The Dog Collar Murders by Barbara Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

Pornography and rape do not explain why black women earn less than white women or why women in other countries earn least of all, sometimes only pennies a day. Pornography and rape do not explain why so few women are the heads of profitable businesses or charitable organizations, why so few women are mayors, governors, congresspeople and presidents. They do not explain why there is war—if men hate women so much, why do they kill them individually on the streets rather than massacre them in the thousands as they do their fellow men during wartimes?”
    I glanced through the doors again. Nicky and whomever she’d been speaking to were gone. Now Gracie began to come to her conclusion, but I felt almost indifferent. Gracie said what she thought, while Loie told us what to think. That was the difference: Gracie made mental demands, Loie made a heartfelt appeal. In my intellectual weariness I found myself longing for Loie to rise up, like a Biblical prophet, to tell us all what was wrong and what we should do.
    “To believe that maleness is intrinsically evil is a deliberate strategy and, I think, quite arbitrary. Almost all of the anti-porn activists are white, yet they do not seem to believe that whiteness is intrinsically evil , even though, as far back as we know, people of lighter skin have tortured, murdered, exploited and patronized their darker brothers and sisters. A good many of the anti-porn activists are from middle- or upper-class homes, yet they do not seem to believe that it is intrinsically evil to have been born into social privilege, even though for all recorded history, the rich have killed, exploited and patronized the poor. Few of the anti-porn activists are disabled, but they do not make a point of telling us that it is intrinsically evil to have been born able-bodied, though there has never been a time when the disabled have been respected and cared for as contributing members of the society.
    “The point is not which ‘ism’ is the root cause of oppression in our civilization, which sex or class or race is the most oppressed. The point is about the social construct of power. Those who have power will never willingly give it up—whether that power is based on gender, wealth or white skin. For power is never or rarely given up—it is seized. Not by people who are passive victims, but by people whose oppression empowers them to act and, I submit, by people who, when and if they manage to obtain power, will quite likely find the means to abuse it in very much the same ways.”

5
    T HERE WAS A SILENCE after Gracie had finished and then, a series of diverse applauses, from thunderous in some quarters to subdued and thoughtful in others, splashing against each other like waves in a choppy sea. Some people seemed confused by the ambiguity of Gracie’s ending note, and I heard a woman nearby say to her companion, “Is she saying women are as bad as men?” During the pause before Loie was introduced, a number of people came in and found seats down in front. I wondered if they were Loie-supporters who’d been boycotting Gracie’s speech. Hadley was among them; I grudgingly caught her attention and we both slipped into the seats Penny and June had been saving for us. She raised her eyebrows several times to express what an exciting event this was, but I ignored her. I was pretty sure she’d been hanging out with Miko and didn’t like that one bit.
    “I’m sure this speaker needs no introduction,” said the conference organizer, and then proceeded to give her a very long one. Naturally, for Seattlites, the most important fact was that Loie had been born in Seattle. That alone was worth all the articles published, the speeches given. The audience whooped at the word “native.”
    I had wondered what tactic Loie would adopt to counteract the generally favorable impression of down-to-earth skepticism that Grade had just made. Would Loie be righteously angry or coldly negating? She was neither. She was