An African Woman's Perspective on the DSK Case

[Dr. Cheese]

Time for manure to hit the DSK - Comment and analysis - Mail & Guardian Online


Obviously, race comes into this, but issues of gender and power are important in this situation too.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Time for manure to hit the DSK - Comment and analysis - Mail & Guardian Online


Obviously, race comes into this, but issues of gender and power are important in this situation too.

I haven't had a chance to read the article yet, but Im guessing she's not pro-rape.

[burk48237]

Steyn, has a different but very timely take on the case. Mark Steyn claims and I believe reasonably so that it is an example of the widening chasm between the governing classes and the poor schmucks who happen to be their subjects in the West.
A difference that use to be common in the Third World where dictators would be chauffered around in Rolls Royce limo's while their subjects were lucky if they had carts, much less horses for transportation. But now we see it more and more in the West.

The arrest of a mediocre international civil servant in the first-class cabin of his jet isn't just a sex story: It's a glimpse of the widening gulf between the government class and their subjects in a post-prosperity West. Neither Geithner nor Strauss-Kahn have ever created a dime of wealth in their lives. They have devoted their careers to "public service," and thus are in the happy position of rarely if ever having to write a personal check. At the Sofitel in New York, DSK was in a $3,000-per-night suite. Was the IMF picking up the tab

Fortunately, when the burdens of recognizability get too great, M Strauss-Kahn is able to retreat to his house in Washington, or his apartment in Paris, or his second apartment in Paris, or his riad in Marrakesh. Oh, c'mon, you provincial bozos: A "riad" is a palatial Moorish residence built around an interior courtyard. Everyone knows that. A lifetime of devoted "public service" in "socialist" France isn't yet as remunerative as in Mubarak's Egypt or Saddam's Iraq, but we're getting there. As the developed world drowns under the weight of Big Government, the gilded princelings of statism will hunker down in their interior courtyards and guard their privileges ever more zealously. Once in a while, as in that Manhattan hotel suite, a chance encounter between the seigneurs and their subjects will go awry, but more often, as in the Geithner confirmation, it will be understood that the Great Men of the Permanent Governing Class cannot be bound by the rules they impose on the rest of you schmucks.

Mark Steyn: The unzippered princeling and the serving wench - Opinion - The Orange County Register

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by burk48237

Steyn, has a different but very timely take on the case. Mark Steyn claims and I believe reasonably so that it is an example of the widening chasm between the governing classes and the poor schmucks who happen to be their subjects in the West.
A difference that use to be common in the Third World where dictators would be chauffered around in Rolls Royce limo's while their subjects were lucky if they had carts, much less horses for transportation. But now we see it more and more in the West.





Mark Steyn: The unzippered princeling and the serving wench - Opinion - The Orange County Register

It seems like Steyn can;t make uo his mind. Before, he wrote a piece suggested that DSK had been set up. Either way, the piece you cited is much more about politics than the issue of rape and power, IMO.

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

It seems like Steyn can;t make uo his mind. Before, he wrote a piece suggested that DSK had been set up. Either way, the piece you cited is much more about politics than the issue of rape and power, IMO.

Where does he suggest this? What Steyn is arguing os that the governing class is becoming the all powerful (exempt from the laws) class in the West as it already is in many third world countries. While the examples he gives are certainly political. How is a member of the governing class feeling he can get away with it not about rape and power?

This was exactly Steyn's point about the French being offended by DSK doing a perp walk and spending a night at county. How dare he be treated like one of his subjects? He's one of the ruling class, different rules apply to him. I'm sure he thought he'd get away with it. Because evidently he has before in France.

The stories coming out imply that he has done this type of thing on more then one occasion. And not just with the help. But with reporters and other employees at the IMF, which to someone like DSK evidently were just the help. And if you'll notice these victims weren't black maids. DFK didn't think race gave him privilege, he evidently felt his position gave him privilege.

The DSK case is a sad reminder that many in our governing class live lives isolated from the consequences that they impose on ordinary people. They not only don't feel the effects of their decisions, a problem in and of itself. But many now believe that because of their status and position they are supposed to be insulated from the consequences of their actions.

You may disagree with Steyns politics here, but thats irrelevent. I disagree with most of the Roots politics. The question is does he make his case about DFK? And I believe he does.


Now The Other Woman DSK Allegedly Assaulted Is Going To Press Charges

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by burk48237

Where does he suggest this? What Steyn is arguing os that the governing class is becoming the all powerful (exempt from the laws) class in the West as it already is in many third world countries. While the examples he gives are certainly political. How is a member of the governing class feeling he can get away with it not about rape and power?

