The Threat-sensitive Brain: a theory about animals applied to Gabriel Wortman

An analysis of
Seeking to explain Nova Scotia shootings: Inside the 'threat-sensitive brain'
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mass-killing-portapique-mental-health-1.5602698
'A threat-sensitive brain that is always looking for evidence to confirm the world is against them' by Michael MacDonald· The Canadian Press· Jun 08, 2020 7:25 AM AT | Last Updated: June 8

The Threat-sensitive Brain 

Can such a theory be applied to human beings or is it better off being applied to animals who survive on instinct? (revision of response to same article previously posted elsewhere).

This type of mental health explanation, as described in the article, ignores the reality of informal social networks or community ideals of conforming to the authority of those who have been granted power to control the lives of those living within their borders. Communities based on tradition or other cultural values may well result in the individual being punished discreetly and informally for breaking the rules of the hierarchy, which could be based on sexuality, or gender, wealth, or another kind of perceived status of members of the community.

Seeking to understand the behaviour of the individual presumably isolated within it, in relationships with fragile bases in which loyalty and trust have little place, means that injustices will build up, and if not resolved may eventually result in the individual attempting to break away from this insurmountable problem.

The idea of the 'threat-sensitive brain' must surely result in loud beeps in the brains of those reading about it, as though the individual has some kind of physical brain disorder (or animal-like brain where instinct is what counts) that results in the individual being unable to reason, to adapt, to be in a relationship, and to live a life of substantial success within the community and at a distance, doing work that has earned him compliments and security, doing sensitive, personal work with clients/patients seeking dental repair. If Gabriel Wortman were this kind of person, he probably wouldn't have been able to achieve all that he did.

The term 'injustice collector' is the creation of those who have lived at the top too long and has little understanding of what really happens in society, in communities that are encouraged and rewarded for demonstrating the collective value of family, sharing, and conformity and excluding those who don't quite measure up.

Referring to being an 'injustice-collector' as a way of seeing the world, as Tracy Vaillancourt (children's mental health and violence expert) does, according to this article, is only one possibility of a motivation for this tragic event. This expert in child bullying would do better spending more time on the subject of 'peer victimization' among adults.

Read ‘Dangerous Instincts’: FBI profiler explains the dangers of that ‘nice’ neighbor <https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/dangerous-instincts-fbi-profiler-explains-the-dangers-of-that-nice-neighbor/2011/10/17/gIQAkvNCDM_story.html> for information on the world-view of Mary Ellen O’Toole, a former FBI profiler who coined the term.

Michael Arntfield, criminologist turned armchair psychologist, who speaks of the 'injustice-collector' as someone who often feels "cheated or disrespected by others, even though there may be no evidence to support those beliefs." And that is most likely the problem. If a community does show disrespect in small ways, in an unrelenting manner, there may well be no “evidence” of the type that someone like Arntfield, a former police officer now working in a 'customized academic appointment' at Western University, would value (see Wikipedia, Michael Arntfield). Most of his work seems focused on the individual rather than the community, as most psychologists involved in extrapolating this theory of 'injustice-collecting' and the 'threat-sensitive brain' are.

I suggest a focus on the community, and I don't mean accepting their stories on Wortman as 'evidence' of his guilt or fitness-of-mind or not, but treating them, too, as though they might not be as credible as the investigators of this horrendous tragedy would like them to be. Liking should not translate to 'credibility'. Rather, investigators should attempt to be objective and to keep in mind that when such a tragedy happens, evidence of the sort that shows the killer in a good light may well be kept hidden. No one wants to support the bad guy at a time like this. Mr Wortman was known to be a caring and community-minded denturist in his working community and among those who knew him in that role. But community is often set apart from a person's work-life. It doesn't mean that Wortman should be labelled 'injustice-collector' because those in the business of psychology see him as such. 

A perspective taken from the discipline of Sociology might be better at undoing some of the falsehoods of this perspective, and the very one-sided blame on one man, similar, in fact, to the moral culpability of the tragedy of the Montreal massacre of 1989, during which killings were committed by Marc Lepine, for reasons that were distorted and attempted to be hidden from Canadians.

