Friday, September 21, 2007

Female Privilege

Here's a rather nasty example of female privilege, though really what it is is an example of why it often sucks the world over (though thankfully not here) to be a man.

My wife is originally from Russia. Her family still lives there, including her mother, grandmother, and brother. She just called me today and told me that she talked to her mother and found out that her 21 year old brother was just conscripted into the Russian military. He has to report in November. Odds are good he'll be sent off to Chenchnya, where many thousands of poorly trained and equiped Russian soldiers have already been killed, some in rather horrible ways. My wife's mother is so upset she can barely talk about it. She is mad at him for even going to the station when he got the notice - I guess some just ignore it and don't show up, though apparently it is a felony not to go. So now they have his paperwork, they took his passport, and he must quit his rather decent job (as they go there) and surrender his body to possible death in the Russian military - where it is not a pleasant place to be even not under war conditions.

I think back now to the life expectancy of a Russian conscript in WWII - it wasn't pretty. Thankfully, things are better now, but dead is still dead. The conscription lasts at least two years. I hope he makes it without dying, being maimed, or being otherwise permanently scarred, though that is probably unlikely. Nobody goes through war as a soldier without getting scars, even if never physically wounded.

Right now, my impulse is, if I hear one more person talk about how men are all so "privileged" over women, to rip off that persons head and throw it into a garbage disposal. Or better yet, conscript them into the Russian military. Grrrr.

7 comments:

beansa said...

I'm so sorry for what you and your loved ones are going through. That whole situation sucks. No one should have to go to war against his will, ever.

DBB said...

Thanks beansa - I appreciate the sentiment. We've been trying, frankly, not to think about it too much lately because it just sucks - it amounts to slavery. My wife's mother has been trying to find out more information about what will actually happen (where he'll go, etc), but we haven't learned anything yet.

beansa said...

Well, denial can actually be a good coping mechanism at times. Especially when it's a situation where you're basically powerless to change it. I guess the most you can really do is to take care of yourself so you can be there for your family.

AlanMP said...

Well, shit, OF COURSE conscription is slavery. YOU own your body, not the government (I was absolutely ready to leave the country if they came to get me for Vitenam). I empathize and hope for the best -- that he survives both the training (which I hear is awful) and the war.

Cheshire said...

Hell yes.


Sexism sucks, when it treats women as property and young men as if they have no value at all.

Anonymous said...

Hey, as a woman I'm all for drafting women when men are drafted. Israel does it. But on some strange distorted twist (because this "service" is an "honor") women have had to fight, lawyer and nail, to get in at all, even as volunteers. Go figure that out.

Scott Kohlhaas said...

No one should ever be forced into the military against their will!

Would you be willing to spread the word about www.draftresistance.org? It's a site dedicated to shattering the myths surrounding the selective slavery system and building mass civil disobedience to stop the draft before it starts!

Our banner on a website, printing and posting the anti-draft flyer or just telling friends would help.

Thanks!

Scott Kohlhaas

PS. When it comes to conscription, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!