Todd Akin's Ill-Informed Commentary

[Originally published here.]

A Response from The Ignant Intellectual

The intersection of power, privilege, and ignorance can be a perilous epicenter. As it stands, privilege, when abused and not perpetually checked, can develop into an albatross of mental stagnation and ignorance. When that level of encumbrance meets power, it’s a guaranteed cataclysm. An example of such a misfortune is what the world saw last weekend during the taping of The Jaco Report on FOX 2.

During an episode of the show, Todd Akin, Missouri Senate Republican Candidate, made a comment that sent every ovary and vagina in America and abroad into an uproar. Since Todd Akin’s ill-informed comment regarding the biology of rape and pregnancy, opinions have been airborne. From well-known female writers like Eve Ensler to lesser-known female writers like…ME! From the moment Akin spewed his male and white privilege across the room, my mind went somewhere. The majority of the responses that I have read position females as survivors and males as privilege-wrought, anti-feminist, imprudent antiquates. I challenge us to view this dyad from a rarely discussed angle. Comments like Akin’s prompt me to wonder if, given the number of under-reported male violations, some of these men are actually rape survivors who choose to project upon females value-laden sentiments from unhealed spaces.

DISCLAIMER: I am not suggesting that Akin, is (or is not) a survivor. But surely not all of these dudes are genuinely assholes, right? Surely not all of the remarks and decisions being made by males in power regarding the female body are just ignorant men using their privilege to make decisions for a female body within which they have no lived experience, right? While that may be part of the argument, let’s dig a little deeper as I find the majority of the responses to comments made by Akin (and others like him) to be pedantic and stop prematurely. In my opinion, someone somewhere in some of these men’s lives told them (verbally or non-verbally) something that sent an overall message that what was happening was not legitimate. In turn, like many survivors, they repeat what they were told…either directly or indirectly in word, action, or deed. Silencing is exceptionally loud.

The moment someone is born, a certain sociological crime is committed. Actually, it is committed every moment of every day, but its intensity increases every time a baby enters the world. The crime is the propagation of a widely accepted untruth: that we are merely ‘genders on legs’. Culturally, we have a tendency to ‘genderize’, essentially, every part of life. From which restroom we use to what color clothes babies wear to even whom is more often raped and/or molested! Little of our socialization transpires exclusive of our birth-assigned sex and our socially-assigned gender. (Because the topic of sex versus gender is not the purpose of this article, I won’t devote much energy to that, except to say that sex is biologically-assigned and gender is socially-constructed).

Within the first few seconds of meeting someone, we have already gendered them according to the sex we perceive them to be, which means that we have categorized them based on our existing concepts of what a girl and a boy should be, do, and have endured. Dude, what is your point? Glad you asked! Not only have we been self-relegated to simply ‘walking genders’, so much of our existence, including non-consentual sex, is determined, quantified, and stratified by gender. Not only are they highly racialized, rape statistics are also disproportionately gendered, both academically and in our everyday mental processes. When we hear the words ‘rape’ or ‘molestation’, because of conditioning, we automatically think ‘female’ or ‘girl’. So much so that when a male suggests that he has been sexually violated, his entire manhood is called into question even sometimes to the point of having his sexuality interrogated.

Rape statistics are overwhelmingly reported as (female) rape, whereas rape of males is generally documented as prison rape or as a weapon of terror in warfare. In fact, the overall notion of violence has grown to become a rather masculine term. So it makes sense that when males, such as Akin, speak on the topic of sexual violations, we rarely even think that they could, indeed, be speaking from a place of personal experience and that, because of the social stigma around men and rape, these experiences may be being presented as projection and/or displacement. However, if a woman had made a comment like Akin’s, after the initial shock, our response and subsequent analyses of her statement would have been completely different. We would have probably been less likely to demonize and more likely to victimize her—thus sympathize with her. Even demonization and victimization are gendered, but that’s a whole nother talk show. My point is that, globally, we seldom mentally/socially position men as sexual abuse survivors— unless of course, we are trying to figure out why one of them is gay!