References:

Seeking to explain Nova Scotia shootings: Inside the 'threat-sensitive brain'  
by Michael MacDonald·
The Canadian Press·
Posted: Jun 08, 2020 7:25 AM AT | Last Updated: June 8
 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mass-killing-portapique-mental-health-1.5602698

 ‘Dangerous Instincts’: FBI profiler explains the dangers of that ‘nice’ neighbor
By Monica Hesse 
Style
October 24, 2011
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/dangerous-instincts-fbi-profiler-explains-the-dangers-of-that-nice-neighbor/2011/10/17/gIQAkvNCDM_story.html

Doctors and the CPSO - women growing older

According to the latest letter I have received from the CPSO, my case is now going under review, to see if they think it is worth taking to the committee or will be dismissed.  I have written many letters to them over the last year, responding to questions and letters from them with details about the doctor  - my family doctor, that I laid the complaint about.

Usually, when patients lay a complaint, it is because something of great magnitude has happened – a loved one has died while in their care, or there has been sexual abuse, or outrageous acts of unprofessional or negligent behaviour. I didn’t see my experience as any of those, at least not until the last official appointment with that family doctor, in April, a year ago.

Before then, I had approached a local organization, the London and District Academy of Medicine, LDAM, to help resolve problems I had had with the doctor in question, who had been my family doctor for about a year and a half. I had thought that, as a doctor opening a new practice, that it was stressful and needed time to adjust to, and so thought his attitude and ways of communicating, as well as organizational methods, etc, would improve over time. However, as time went on, I came to realize he wasn’t improving. In fact, his attitude and ways of conducting his practice were getting worse. Moreover, it was obvious he didn’t want me as a patient, in fact, he asked me to find a new doctor, something I was reluctant to do due to the difficulty in finding one in the first place. Surely, a doctor should be able to do his job, treating patients that come to him, without having personal biases interfere.

Recently, I have come to think that he was treating me as a walk-in patient, not as one of his registered patients. Having to go to his office every three months to have prescriptions renewed, by hand, not on the form, at the risk of errors being made, was just one example of that. Although the pharmacy provided a form that had the items on it to be checked off, he required me come in so he could do it by hand, which itself resulted in the occasional mistake and further consultations with the pharmacy, and another trip to the doctor to sort it out.

There came to be an accumulation of instances by him of unprofessionalism, including lack of attention to the details of making referrals, discussing reports, prescribing medications, demeaning comments, trivializing my health concerns and in general, offering a lack of quality time in assessing what treatment I needed - five minutes or so, but not enough. At the end of the my time with the doctor as his patient, however, I felt I had been subjected to more than what I should have had to put up with, and in a manner that was more than disrespectful. It was an attack on me as a human being - as a woman, an older person, and as a single person living in a separate city from other family members.

It was as though he had no time for me. And sometimes, it seemed as though some things that happened that were harmful to my health and sense of wellbeing were done on purpose. Possibly what happened to me was not any worse than how many long-term Canadian doctors are towards their ageing patients, at least the ones they see as being a burden on the system.

It was a year ago that I laid the complaint against my previous family doctor. CPSO stands for College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. For the most part the CPSO seems to be an organization for the benefit of the doctors, so having one’s complaint dealt with in a serious manner is no easy matter. I wrote on my blog almost a year ago about my first encounter with the ‘investigator’ at CPSO. See ‘CPSO complaints against Ontario doctors’. More recently, not having much faith left that the second assigned CPSO investigator was addressing my concerns objectively, and having come to see what happened in terms of discrimination and not only as bullying, abuse and lack of attention to the administrative aspects of his practice I decided to open a case of discrimination against the doctor with the Human Rights Commission of Ontario. See on my blog, ‘Health care among single, older women – a case of discrimination for OHRT’.

A while back I also founded a discussion list on Yahoo - Ageism in Canada's health care system. Anyone wishing to join would be welcome, to discuss issues of concern, whether for the young-old at home, or in hospital, or the old-old, in long term care homes.

The subject of health care among those growing older is so wide I decided to start with my own experience in this blog piece and see where it leads. Twenty-five years ago I studied ageing while at Western University (was UWO), and wrote several essays and research papers as well as conducting interviews with older people – mainly of close to retirement age, about their experiences and thoughts on the subject. Several of these are on my website – the Diversity in Retirement website.

I started my first website with a research essay about my grandmother, Gertrude McPherson, which also was about aging, actually about the life cycle and how women (she was born in 1882) were able to contribute to society and achieve fulfilment over the course of their lives. And of course, for many, that meant marrying and having children. Along the way she became a missionary (in Hong Kong), an artist and art teacher, was married and raised three daughters, and wrote a book, The Grey Cottage, hence the title of my new photo essay, adapted from the original 2001 edition, Gertrude McPherson and the Grey Cottage.

