The Winchester mansion as a metaphor for America. Its a bizarre, strange, creepy, gothic style mansion built by Sarah Winchester, heiress to the gun fortune. It was apparently designed- strange rooms and peculiar staircases- to appease the wrath of dead spirits who have returned after being killed by Winchester guns.
Located in Downtown San Jose, California, this monumental Gothic Victorian mansion is an oddity, surrounded by freeways, fast food outlets and the high rises of Silicon Valley. In the bygone days, when Santa Clara County was known for its orchards, the eccentric Winchester Rifle heiress, Sarah Winchester, designed and built this legendary house. This isn’t so much a paranormal story as a story about a woman whose life was likely controlled, ruled and ruined by the paranormal…. Read More: http://www.bad-language.com/winchestermysteryhouse
…As further reported in interviews with people who knew him, there was some indication that Jared Lee Loughner resented women and especially women in authority. Will Loughner end up as another Winchester ghost? However, it is important to note that because someone has a mental illness it does not imply that he or she will commit an act of violence or murder people. The “crazy man” theory does not hold; the studies, as broadly reported, seem to reveal that the mentally ill are no more prone to violence than those without mental illness unless three factors exist: violent environment, drug addiction or a history of being a victim of violence. The answer may lie in a pathological dislike of women.
Imagine all the television and advertisements Loughner has seen and read and cognitively been unable to filter. Essentially, his ideology formed from this means either women are either the ¨housewife¨ type of woman, characterized as submissive, dependent, nurturing, tidy, gentle and unconfident or the ¨sexy¨ type as characterized as young, slim, smiling, provocative and sexually available. Anything in the middle is a source of alienation, or so stereotypically traditional as to elicit further hate. They are objectified fetish objects; the incarnation of the male gaze. Sarah Winchester has a lot to fear…
…Sarah slipped into a deep depression following the deaths of her family members. But do the facts end here? Sarah, now alone and vulnerable, was reputedly convinced her family were victims of a curse. Allegedly, she travelled to Boston to consult with psychic medium Adam Coons. Instead of providing Sarah with a comforting message, Coons confirmed the wealthy widow’s fears that the Winchester family was cursed. In illogical logic, he explained that the spirits of those people and animals who had died at the hands of a Winchester rifle, ‘the gun that won the west’, were avenging their deaths by claiming the lives of her husband, child and father-in-law. Sarah was next. Coons’ had a peculiar ‘solution’. The only way Sarah could appease the spirits was to build them a house. Coons advised that his client move west and build this home. Read More: http://www.bad-language.com/winchestermysteryhouse a
Lauren Peate: In the recent New York Times profile on Jared Lee Loughner, the killer is reported to be “contemptuous of women in power” and known for “sexist” comments. Given that, is it a surprise that his target was Gabrielle Giffords, a local female leader?
This shooting is yet another example of male violence against women. Around the world, one in every three women will face abuse in her lifetime…. Of course, sexism alone did not cause the shootings. Another factor is our country’s ineffective mental health system, which failed to catch or treat Loughner’s mental illness. A second is loose gun control policies, which allowed an unstable man to legally purchase deadly firearms. A third factor is the violent imagery on television and in national debate – on both sides of the political spectrum – that has normalized the use of violence….
…The three issues above are being discussed; gender is not. Even the New York Times article only addresses Loughner’s sexism as a sub-plot to the larger storyline about a deranged man. Why aren’t we discussing gender? Jackson Katz, an activist who works with men to prevent gender violence, argues in his movie “Tough Guise” that the media often hides male violence against women. When men perpetrate violent acts, the media headlines often say “student” or “shooter,” taking emphasis off the gender of the perpetrator.
When a female starts shooting, the media takes note: Katz points to fevered discussions about female violence after the release of “Thelma and Louise,” a movie which shows two women who become violent criminals. This has the effect of downplaying crimes by men and highlighting those by women. And yet most of the perpetrators of violent crime are male…. Read More: http://www.policymic.com/beta/national-politics/what-caused-tucson-shootings-don%E2%80%99t-forget-sexism
ADDENDUM:
Karen Stollznow: If we believe the stories, when Sarah began her quest to placate the ‘spirits’, her life became inextricably bound to the paranormal, superstition and fear influencing every part of her life. Sarah Winchester was, by all accounts, an educated woman of her time. She had attended school, was fluent in four languages and was an accomplished musician. So, why did she succumb to the occult? Why did she believe Coombs’ superstitious theory and illogical ‘solution’, and to such an obsessive extent? My theory is that Sarah suffered a powerful combination of grief, a natural predisposition to depression and considerable guilt at her family’s bloodthirsty trade and subsequent affluence. Apparently Sarah often referred to her family’s wealth as “blood money” derived from misfortune. Furthermore, this was still the zenith of Spiritualism. Perhaps these factors led to Sarah’s indoctrination into the occult and superstitious existence, her substantial wealth allowing for the indulgence of her eccentricity. Read More: http://www.bad-language.com/winchestermysteryhouse
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Anita Sarkeesian: Have you noticed this strange trend in TV commercials recently? It’s been bothering me for awhile but I haven’t quite been able to put a name to it. It’s this kinda twisted combination of cynicism and humour with these over the top caricatures and it always ends up being racist and/or sexist. It’s really the normalization of sexism through the use of irony it’s the ‘they know that I know that they know, that they’re being sexist.’ Some terms people have used to describe this is ironic sexism or retro sexism.
Retro Sexism is modern attitudes and behaviors that mimic or glorify sexist aspects of the past, often in an ironic way… Read More: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2010/09/retro-sexism-uber-ironic-advertising/ a