Drag our Leaf Icon above to your taskbar to bookmark TGAM in Internet Explorer 9.
The truth is?
It is interesting to see how little attention the Canadian media gave to the motives of Derek Jensen, who murdered his ex-girlfriend along with two other people on a stretch of Alberta highway (The Culture Of Honour Crime – Jan. 31). He certainly had a lot of time to think about the crime he was going to commit. Rather than leading to a discussion about violence against women, Canadians treated it as an incomprehensible “tragedy.” We might discover some uncomfortable truths if we broaden our understanding of honour killings.
Mark Wolfgram, Stillwater, Okla.
My response:
For some unknown reason, an Albertan named Derek Jensen went on a shooting spree and then turned his gun on himself. At this stage, we still don't know what possessed him. We can be all but certain, however, that he didn't do it because he believed his family's good name had been besmirched by the "whorish" behaviour of any close female relatives--the raison d'etre for so-called "honour" murders, including those for which the Shafia trio were convicted. I suggest that instead of "broadening our understanding of honour killings," as Mark Wolfgram suggests, we instead focus on the factors that give rise to these very specific, very narrow category of crime. To do anything else is to all but sign the death warrants of untold numbers of Canadian women who dare to defy their atavistic, "honour"-obsessed fathers.
1 comment:
Check out Ian Tyson's song "North Saskatchewan":
But the wind whispers to me
That Sonny McGee
Cried 'if I cannot have her
Then no bastard will.'
Derek Jensen's response to rejection is - sadly - not uncommon. But it is in no way 'honour killing'; it's an extreme response to a woman not wanting him.
Post a Comment