she is

This book review is on the book, Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit, which was published in 2014. Rebecca Solnit writes a book of essays that interprets the silence that women hold towards men in their everyday life. Young women must know the reality that we do not live a fairy tale life where women are treated as royalty by their husband or boyfriend. Women are treated as objects in where men could play with them as if they are dolls, whom they pay attention to whenever they would like to or need something from them. Despite what a woman says to men, all men are always going to have the reason, even if they are not right. The silences that a woman holds towards men are creating an even broader issue towards women in the present and in the future. The author mainly argues that women should not silence themselves and their issues such as abuse, harassment, rape, violence, stalking or any other crimes that are hurting them emotionally and physically. “Violence doesn’t have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender” (Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me, page 21). If women continue not to speak up and take action, men are going to continue to take abuse and control over their power.

The lives of women are changed, devastated, and ruined by sexual assault. They will most likely never be the same person they used to be. A survivor of sexual assault will often take safety measures to avoid another one of these encounters; for example, they may walk an extra mile to avoid a dark alley she saw a man lurking around the other day or spend money on things like pepper spray, a rape whistle, or self-defense classes—all in an attempt to defend themselves from something preventable. In fact, a 2014 survey shows that 45% of women in America felt that walking alone after sundown was dangerous, which means that it is safe to say that even women

“The Longest War” by Rebecca Solnit convinces readers that the violence against women are in the content of the United States and the world. Solnit presented information that is regarding violence and rape statistical and personal views of gender and the inequality of male violence toward comparing women’s violence to men or women. She uses numerical facts ad provides statements of how this affects the way women perceive their surroundings. Solnit clearly makes a strong frequency and violence of rape by listing the details of rape and violence eight times within the first paragraph of the text. She uses many examples of how rape is a gendered issue and how many victims that fall prey to violence which lends us toward an engaging need to

The first lawsuit claiming discrimination because of refusal of sexual advances by a coworker was filed in 1974. Although the term was never specifically used in the case, “Barnes v. Train (1974) is commonly viewed as the first sexual harassment case in America” (Fenelius, 2010). Paulette Barnes was hired as an administrative assistant in the Equal Employment Opportunities Division of the Environmental Protection Agency at grade GS-5 with a promise of “a promotion to grade GS-7 within ninety days” (“BARNES v. COSTLE”).

Non-violence was the key to the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement was a mass popular movement to secure for African Americans equal access and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of the U.S. citizenship. African Americans used the approach of non-violence to get important issues handled. A few of the important issues was to end segregation, racial inequality, and get voting rights. Although it took several years to get these acts handled, African Americans were determined not to give up. Anne Moody wrote a biography on her life growing up in Mississippi, and how she was impacted during the civil rights movement. Throughout Anne Moody’s book Coming of Age in Mississippi she showed that she could get through difficult

With Hasselstroms pathos writing she uses dramatic word choice and heartfelt analogies that drive home the idea of how wrong these situations, that happen too often, are. Hasselstrom opens with explaining how where she lives “is often too exposed to offer hiding places” (354) to show how she, and others have to hide to stay safe and there's just no room for that. By opening with her setting it gives a sense of humanity to Hasselstroms writing that makes her seem more like the average folk and easier to connect to and relate to. Also, connecting the childish anecdote of “hiding places” with a strong connotation of being attacked, her play on words helps the reader fully divulge themselves into this piece of writing. Hasselstrom continues to explain that after she got her gun that “the pistol just changed the balance of power” creating wonderful imagery of the tables being turned and Hasselstrom finally feeling safe in her own town, home and shoes. This further relates to pathos in her writing in the sense that everyone can clearly paint the picture in their minds of the power only being shifted when a deadly weapon is in place. Hasselstrom concludes her passage and her pathos with saying, “the pacifist inside me will be saddened if the only way women can achieve equality is by carrying weapons” (358). With this comment not only is Hasselstrom pointing out her personal views, gaining wide support, she is also pointing out her own controversy relating this subject to every person to gain full coverage and support. By doing this, she continues to strive using pathos to grasp the heartstrings of every person who believes in a world where equality is actually

Women have been sexually harassed and assaulted in the work force for years, and for many years, the US Army has been dealing with this enormous and overwhelming issue, through the help of their agency known as the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP). In the US Army regulation 600-20, Army Chief of Staff, General Raymond T Odierno, States the purpose, “This regulation prescribes the policies and responsibilities of command, which include the Well-being of the force, military discipline, and conduct, the Army Equal Opportunity (EO) Program, and the Army Sexual Assault Victim Program.“ For a long time, the Army’s EOP Equal Opportunity

