à propos of nothing

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Feb 16, 2005

If a proud but timid man were threatened with rape -- trapped in an alley, say, by a thug with a knife -- and succumbed out of fear, one can imagine that his shame would prove fertile in inventing elaborate rationalizations for his submission, in order to

[begin digression] ...when it was developed a number of years ago, the Vagina Monologues was done as a vehicle to empower women to speak of their experiences as women. The play raises very important issues particularly about sexual violence toward women. The play often makes people uncomfortable. Some of the discomfort may come from the language of the play. And some of the discomfort comes, undoubtedly, from the exploration of violence against women and the exploitation of women in society. There are people who say that the play has no place on a Catholic campus. But this position misses the reality that the play has provoked a good deal of conversation among women and has helped them to name the dehumanizing attitudes and behaviors which reduce them to sexual objects. To exclude the play from a Catholic campus is to say, either that these women are wrong, or that their experience has nothing important to say to us... [end digression]

compensate for his loss of dignity. Paradoxically, the vicarious humiliation felt by friends at his disgrace would be augmented, not lessened, by his pathetic attempts to portray himself as the one in control of the encounter: a self-inflicted debasement.