Letters: An Inevitable Conversation

Japayuki: A Novel

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

A few words about people...

No matter the organization. No matter the association. The group. The crowd. The click. Somewhere embedded within, there is that person. Maybe even more than one person. He, she, they are just a little different from the others, and no one can really put their finger on just why that is.

My family, and I mean extended family, is comprised of a myriad of personalities, and hold an equal number of personal beliefs, opinions, and practices. Most are harmless, if not entertaining, while others probably should have a twenty-four guard (just kidding).

Fulfilling a thirty year military career, I encountered some pretty strange individuals. There were people with medical degrees (of course; I served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman), but I also met my fair share of flyers that held degrees in everything from education to business to theology. Again, most fun loving and great to be around. Some? Not so much.

My family had a tragic encounter with law enforcement. The men and women sworn to serve and protect. And allow me to interject that in our family, we have law enforcement officers, but our experience with three was not a good one. Suffice it to be said, three deputies shot my son while he was experiencing a medical crisis.

After my military career, I elected to pursue public education. And all I’ve said to this point held true. Ninety-nine percent of the teachers I worked beside were the most wonderful, caring, dedicated individuals. But, there were those teachers and administrators, who did not know how to behave around teenage girls.
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop the list with our illustrious and comical, at times tragic, politicians. I really don’t believe I have to say much more here considering the news coverage they receive regarding their little trysts with girlfriends, boyfriends, etcetera, etcetera.

Which leads me to the main point of this post. I will be releasing a publication soon which will address violence against women and domestic abuse, globally. One cannot write about such a subject without proper and broad research which includes delving into every conceivable social group, sub-culture group, declared entity, however you wish to identity such collections of people. And trust me, researching this topic led me to some pretty interesting sites with plenty of vivid graphics. My works cited page will be extensive, and while my work will be categorized as fiction and does not include citations, I do intend to publish my works cited via a Blog post.

My list of readings will serve two major purposes. First, my readers will know, upon reading my words, that while fiction, the topic I address is very real. Second, if anyone questions any comment, opinion or fact uttered by one of my characters, they will have a source list available to conduct personal research; and I do most definitely encourage all my readers to read further on my topics, if for no other reason than personal edification.

Having said that, allow me to add this. One of the MANY groups I delve deeply into is the lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, transgender, and queer (LBGTQ). One fact that led me repeatedly to this group was the ever present concept of hegemonic masculinity, the how and why men maintain social control over not only women, but any group they consider inferior to them. Hegemonic masculinity led directly to misogyny, which led directly to the church, and from there this book just took on a life of its own.

Why do I mention the LBGTQ directly? Simply because misogyny is linked directed to homosexual men.
Before you blast that comment alone, please allow me to go back to my opening comments. Every group has its deviant personalities. The teaching profession harbors child predators. Our legislature harbors womanizing perverts. The LBGTG, indirectly that it may be, by virtue of its declared title, harbors closet homosexuals who, for social, marital, corporate, and political influences and bias, cannot easily come out of that closet and live the life they truly yearn to live, to freely and openly experience the sexual existence they were meant to live.

In short, these homosexual men are prisoners in a life they despise, sharing a bed with a gender they don’t like, and unfortunately, this makes for a very angry and dangerous man; a misogynous man.

On my Facebook page, I attempt to include every social entity out there. The LBGTQ is one of those groups. (Still haven’t brought myself to “Like” the ZETA Association! J) In my work I attempt to make clear the distinction between the misogynous homosexual male and the rest; but, what I do not do is water down the issue to patronize any gender, social, political, or religious group or entity.

Life is what it is.


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