Date: April 26th, 2013 3:46 PM Author: Concupiscible indian lodge volcanic crater
if you read the history of the Salem witch trials, it all had to do with this group of young girls who pretended to be possessed by evil spirits, who then went around accusing their neighbors of "witchraft," and making up stories about seeing them praying to the devil in the middle of the night, casting spells, etc.
the important people and religious leaders in the town lavished attention on the girls, so they continued accusing more and more people--who were promptly executed/imprisoned--while enjoying the prestige they had acquired in wielding power over the lives of other people.
it was only when they began accusing prominent members of the community of "witchcraft" that the ruse was exposed--but by that time, many of the accused had already been tortured and executed.
there are parallels between the actions of the young girls in Salem and those perpetuating the "rape culture" hysteria today. when you give young girls this kind of prestige and power to destroy other people's lives, you are inviting them to use it.
Date: May 12th, 2013 5:23 PM Author: apoplectic white site
why do people like to talk about these cases as if hysteria and deception and lies are uniquely characteristic of women? surely men have taken part in mass hysterias and religious witchhunts and baseless accusations and whatnot, probably more than women have. and yet when they do so, it's not a gendered crime and the male gender of the perpetrators goes unnoticed.
Date: May 12th, 2013 5:28 PM Author: apoplectic white site
of course vain and bloodthirsty men are not going to be doing false rape accusations because that's not believable, but ask yourself if the rate of false accusations by boys in general is higher or lower than those by women. i would guess that they are higher simply because men have historically been more participatory in the judicial systems of each era.
heck, witch hunts and religious persecution in general are the domain of paranoid men who enjoy the prestige of wielding moral control over the lives of others under entirely false pretenses.