My interest in aging and life cycle development started while at Western University, where I went many years after graduating from high school in Woodstock, Ontario. Taking courses on sex and gender, and aging and the life cycle in Sociology, while I was going through my own midlife changes put me on the path I would take, researching these areas of study and more. No career came of it, though I started the websites and have continued to do research.

List of resources

Ageism in Canada's health care system
Yahoo discussion group
founded by Sue McPherson
Feb 25, 2015
https://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/AgeismHealthCA

Baby boomers, longevity, and health care
Sue’s Views on the News
April 9, 2012
http://suemcpherson.blogspot.ca/2012/04/baby-boomers-longevity-and-health-care.html

CPSO complaints against Ontario doctors
Sue’s Views on the News
July 30, 2014
http://suemcpherson.blogspot.ca/2014/07/cpso-complaints-against-ontario-doctors.html

Diversity in Retirement website
Sue McPherson
since 2004
http://www.DiversityinRetirement.net

Gertrude McPherson and the Grey Cottage
photo essay by Sue McPherson
adapted 2015 from 2001 essay
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/GertrudeMcPhersonandtheGreyCottage.html

Healthcare: Technology is a bigger cost driver than demography
By Julia Belluz
Macleans
February 10, 2012
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/02/10/healthcare-technology-is-a-bigger-cost-driver-than-demography/

Health care among single, older women – a case of discrimination for OHRT
Sue’s Views on the News
April 12, 2015
http://suemcpherson.blogspot.ca/2015/04/health-care-among-single-older-women.html

Project Hero: Free university tuition for children of deceased soldiers

Revised June, 2012

A new policy, begun in 2009 by Retired General Rick Hillier and Honorary Lt. Colonel Kevin Reed, provides scholarships to children of soldiers who have died while in service. Project Hero has been introduced at several colleges and universities across Canada. Some professors at the University of Regina have objected to the program, however, claiming that the program glorifies military action, as does the name itself - Project Hero, and would rather their university had no part in it.

The program appears to be a tuition waiver, with grants for books and tuition presumably supplied by the Canadian Hero Fund. It looks as though the Canadian Hero Fund originally provided the funds for such endeavors, including spouses of the deceased soldiers being eligible as well as their children. Being so closely associated with the universities puts a different slant on the program, however. If the universities voluntarily waive the tuition fees, they will give the impression of taking sides, despite what the universities say.

“Our decision to do this was not at all meant to suggest endorsement of or lack of endorsement of something such as military action. It is purely to support the education pursuits of those for whom it might have been challenging to access post secondary,” said Barb Pollock, spokeswoman for the University of Regina. (Globe and Mail, Mar 26, 2010). But of course it is an endorsement! If they provided free tuition to white supremacists, wouldn't people notice, and wonder? Do we really want our universities to set objectivity aside and become politically associated with this side or that?

It's understandable that the University of Regina would sign up to the program without giving it much thought. They could see how other respected universities had agreed to the program, and at face value, it must have seemed like a good idea. It's just too bad that experts in the field weren't asked for their opinion first, before this step was taken.

The title given to the project is another issue. The old-fashioned idea, especially among military personnel, might well be to think of war and death in war as heroic, but our aim should be, and I thought was starting to be, to perceive war as a necessity, and being a soldier as a career, not mainly as a noble way to die, a means to becoming a hero.

The children and spouses of our fallen soldiers will be provided for, by programs initiated by the military or former military personnel, with ways of donating made easily accessible through the internet. It is not a rejection of the men who served in the military, or of their children, to turn down this request to join Project Hero. But it will be maintaining the purpose of universities, to turn down such a request. Universities should stay away from being seen to take sides, even if that is not their intention. They should avoid stepping into controversy by appearing to take sides.

It is difficult to turn down requests to assist children, the innocent victims of war. But doing so, in this manner, can lead to the kind of society we would rather not have. "Setting up the military as something special leads to a militaristic society" says Art Campbell, retired Wing Commander (see comments following Adrian MacNair blog). He also does not want to see the spouses of deceased soldiers being left out, with diminishing pensions to support them as they grow old.

