The Evil that Women Do

I love the way Belinda Stronach’s defection is being blamed on Stephen Harper. It’s the classic way women are patronized. If a woman does something despicable, you blame the nearest man. Turns out it is Harper’s fault for yelling at her. Or it is Peter MacKay’s fault for not knowing her better and warning us all about her.

Happens over here too. A couple of weeks ago, the weekend supplement in the paper had a full-page picture of a woman with a disfigured face, and the caption “The Evil that Men Do.” The story was about men disfiguring their wives out of jealousy—and of course demanding stiffer penalties and more government action.

Then yesterday there was the equivalent story with the sexes reversed: “Woman in India ‘Bobbitizes’ husband.” And the focus of the story was entirely on how badly he had allegedly cheated on her.

If a man harms a woman, it is abusive. If a woman harms a man, it must be the man’s fault.