We primarily view them as perpetrators and because we so readily genderize sexual abuse, our responses often fall short. While I am not saying that Akin is a survivor of sexual abuse, I postulate that this incessant gendering has a direct effect on conditioning and conditioning is often so unyielding in our psyches, that it might as well be proven fact. Admittedly, Akin and countless other powerful men could be just that reckless, but I argue that more men in power than have admitted, have been violated sexually but because of how male sexual violence is societally positioned, their spiritual and social residual energies manifest in very peculiar ways. And when this residual energy resides within the intersection of power, privilege, and ignorance, there is no telling how it will reveal itself. We must challenge ourselves to think beyond what we see.

Seldom are people just assholes for asshole sake. Aside from male privilege, many of the opinions and statements made by our men are really the unhealed, hurting, and silenced little boys trapped inside of them needing to be heard. Few things are random and we all carry trauma. Ironically, despite all of the trauma, pain, and unhealed energy in the world, we respond to each other as if we are the most healed and polished people walking. Remember, we don’t see things are THEY are, we see them as WE are. 

Light & Love,

The Ignant Intellectual

The Ignant Intellectual is a New Orleans-reared writer, poet, and spoken word artist who has been writing before completely mastering the English language. From the accent to that je ne sais quoi that folk have been trying to put words to for far too long, to the curious name, The Ignant Intellectual is indeed a 'strange fruit'. I.I.'s goal in writing and performing is to deconstruct the many unconscious social constructions that guide our mental processes and ultimately our actions, to influence youth and elders to re-imagine what is, pushing/pulling the collective to our full potential. The Ignant Intellectual's vibrant, often humorous, and always though-provoking writings and performances convey that, "Life really is good enough to be true." And so it is.

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Comments

[Medusa]

" Few things are random and we all carry trauma. Ironically, despite all of the trauma, pain, and unhealed energy in the world, we respond to each other as if we are the most healed and polished people walking. Remember, we don’t see things are THEY are, we see them as WE are."

Firstly I'd just like to say that I have completely fallen in love with your writing. This article was all things poignant and thought-provoking.

"hurt people hurt people."

This ^ is an axim I've been trying to wrap my head&heart around as I try to deal with my own personal traumas and pain caused by a lot of people (in positions of power/authority) in my life.

As a survivor of various forms of abuse (physical, emotional/mental/psychological and sexual) I have found that it is so easy sometimes to fall into the role of a "victim" -a finger pointing, blame game playing role- and STAY there. I'm learning that people are very rarely cruel or hurtful simply because they can be. I'm learning that a lot of people who treat other human beings in a less than dignified and respectful way do this because they are allowing their own unresolved trauma to manifest. I guess coming to terms with all this makes it easier for me to heal. It also makes it easier for me to forgive -in the fullest sense of the word- i.e to release the hope that the past could have been different; to look towards the perpetrators of the various violations and abuses delt out to me with compassion and not hate.

All of that said, I will admit that when I heard Todd Akin's comments I sort back-tracked and fell once again into the role of a victim. A very hateful, unforgiving victim. "I want Todd Akins DEAD. I hate him. Does he know what the fuck it is that he is talking about? Obviously NOT or he would NEVER have said such a thing," is a summary of my furious reaction to his comments. And in all honesty, I would have stuck to these sentiments with no qualms and no regrets -and no thought to what having such thoughts lingering somewhere at the back of my mind would have meant for my own personal growth and healing- if I hadn't read your article here.

But you've sort of forced me to take a step back and scrutinize my capacity for compassion. I've sort of figured that compassion -in order to be fully effective- needs to stretch beyond what I am "comfortable" with being compassionate about.

While I do find Akin's sentiments to be incredibly vile; I'm also beginning to understand that there may be a place of deep-seated pain, unresolved trauma inside of him -and many men who think like him- that has gone completely unnoticed and unspoken about.