The emphasis in society is always on youth - children and youth. In February this year, John Babcock died, at the age of 109. He was the last known survivor of WWI, and there was a call for a state funeral to be held for him. He wasn't a hero, in the traditional sense, and he didn't see himself as one, so he declined the offer, previously made to him. Links to four articles about his death are included below - Canada’s last World War I vet, The enduring legacy of an old soldier; How inconvenient the veterans' wishes; and John Babcock's passing. Check for comments by readers about the significance of his life and death. I wouldn't want to see the focus of 'remembering' to be mainly about money - about scholarships to university for the children of soldiers who died.

Added June, 2012

In one of the articles, the words of one veteran are included - a grandfather, Jeffrey Scott Walsh, “who considered the Hero Project a ‘gift’ that the ‘university’s initiated.” He says, “I don’t think it was the families who asked for this help . . . But it’s not fair to students who need financial help and don’t have soldiers in their families.” (Professors slam scholarships, 2010).

Not only that, but the soldiers whose families are being helped through such scholarships are not ones who made it through and returned alive. Only the children of deceased soldiers are eligible. As the daughter of a veteran of WW II, who did return from the war alive and healthy, my experience tells me that financial situations of soldiers and their families don’t automatically improve just because dad comes home. In fact, that is one of the reasons my family emigrated to Canada in 1957, because good jobs were not always easy to find in England after the war.

Besides that, singling out particular groups of individuals to receive assistance is a political gesture, as comments in the National Post articles suggested, though unfortunately, the National Post presumably deletes its comments section of each article soon afterwards, leaving only the article itself available to be read.

The death of John Babcock was symbolic of the sacrifice that soldiers have often been ready to make, for their families and country. Even though he never went to war, he was the last remaining WW I soldier from Canada. He was made a hero of sorts, against his will, but one doesn’t have to die to be a hero. He became a celebrity, but not of his own making. His longevity – and being part of a particular historical period in history now gone forever – has made him someone to remember.


Blood of Heroes Blogspot
http://blood-o-heroes.blogspot.com/2008/04/rick-hillier-man-myth-legend.html

Canada’s last World War I vet, John Babcock, dies
By Nicolaas van Rijn Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
Feb 19, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/767925--canada-s-last-world-war-i-vet-john-babcock-dies

Canadian Hero Fund: keeping their dreams alive
http://www.herofund.ca/

Criticism of scholarships for children of fallen soldiers draws sharp rebuke
By Jennifer Graham
Globe and Mail (Regina — The Canadian Press)
Mar 26, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/criticism-of-scholarships-for-children-of-fallen-soldiers-draws-sharp-rebuke/article1512784/
http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/article/criticism-of-scholarships-for-children-of-fallen-soldiers-draws-sharp-rebuke/

The enduring legacy of an old soldier : He survived!
By J.L. Granatstein
Montreal Gazette
Feb 24, 2010 http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/enduring+legacy+soldier+survived/2604717/story.html

How inconvenient the veterans' wishes are to our mythology
By Noah Richler
Globe and Mail
Feb 23, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/how-inconvenient-the-veterans-wishes-are-to-our-mythology/article1478845 /

Ignorance on display at the University of Regina
By Adrian MacNair
Full Comment, National Post
Mar 25, 2010
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/03/25/adrian-macnair-ignorance-on-display-at-the-university-of-regina.aspx
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/03/25/adrian-macnair-ignorance-on-display-at-the-university-of-regina/

John Babcock's passing
By Wilfred Edmond
Special to The Windsor Star
Mar 18, 2010
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/reader-comments/Gallery+Remembering+John+Babcock/2583336/John+Babcock+passing/2695738/story.html
http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/editorial/story.html?id=79a811ee-cc9e-4de6-aca4-89a2ecc1c23e

McGill Scholarships
http://www.projecthero.ca/
McGill Scholarships
McGill University
http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/projecthero/http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/projecthero/

Professors slam scholarships for children of dead soldiers
By Josh Campbell
National Post
Mar 25, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2722557
http://www.globaltvbc.com/professors+slam+scholarships+children+dead+soldiers/2725039/story.html

Project Hero: Gifting Education to children of our fallen soldiers
http://www.projecthero.ca/

Sask. premier disappointed by Project Hero critics
CBC News
Mar 25, 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/03/25/sk-wall-scholarship-1003.html

The University of Ottawa offers free tuition for children of Canadian military parents killed in action
University of Ottawa
June 30, 2009
http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news-details_1709.html

Links updated June, 2012

PhD university students: incomplete degrees

Updated May, 2012

In ‘Doctoring the System, 2009, Tara Brabazon makes a list of ten ideas that she believes will create an atmosphere conducive to doctoral students’ completing their degrees and provide valuable information for students, professors, and administration. In general, it appears to be a list that combines both individual traits and the kind that are more about society itself - the structure of the organization and the people in it.

