Celebrate the small victories
I'm taking a page from the Reverend Martin Luther King's notebook here. As the Reverend said, "When opposing prejudice, you have to celebrate the small victories. There will be so many defeats."
A friend is finishing up a Community Services degree at a local TAFE.
When I told her the things that had happened to me because of Intervention Orders, she refused to believe me. I can't blame her. If I heard the story from someone else, I'd have a lot of doubts, too.
She, like most Australians, wants to believe in the quality and fairness of the legal system.
In the course of one discussion over coffee, I told her that there was a shocking inequity in the funding to care for men and women during breakups and divorce. She objected strenuously.
Because of the nature of the conversation, the issue of anger management programs seemed appropriate. I challenged her to find an anger management program for women.
I told her she would find numerable programs for men, but that I didn't think she would find one for women anywhere in Victoria. -- And she took me up on the challenge.
Today, she acknowledged that she had found one anger management program for women. She called about it, -- probably gleefully hoping to prove me wrong -- but it had been discontinued.
Small victories. She may not like to accept the perverse discrimination against men, but now she has found evidence for herself.
Then I described my search for an anger management program for my ex, a couple of years earlier.
I had found one anger management program for women by Relationships Australia. As requested, they sent me a brochure.
When I called back for further information, I was told that there had been little interest in the program, and it was pretty much cancelled. The woman on the phone went on to inform me that the program was superb: It showed that anger from women was usually a reaction to male aggression.
My friend's mouth opened.
Both of us understood that of all the things an anger management program must teach, the last thing that should ever be mentioned is an excuse for anger. The responsibility for anger must rest with the individual.
You gotta wonder how much the government paid for that program.
The small victory is that now one more person knows the ugly truth about the discrimination.
A friend is finishing up a Community Services degree at a local TAFE.
When I told her the things that had happened to me because of Intervention Orders, she refused to believe me. I can't blame her. If I heard the story from someone else, I'd have a lot of doubts, too.
She, like most Australians, wants to believe in the quality and fairness of the legal system.
In the course of one discussion over coffee, I told her that there was a shocking inequity in the funding to care for men and women during breakups and divorce. She objected strenuously.
Because of the nature of the conversation, the issue of anger management programs seemed appropriate. I challenged her to find an anger management program for women.
I told her she would find numerable programs for men, but that I didn't think she would find one for women anywhere in Victoria. -- And she took me up on the challenge.
Today, she acknowledged that she had found one anger management program for women. She called about it, -- probably gleefully hoping to prove me wrong -- but it had been discontinued.
Small victories. She may not like to accept the perverse discrimination against men, but now she has found evidence for herself.
Then I described my search for an anger management program for my ex, a couple of years earlier.
I had found one anger management program for women by Relationships Australia. As requested, they sent me a brochure.
When I called back for further information, I was told that there had been little interest in the program, and it was pretty much cancelled. The woman on the phone went on to inform me that the program was superb: It showed that anger from women was usually a reaction to male aggression.
My friend's mouth opened.
Both of us understood that of all the things an anger management program must teach, the last thing that should ever be mentioned is an excuse for anger. The responsibility for anger must rest with the individual.
You gotta wonder how much the government paid for that program.
The small victory is that now one more person knows the ugly truth about the discrimination.
posted by Unknown at
4:14 PM
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