Kind Husband

The only student who thinks there is something wrong with the actions of a husband who, in a fit of rage, tears an ear-ring out of his wife’s ear with such force that he rips her ear-lobe apart is a male student from France. Everybody else believes this character is a loving, kind husband.

21 responses to “Kind Husband”

  1. Luna Avatar
    Luna

    Wow. Your students are scary! Way more scary than mine.

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  2. musteryou Avatar

    Well, he’s giving her his attention isn’t he? Seriously, that kind of response, which I have also encountered from people from all sides of the political spectrum, is one of the main reasons I know we live in a patriarchy.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar

      He gave her expensive ear-rings and she dared not to appreciate that! He thought he bought her and she decided she was entitled to have desires of her own. Unbelievable gall!

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      1. musteryou Avatar

        possession masking itself as “love” IS the basic patriarchal trope.

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        1. bloggerclarissa Avatar

          “possession masking itself as “love” IS the basic patriarchal trope.”

          – This is what I’m trying to make them understand. We read a story where parents drive their son to an early grave making him work to keep them. Three of the students said that, “Of course, the parents wanted what’s best for their son because that’s what all parents want. . .”

          It’s like they speak in set phrases that they don’t even try to think over.

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          1. musteryou Avatar

            Yes, yes. A lot of people are like that, perhaps most.

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          2. musteryou Avatar

            It’s a version of the just world hypothesis, to believe that whatever it is authorities do to someone else is necessarily good and right.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis

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            1. bloggerclarissa Avatar

              Today we heard the news that the state is considering destroying several Humanities departments at our university. Given that Humanities courses are the only place where students have a chance of hearing anybody question this way of thinking, I don’t find it surprising that we get targeted.

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              1. musteryou Avatar

                People are literally becoming insane. Perhaps it was always so…the constant lurch of humanity toward insanity.

                It’s time to pat myself on the back for squeezing the most from the humanities, I think. I’ve got mine, and screw the rest of you. That’s the common view, nowadays, isn’t it?

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  3. Steve Avatar

    Weird. Where are the other students from?

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar

      Local mostly. St. Louis metro-area, Chicago. Several are Latin American.

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      1. Sarah Avatar

        I thought you were still talking about the Russian television programme!

        Your students condone violence? Scary indeed!

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      2. Steve Avatar

        Well I’ve heard of the Latin American culture of machismo, but have never been to Latin America so don’t have first-hand knowledge of it. But I find it scary that such attitudes are found among literature students. A drunken yobbo who can’t hpold down a job, perhaps, but you are dealing with educated people.

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  4. cliff arroyo Avatar

    “It’s like they speak in set phrases that they don’t even try to think over.”

    In other words, duckspeak : )

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  5. David Gendron Avatar

    Give your shit to those dicktards.

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  6. David Gendron Avatar

    And you know what is even more scary? This is worse in non-humanities and outside college!

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  7. Ol. Avatar
    Ol.

    Seriously? What is the movie? It rings something but I do not remember what exactly.

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    1. bloggerclarissa Avatar

      No, it’s pardo Bazan’s “La perla rosa.”

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      1. Ol. Avatar
        Ol.

        Oh… I use Pardo Bazán’s Las medias rojas in my class and of course all of my students sympathize with the young girl victim of patriarchy. I shoudl read La perla rosa and use it in class to see whether my students’ reaction is similar than yours.

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      2. Ol. Avatar
        Ol.

        This is such a good short story. Well… your student trusted the narrator and felt that they could not question him. Perhaps their reaction would have been different if it had been narrated by the woman, or by an omniscient narrator.

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  8. Ol. Avatar
    Ol.

    I once used Madga Portal’s “Círculos violeta” in a Latin American literature course and it generated the most intense debates with my students I have had so far in my career. I am sending you a link because you can read it fast, and somehow your post made me think about the ways my students can surprise me.

    http://www.lapoesiadetumirada.com/2011/05/circulos-violeta-magda-portal.html

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