In Item 4, Orientation, Brazabon makes a point of listing “characteristics” of students who didn’t finish their degrees. At the same time, she says that “simply because a student showed one or two of these behavioural markers did not mean they would be unsuccessful.” However, the list of signs itself is a combination of character traits and social circumstances, not solely characteristics of the student alone, so calling it that is not accurate. Perhaps different terms other than ‘characteristics’ and ‘behavioural markers’ could be used, as these imply that the items in the list arise from within the student, are internal to the student, and did not occur due to some event or circumstances nothing to do with the student, or are more about the student being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Having such a list makes it easier for the university to place the blame for an incomplete degree on the student rather than looking at other circumstances within the university or related to the thesis supervision itself. This is Brazabon’s list (from Item 4):

change of supervision, suspension, intellectual isolation, movement from full-time to part-time enrolment, irregular meetings with a supervisor, returning to study after a long break, an unsupportive partner or employer and a changing family situation, such as divorce or bereavement (Doctoring the System, 2009).

These may be signs of problems for the student in the future, but they are not characteristics of the student her or himself. A change of supervision may happen because the original supervisor turned out not to be the best for the student’s research, if their knowledge or theoretical approach differed too much from the student’s, for example. Changing from full-time to part-time could be a result of not being able to afford the tuition fees and needing to find work.

Seeing going from full-time to part-time as a character flaw is not helpful, though considering it a socioeconomic one would be. Furthermore, if meetings with their supervisor are irregular, that could be a problem with their working relationship, not simply the student not bothering anymore. Supervisors are human beings too. And while a changing family situation can be temporarily disruptive, for either student or supervisor, it doesn’t have to mean the end. In fact, older students, returning after a long break, are often more committed to getting their degree than younger one working on their first.

I am wondering if there are any statistics on these ideas, or if Brabazock is trying to use a commonsense approach.

The fact that research can be controversial, and in any case could well be political, has not been addressed in the article. Besides the research itself, the students themselves are political subjects immersed in a political environment, where race or nationality, and sex and sexuality are among the sources of conflict that can affect the completion of the research thesis. Worse yet, the decision to go forward with the research my be completely out of the control of the students themselves.

Women’s studies, and other groups vying for power in an environment known for its scarce resources can lead to university not being a pleasant place, without the necessary support, financial and otherwise. I agree with the distinction made by one of the commenters, Paul Davies, that being deemed withdrawn is not the same as a candidate being failed or pushed out. But the consequences can be the same when the ‘deemed withdrawn’ student cannot offer an adequate explanation for potential employers or other universities when applying for jobs or to grad school. An incomplete degree gives the impression that the student was incapable of doing the work or had personality problems, or if the reason given was lack of funding, then it appears as though the withdrawn student either lacked ability or their proposed research was not worthwhile. I'm not sure that the consequences of letting a student down are fully realized by those involved. The results can be devastating and life-changing, to be treated in this manner and left to struggle on with a damaged reputation.

Professors might take this decision thoughtlessly, to end a supervisory relationship for the wrong reasons, perhaps thinking it won’t make any difference. For example, if a student was accepted to enter a PhD program but had not quite finished the dissertation for the MA degree - a requirement in Canada but not in the UK, I understand) - the MA research supervisor may simply decide to quit, not bothering to finish up the research and the defense of it so the student has the MA in hand. Move ahead a few months, and the new university discovers that the PhD never got the MA and isn’t going to. This affects their perception of the student, possibly to the extent that they decide this is one student to let go – by withdrawing support and making it difficult to continue.

If, some time in the near future, the original supervisor realizes he made an error in judgement, and permits the student (now not doing a PhD or able to get work) to complete the MA degree and defend the dissertation research, does that absolve him of any responsibility in the effects to the student of not achieving the MA at the appropriate time in the timeline? If not getting it resulted in the student being pushed out of the PhD program in the next university, so several years later the student finally has the MA degree, but is now past the half-century mark in terms of life cycle, and has gaps in resume and an incomplete PhD, whose responsibility is that?