This was exactly Steyn's point about the French being offended by DSK doing a perp walk and spending a night at county. How dare he be treated like one of his subjects? He's one of the ruling class, different rules apply to him. I'm sure he thought he'd get away with it. Because evidently he has before in France.

The stories coming out imply that he has done this type of thing on more then one occasion. And not just with the help. But with reporters and other employees at the IMF, which to someone like DSK evidently were just the help. And if you'll notice these victims weren't black maids. DFK didn't think race gave him privilege, he evidently felt his position gave him privilege.

The DSK case is a sad reminder that many in our governing class live lives isolated from the consequences that they impose on ordinary people. They not only don't feel the effects of their decisions, a problem in and of itself. But many now believe that because of their status and position they are supposed to be insulated from the consequences of their actions.

You may disagree with Steyns politics here, but thats irrelevent. I disagree with most of the Roots politics. The question is does he make his case about DFK? And I believe he does.

Now The Other Woman DSK Allegedly Assaulted Is Going To Press Charges

Burke, I know this piece takes a pretty hard shot at DSK. Steyn wrote another piece where suggested a fat 62 year old man would have a hard time raping a young woman. I'll look it up after I finish cutting my backyard.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Burke, I know this piece takes a pretty hard shot at DSK. Steyn wrote another piece where suggested a fat 62 year old man would have a hard time raping a young woman. I'll look it up after I finish cutting my backyard.

Burke, I was wrong. I was talking about Ben Stein, not Mark Steyn.

[pie_man_25]

Didn't Mark Steyn write some articles in the Maclean's magazine for a while?

[burk48237]

Originally Posted by pie_man_25

Didn't Mark Steyn write some articles in the Maclean's magazine for a while?

I believe he still does.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by pie_man_25

Didn't Mark Steyn write some articles in the Maclean's magazine for a while?

He still does, but I don't think he has a weekly column any more.

lowsound

[pie_man_25]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

He still does, but I don't think he has a weekly column any more.

lowsound

okay, I haven't seen any since something like last summer, so I was wondering. While I think a lot of the tone was alarmist, I thought his articles were interesting.

[Munjibunga]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in the doo-doo. For someone of his ilk to spend a few days at that most wretched of places, New York's Rikers Island jail, must have been torture.

His apparently aggressive skirt-chasing ways have finally caught up with him. Now the former chairperson of the International Monetary Fund has to face the wrath of his wife and family, as well as the French nation, for the untold humiliation he has wrought on them.

The courts must still decide whether he forced himself on an unsuspecting Guinean hotel maid or whether the escapades in that room were consensual. But it doesn't help his cause that he seems to have a reputation for being a bit of sex pest, judging by claims that he tried to force himself on to a French journalist during an interview a few years ago.

The sad thing is that this kind of bullying and intimidation of women for sexual favours by men in powerful positions is common, but it is only ever highlighted when a high-profile individual is involved. More women need to speak out against these unsolicited advances and other such despicable behaviour, otherwise such men will continue to behave as though they have the right to harass and pester women.

I attended a polo match at the weekend. What a lovely way to while away the beginnings of a Highveld winter. I was the guest of an international bank whose staff were wonderfully gracious hosts. The event was posh, yet understated and the company of charming Swiss-based bankers made for a pleasant weekend. The chatter ranged from the weather, the game on the field, the recent local-government elections and inevitably, the downfall of Strauss-Kahn.

We debated the possible candidates for the job and who might be the best replacement for DSK (as he is known), but invariably we returned to the topic of his alleged unseemly behaviour. His reputation as a cad and seducer seems well known and accepted by the French, who, apparently, are less bothered by issues of sexual impropriety than most nations. But this particular incident and the fact that it is before the courts raises other debates about power, race, class and gender.

It was quite astonishing then, that while we lounged in the weak winter sun taking in the game, in walked an elderly white gentleman who tried to pull a DSK. His outfit of tight jeans, cowboy boots with spurs, and a white Stetson to boot, should have signalled that this was a man whose manners would be outside what would be considered polite or decent among this mink-and-manure set. He deliberately sought out the black women at the gathering. He spoke fluent isiZulu and, with that imagined upper hand, I suppose he figured it gave him licence to make inappropriate and sexually suggestive remarks to us, much to our annoyance and disgust.