Jody Miller uses the urban neighborhoods of St. Louis as a canvas to paint a picture of the constant struggles that young African-American women face. Such as, neighborhood violence, sexual violence, gender and sexual harassment in school, as well as dating violence within their lives on a daily basis; Miller focuses on the gender inequalities that are present within the urban communities and how patriarchy is ingrained in the young men of urban subculture. The girls views the males of their communities as being more susceptible to violence because of their masculine personas and gang participation. This shows that although the girls acknowledge the potential victimization’s they are likely to face, they still succumb to their victimization, categorizing the violence against them as commonplace. This leads them to viewing themselves as second-class citizens within the community. While they have acquired knowledge that the neighborhood streets at nighttime are a male-dominated place, even though it is a public space for anyone, it is seen as dangerous for women at night, this example illustrates the preconceived need for self-isolation within the neighborhood. “Gail stated I’ll be walkin’ at night and people just be walkin’ behind you I mean, I do not know, everybody gets scared to walk at nighttime, so I guess it’s just normal” (Miller,2008, p36)

Women all over the world have been mistreated for more than a century. It has been exploited throughout the world as how “women aren’t currently treated the same as men in certain situations” but it is far more beyond that. Only half of the world seems to at least know what is really happening behind the curtain. Ambiguous people have manipulated the very much realness with what is exactly taking place in our society. In this essay, I will be talking about the following things; Inequity in the workplace, “Asking for it”, Violence against women globally, Education, and The psychology of it all. These five topics need to be demanded attention. Our younger generation needs to be cognizant of what has been going on for many millenniums. Girls and women should be able to walk around at night and not be afraid, nor should they be afraid to oppose another man. There is no real justification on why women should be treated like this but there is plenty of justification on why they shouldn 't, so genuinely why is this problem happening? Some of the books that I read to have mostly validation on this paper from other human beings but also to enlighten myself even more that I already am. “Subjection of Women” by John Stuart Mill, “Created Equal: Voices on Women 's Rights” by Anna Horsbrugh-Porter, and “Equal Pay for Equal Work” by Grace C. Strachan. I chose these three texts because each one yet talks about the same thing but has a little bit of a different perspective on each. I

Harassment has no boundaries when it comes to race, age, or gender. As mentioned previously, there are sometimes underlying problems when it comes to lower-status positions and high-status positions. Power can be dangerous in the hands of the wrong person and can often be said in the workplace where power can lead to sexual harassment. Debbie Dougherty, an assistant professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, did an assessment based on opinions and perceptions of 23 participants. The study was focused around the question “why does sexual harassment occur?” and the most common answer that came up was “power.” One thing Debbie noticed was the fact that men and women had different opinions

We have all heard of strange and gory stories that are supposedly true, experienced by a friend of a friend. Whether true or not these so called "urban legends" tend to circulate throughout society thriving on each individual's fears and curiosity. What most people don't realize is, within these tales lies the attitudes and values of a community. These tales do not survive throughout the years solely on the basis of their entertainment level, but due to the fact that they reflect society's fears and anxieties. In dissecting these tales one can indefinitely find the social fallacy against females that has existed for decades, as well as the fears women have against men. However, more importantly, the values that society hold are

One might often ask what importance is there to fight against rape. Statistics have shown that the pillage of a person’s personal space have been steadily increasing since before the 1950s. Every two minutes, there is at least one American being sexually assaulted. (www.rainn.org ‘Sexual Assault Statistics”) these are just two of the millions of statistics that have been taking away many people’s privacy, natural rights, and their trust in others. Instead , due to rape culture women are commonly taught that ‘boys will be boys” or [concerning being bothered or harassed by the opposite sex] “ that just means they like you!” rape culture not only teaches women that its normal to be sexually assaulted , but it teaches them not to bother to correct the rapists, just to take it. In news, press reporters mourn the athletic career of two highschoolers’ who raped and nearly killed a 15 year old girl rather than mourning the victim. The only way to stop these situations from ever happening again is to stop

“People dominate animals, men dominate women.” Each is a relation of hierarchy, an inequality, with particularities and variations within and between them. (Cite Orange book pg. 92.) For centuries, women have been viewed and used as a man’s “property”, whether it is being used for sexual satisfaction or for the sake of bearing children and taking care of the home. Men are typically perceived as head of the household and whatever they say goes; anything to satisfy their hunger for power and control. Have women ever had a say about what they want to use their bodies for? Laws against rape may have changed over time, but men’s consistent aggressive behavior unfortunately, has not.