Public Address | Cafe | Muse: One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

Russell Brown

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:49:54 +1200

Closed.

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:47:01 +1200

Russell:

I'd prefer you close it now, but I'm going to leave the call entirely in your hands so nobody comes back and says I'm trying to prevent or "disappear" criticism. I'm also thinking very seriously about deleting the entire post, but that's going to have to wait a while.

Jane

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:09:35 +1200

I'll second that.

Hebe

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:01:53 +1200

A large part of the problem is Craig’s use of language, both here and in the past. It’s violent, bruising and abusive in itself.

And I’m speaking as someone not reticent in distributing profanities far and wide.

His motivation is fine: the execution is not. He is a sensitive person…

Russell Brown

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:57:47 +1200

I think Craig’s motivation in writing was the belief that the two shouldn’t be conflated, but I also am feeling fairly distressed by the turn the discussion has taken. I’ll keep watch and will close the thread if it doesn’t improve.

Bart Janssen

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:52:00 +1200

I tend to agree with you Hebe.

I do think Craig has a strong point about the misuse of the word. But the context and direction that the thread has taken suggest that continuing the discussion can only do harm.

I would love to be wrong. But there are (at…

Hebe

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:30:37 +1200

For my part, I am appalled that this thread is conflating the biggest natural disaster in New Zealand, with the most ongoing effect on many people in the country’s second-biggest city with the awfulness of rape and domestic violence.

It’s a badly judged, no boundaries combination of subjects that is…

Moz

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:12:19 +1200

I'm not willing to talk about my experiences in detail but suffice to say that I support steven crawford wholeheartedly.

"refuge" has been a source of significant pain to many victims of violence as refuge struggled to come to terms with their own prejudices and preconceptions. The Christchurch group had…

Russell Brown

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:00:09 +1200

Jane, I'm sorry but I've deleted your entire comment. There seemed no purpose to it but to attack Craig in a way that reached way into the realm of personal correspondence. This is not the place to sort this out.

Moz

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:58:10 +1200

Tracy was talking about how and why Refuge developed as a safe space for women suffering violence from men.

I suspect Tracey was mistaken. Womens Refuge in NZ was started as a place for people fleeing violence. Their about page says

1973 Women's Refuge established The first Women’s Refuge was…

Moz

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:38:16 +1200

There has been nothing to stop motivated men from doing the same themselves

I trust you're aware of the fight to get domestic violence and marital rape recognised as issues, then crimes? And the reactions ranging from mirth to things that were not funny? I invite you to think about…

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:29:10 +1200

This would also be a great time to assure folks who've e-mailed me about aspects of this post, especially those who've shared their own experience of abuse, that they will not be published here – or quoted – without your SPECIFIC AND EXPLICIT consent.

Kind of shit that even needs…

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:08:28 +1200

Ian:

If you have any problems with my conduct anywhere on Public Address, please direct them to Russell.

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:55:34 +1200

Fighting a pervasive and so often invisible culture of abuse shouldn’t be a zero sum game, even though it so often seems that way.
Indeed…

Why just the other day I received this charming epistle:

__[DELETED. Sort this out in some other way than posting personal emails in a public…

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:19:44 +1200

Steven:

I'm with Russell on this, but truly thanks for engaging and I do respect where you're coming from because hell... been there. But this is also one of those times where, you know, everyone's right. Womens Refuge isn't the problem here. This is one area where one size really…

Russell Brown

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 07:49:10 +1200

Steven, I've removed the unnecessary and offensive last line of your comment. I recognise your real stake in a discussion like this, but that wasn't taking us anywhere good.

Tracy was talking about how and why Refuge developed as a safe space for women suffering violence from men. I think…

Hebe

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 23:19:48 +1200

FYI: I had a private response from an MP who is looking into the SSVT shutdown. Apparently there is much more to the closure than simply funding. There are other avenues of help, I am assured.

Morgan Nichol

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:42:59 +1200

Craig, we don't always agree on TV shows, or on what constitutes fair game in them, but this is a really fantastic piece of writing, sharp thinking, clear, and to the point. Thank you.

I do also think there is at least some element of truth to what Jane says.…

Lilith __

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:23:45 +1200

Great column Craig, thank you.

I think if people mean "plunder, steal, appropriate, disrespect", etc, etc, they should use those words. English is so rich in alternatives.

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:00:21 +1200

Jane:

I'm flattered, but also somewhat bemused, you think my superpower is bending any discussion among the habitually bloody-minded Public Address community to my will. But that's not the case, no matter how often I'd like it to be so.

Beyond that, I've precisely zero interest in playing dueling dictionaries,…

Jane

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 21:00:07 +1200

I followed your comments on the Hope and Wire review post, where you made a discussion about the dramatisation of a natural disaster, and the effect on thousands of people, about your particular response to the word rape.
“It’s like they are raping the city,” he said. “And what shocking…

TracyMac

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 17:38:32 +1200

And it is still often the case today that men's assault services are run as off-shoots of women's refuge services, at least intentionally (don't know what the current state of affairs is in NZ) and are are even less-resourced than the refuges themselves.

I think some context as to why…

Rob Stowell

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:09:54 +1200

Thanks Craig.

Robert Harvey

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 10:59:25 +1200

Thank you Craig. And though it's not about my personal experience, it is about that of so many who have been and still get abused, those who aren't able to 'toughen up and get over it', but who carry the hidden scars for so very long. People I know who…

Public Address

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 10:59:24 +1200

Discussion from blog post.