He told anyone who would listen that he was a wealthy landowner in the area and that some of his ponies were participating in the competition. It was his sense of entitlement and the brazen manner with which he foisted himself on all the black girls that was disturbing. It communicated a slave-owner mentality, that suggested that he could and should do with us as he wished because he was white, wealthy and powerful. My sister and I put him in his place with a few curt words, but he didn't seem at all embarrassed or ashamed. I shudder to think what his black female staff back at the ranch might have to endure.

I thought then of the poor Guinean house maid who would have walked into a hotel room to do her job, only to be confronted by a naked, wrinkly DSK determined to have his way with her. As a poor black immigrant woman from Africa, the fear and insecurity she must have felt must have been overwhelming, but she was brave enough to report the matter to police.

It is the power dynamic, infused with racism, still permeating society that makes this kind of behaviour so common. If DSK is guilty, then he should rot in jail. This is not just about a randy old man who wanted to have his way, it's about the humiliation women encounter on a daily basis from men whose power has gone to their heads. Let this be a lesson to them all.

Much of this piece was fabricated in the writer's head. Check the wording in red. I'm not saying that the alleged events did not occur, I'm just saying this is journalism at its worst.

Also, I like "posh, yet understated," as if she could mitigate the fact that she hangs out in circles completely foreign to the victims she purports to represent. She doesn't know any more about the events than I do; she's just using them as a foundation for a rant about something most people find despicable in the first place. It's a complete puff piece.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Much of this piece was fabricated in the writer's head. Check the wording in red. I'm not saying that the alleged events did not occur, I'm just saying this is journalism at its worst.

Also, I like "posh, yet understated," as if she could mitigate the fact that she hangs out in circles completely foreign to the victims she purports to represent. She doesn't know any more about the events than I do; she's just using them as a foundation for a rant about something most people find despicable in the first place. It's a complete puff piece.

Munji, it is an op-Ed piece for a South African newspaper, not an investigative journalism piece.

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Munji, it is an op-Ed piece for a South African newspaper, not an investigative journalism piece.

I'll say.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

I'll say.

I cannot see where she did anything different than an American or UK Op-Ed writer.

[Munjibunga]

Part of my point is that the fact she is African and female has absolutley no significance in that piece. She clearly is a member of a privileged class that eclipses most of us here at TB and society in general. There's nothing special about her social status that makes what she says any more relevant than something someone like that knucklehead Shawn Hannity might say.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

Part of my point is that the fact she is African and female has absolutley no significance in that piece. She clearly is a member of a privileged class that eclipses most of us here at TB and society in general. There's nothing special about her social status that makes what she says any more relevant than something someone like that knucklehead Shawn Hannity might say.

As a black South African woman who seems to be at least thirty, she has seen discrimination at a level you may understand, but not truly comprehend. Remember Mandela did not become president until 1994. She also noted that the man who was impolite clearly focused on black women despite the fact that she was clearly not poor. Based on that, she wondered what life might be like for his female servants. As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in South Africa, this is a real concern because rural servants or farm workers are still very dependant on their white employers, and have comparatively little recourse if they want to keep working.

Finally, it is worth noting that DSK is rumored to have been inappropriate with women from pretty high social class also although those women are white AFAIK.

[GregC]

It was quite astonishing then, that while we lounged in the weak winter sun taking in the game, in walked an elderly white gentleman who tried to pull a DSK. His outfit of tight jeans, cowboy boots with spurs, and a white Stetson to boot, should have signalled that this was a man whose manners would be outside what would be considered polite or decent among this mink-and-manure set. He deliberately sought out the black women at the gathering. He spoke fluent isiZulu and, with that imagined upper hand, I suppose he figured it gave him licence to make inappropriate and sexually suggestive remarks to us, much to our annoyance and disgust.

He told anyone who would listen that he was a wealthy landowner in the area and that some of his ponies were participating in the competition. It was his sense of entitlement and the brazen manner with which he foisted himself on all the black girls that was disturbing. It communicated a slave-owner mentality, that suggested that he could and should do with us as he wished because he was white, wealthy and powerful. My sister and I put him in his place with a few curt words, but he didn't seem at all embarrassed or ashamed. I shudder to think what his black female staff back at the ranch might have to endure.

But this guy "creates wealth" and isn't part of the "governing class", so I guess Marc Steyn would say the dynamic is completely different.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

The world is rife with power-tripping self-important boors who have a sense of entitlement, and it always has been. Too rarely do they get taken down a few notches.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Originally Posted by GregC

But this guy "creates wealth" and isn't part of the "governing class", so I guess Marc Steyn would say the dynamic is completely different.

Obviously different from the "ruling class."