We have totally been conditioned to see trauma -regarding sexual abuse- to be almost completely exclusive to womyn. We have totally been conditioned to see the perpetrators of sexual abuse to be monsters who simply woke up one day and decided to become said monsters. Except the truth is a lot more complicated. A lot of the time -almost all of the rime- if you look back into the histories and pasts of most abusers/rapists &even just people who use their words as a form of violence against womyn, you'll find that they too have experienced some kind of abuse or violation against them. And the difference between them and the womyn or children they subsequently abuse, is that they have not had the chance to heal their wounds; they have had to deal with their horror stories without the almost automatic sympathy from society than womyn and children receive. And I wonder how far any healing can go if it is exclusive only to perceived victims (as in the victims we see now in the present and not the victims hidden&trapped deep within the perpetrators of this violations).

Once again, I feel like you have sparked a very important conversation.

One that revolves around the "why" of Todd Akins all around the world. And the "hows" regarding possible healing -as opposed to instant demonizing- of such characters.

Even if he hasn't experienced sexual abuse per say, I believe his words may come from some open wound inside of him and this is something that definitely needs to be addressed. We all need to eveluate -thoroughly- the way in which we perceive people in relation to their sex and gender and the connations we surround such perceptions with. Sexual abuse isn't an exclusive experience of female-bodied persons. It isn't. And so sympathy around it should also NOT be exclusive to them. Privilege, power and ignorance are not mutually exclusive to pain, trauma and suffering. And while it is extremely difficult for people who fall at the receiving end of the often evil ramifications of privilege, power and ignorance to react to those who possess these characteristics with compassion, it is important that we do.

I believe, only then will true and complete healing take place.

I am also VERY cognizant of how controversial this argument may be. We don't want to sympathize with evil-doers. We want to crucify them. But that sort of just lets the cycles of pain spiral out of control. I dunno if this was the point you were trying to make, but it's what I have gleaned from your article and honestly I feel like a much better person for having my thoughts travle down this lane.

Much love and light to you

Medusa

[The Ignant Intellectual]

Hey Medusa!

I need to get a notification sent to me when folk respond to my posts here. So that I can respond right back. Anyway...random thought.

So Yes. This argument is probably very controversial. But I'm thinking it probably goes back to the point you raised about conditioning and us being used to seeing 'the perpetrators of sexual abuse to be monsters who simply woke up one day and decided to become said monsters.' It's SOOOO SOOOO SOOOO much more complicated than that. And that's usually where my immediate thoughts arise. I mean when I saw him say it, I was pissed but moreso, I began to pull apart...well i began to create a story for him cause let's be real, he might not be a survivor...all this ish in his words. I was like 'hmmm this isn't just privilege speaking'. So I previously volunteered with sex offenders and i chose that over volunteering with sexual abuse survivors and got lots of flack and whatnot on what i heard as 'but you're female you should have hate in your heart for sexual offenders and should want to save them from the wrath of violent offenders', but my heart and gut was like NO NO NO. I want to talk to those who offend and that's my desire. But what's bananas is that most offenders have been offended. so HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE. I find that generally, we need to feel like a victim. Victimization is nice and soft and pink and sky blue and it's affirmed and hugged. Simultaneously, we really really really like to demonize. We need that balance. Random thought, I NEVER EVER thought of my response as having compassion. And that positioning both intrigues and bothers me. I'm not sure I enjoy an alternative view as being indicative of me having compassion. It's amazing our binary and polarized way of thinking. If it's not bad, it's good and we have to find a nice sweet socially-affirmed word for alternative explanations that have firm and hardcore emotional components. IMO, it's not necessarily a compassionate standpoint, it's just another explanation that sure, doesn't have the guilt-ridden, demonizing language, but I'm not sure I'm compassionate for male sexual survivors who's suppressed pain manifests as Akin's did. I have to think more deeply on that one. Hmm...compassion.

I don't conceptualize (well I do) how saying 'have you thought of this explanation of his comments' as sympathizing with evil-doers and how that's immediately counter-balanced with crucifixion. I have no clue if i'm making any sense, but it makes sense in my brain! LOL

Let me know if I'm making sense to you.

The Ignant Intellectual