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Philosophy General

More Shit that Pisses Me Off

by (author) Peg Tittle

Publisher
Magenta
Initial publish date
Apr 2012
Category
General, General, Feminism & Feminist Theory
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781926891316
    Publish Date
    Apr 2012
    List Price
    $1.99

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Description

More thought-provocations about everyday things: men who spit, guns, cell phones, the right to life, school crossing signs, inner peace, figure skating, grade ten history, sex, AIDS, christmas elves, first contact, soldiers and mothers ...

Philosophy with attitude.

Because the unexamined life is dangerous.

Note: All of the pieces in the Shit that Pisses Me Off series (4 volumes) have been anthologized in either Sexist Shit that Pisses Me Off (2nd edn) or Just … Think about It! (2nd edn), along with almost a hundred additional pieces (in each case), and both are available in eformat and paperback.

"Tittle’s pieces are atypical of philosophical writing in the best ways: of interest to non-specialists, yet instructive and profound, yet entertaining." Ron Cooper, Professor of Philosophy

"… a passionate, stylistically-engaging writer …" George, Amazon

About the author

Peg Tittle, feminist, writer, philosopher, is the author of What If...Collected Thought Experiments in Philosophy (2004) and Critical Thinking: An Appeal to Reason (2011). She is also the editor of Should Parents be Licensed? Debating the Issues (2004). Her articles and essays have been published in a number of North American magazines and journals and she has been a columnist for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, The Philosophers' Magazine, and Philosophy Now. She is also the author of six screenplays. What Happened to Tom? is her first novel. She lives in Sundridge, Ontario.

Peg Tittle's profile page

Excerpt: More Shit that Pisses Me Off (by (author) Peg Tittle)

Whose Violence?

I read the other day that “Violence in our society continues to be a problem.” One, duh. Two, no wonder. We haven't even got it named right yet.

“Violence in our society.” It sounds so—inclusive. So gender-inclusive. But about 85% of all violent crime is committed by men. The gangs are made up of men, the bar brawls are fought by men, the corner stores are held up by men, the rapists are men, the muggers are men, the drive-by shooters are men. This is sex-specific. The problem is male violence.

So it does no good to look at ‘society', to look at our schools, our workplaces, our televisions. We need to look at our boys. We need to look at how we raise them—to become men. Because our girls don't grow up to commit assault and homicide on a regular basis.

For starters, let's admit that we stunt their emotional growth. From day one, we encourage outright denial: big boys don't cry. They don't cuddle and hug either. So hurt, pain, love, and affection are—not cards in the deck they're playing with.

And then there's the development of empathy. A grade eleven male student once told me that I'd wrecked hunting for him, because I'd described in some detail the awful last few hours of a wolf that'd been shot. The boy said he'd never thought about it before. Seventeen years old, carrying a loaded gun, and he's never thought about it? I guess Bambi's become a chick flick, has it? (It's no wonder, of course—you can't imagine in another what you can't even see, won’t even see, in yourself.)

As any reflective human being will know, hurt and anger reside pretty close to each other. So if you're blind to the hurt, all you'll recognize is the anger. And anger seems to need explosive expression—if not verbal, then physical. Which brings us to communication skills. As any teacher will tell you, boys lag behind girls in language skills. Why is this? Even if it is innate (a boys-are-better-at-spatial-tasks-girls-are-better-at-verbal-tasks thing), well, that's just a reason for doing more, not less, with boys and communication skills. Because if they can't talk about, they will fight about it.

And let's look at nature. What if male violence isn't the result of a double standard in nurture? What if it's the testosterone? Or the Y chromosome itself? Then maybe it's the men we should be over-tranquillizing. If we can manipulate estrogen levels, surely we can control testosterone levels.

Of course, you're horrified at the thought of such chemical castration. Well, hell, I'm horrified at the fact that we have an epidemic of violence that's clearly sex-linked and everyone seems to be busy oohing and aahing at the emperor's new clothes. The truth is masculinity (as we seem to have defined it) kills.

Editorial Reviews

"I’ve read and loved Peg Tittle’s essays before but I wondered… would I be as p***ed off by the same topics as her, with this new collection? AND I WAS! I find Peg Tittle to be a passionate, stylistically-engaging writer with a sharp eye for the hypocritical aspects of our society. Congrats.”

5/5 stars
George on Amazon

 

“Tittle’s pieces are atypical of philosophical writing in the best ways: of interested to non-specialists yet instructive, profound yet entertaining. Tittle has a pitch perfect sense of presenting difficult concepts understandably while avoiding condescension; she can challenge readers without overwhelming them and all the while respecting their intelligence.

“She also proves that good thinkers need not be wishy-washy and unable to offer solutions—a common and often warranted indictment of philosophers. In a culture in which public discourse too often reduces to hollering and sloganeering, Tittle’s work is a model of intellectual civility. She makes her views clear while demonstrating a voice of reason and integrity, not one of shrillness and volume.”

Ron Cooper, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
College of Central Florida