This story illustrates the concept of pop psychology known as the downward spiral. It explains how a person’s life can start to go downhill, and other people’s mistakes and decisions can contribute towards further spiraling down. In the same way, someone doing well in education and at work can experience the upward spiral, which they would no doubt attribute to their own ability and “characteristics,” whereas the reality is that the more they move upwards, the more likely it is that people will be nice to them, giving them things, access to more resources, and better jobs.

How do people find meaning in life after such adversity, not to mention fulfillment and the chance to contribute to society, especially when their experiences are of the kind many would rather not hear about, or their circumstances don’t appear to be worthwhile trying to improve? Fewer choices and options to reinvent one’s life, as well as limited resources and being on the wrong side of fifty can make it far more difficult than it would be for others.

The article by Tara Brabazon discusses far more than this, but my focus has been only on the one item. See the article, and many insightful comments on the THE page.


Doctoring the system
By Tara Brabazon
THE (Times Higher Education) UK
Oct 22, 2009
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=408733

Sexuality, motherhood, and aging: Marilyn Monroe

Revised June, 2012

Marilyn Monroe, had she lived, would now be in her eighties. Marilyn, aka Norma Jeane Mortenson (Baker) was born on June 1, 1926 in Los Angeles, California, less than a year after Margaret Thatcher was born! I don’t think Thatcher is relevant to Marilyn’s story, but it’s quite a contrast! Marilyn died 50 years ago this year, 2012, (Aug 5, 1962) at her Brentwood, California home. She was 36 years old.

Marilyn didn’t have children of her own, although she did get pregnant, says Lisa Manterfield in ‘Life without baby,’ 2011). She had wanted children, and adopted children too, but her career was also important to her. This was at a time when reliable birth control in the form of ‘the pill’ wasn’t available.

Fast-track ahead, and psychoanalyst Corinne Maier, in her best-seller, ‘No Kids: 40 Good Reasons’ (2009), takes a humorous look at her own life with children, and at the choices people are making today, seeing them as reasonable alternatives (see Doug Saunder’s article, 'I really regret it. I really regret’, 2007, 2009). As Melanie Notkin writes, more women today are choosing to remain childless, as well as seeking alternatives to a situation not of their choosing (see Truth about childless women, 2011).

Hilary Mantel presents her views on powerful, ordinary older women, recalled from her childhood, in the article ‘Women over 50 – the invisible generation,’ 2009). A brief mention of Margaret Thatcher is included. One wonders, though, would Marilyn have aged well?

Ayn Rand wrote ‘Through your most grievous fault’ – a tribute to Marilyn - within two weeks of Marilyn’s death. In it, she says,

“Envy is the only name she could find for the monstrous thing she faced, but it was much worse than envy: it was the profound hatred of life, of success and of all human values, felt by a certain kind of mediocrity--the kind who feels pleasure on hearing about a stranger's misfortune. It was hatred of the good for being the good--hatred of ability, of beauty, of honesty, of earnestness, of achievement and, above all, of human joy” (Marilyn Monroe: Through Your Most Grievous Fault, 1962).

That was very kind of Rand to say all that, but it doesn’t seem very objective. I’m quite sure that Marilyn’s way of life, projecting herself as a sexual, sensual woman, could well have been the reason some people didn’t approve of her. Calling it ‘envy’ just doesn’t seem to catch the significance of any disapproval she experienced. Perhaps Rand was thinking of her own accomplishments, and criticism of them when she spoke. The idea of envy certainly takes away from the more complex reasons people have for being critical of someone’s views or lifestyle.

The song "Candle in the Wind," originally written in 1972 by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, is performed by Elton John here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvux60fqNU8 (courtesy of 'libysin', You Tube). Also see tribute to Marilyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IotIPev5NBY&feature=related (courtesy of Danielle625, You Tube).


Life Without Baby: Marilyn Monroe
By Lisa Manterfield
Lifewithoutbaby.com
Mar 29, 2011
http://lifewithoutbaby.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/marilyn-monroe/

No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not To Have Children (also published as ‘No Kid 40 Raisons De Ne Pas Avoir Enfant’, 2007)
By Corinne Maier
McClelland & Stewart
2009

On This Day: 5th August 1962: Marilyn Monroe found dead
On this Day, 1950 - 2005
BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/5/newsid_2657000/2657289.stm

The Truth About Childless Women
By Melanie Notkin
Huffington Post
July 11, 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melanie-notkin/childless-women_b_894535.html

Women over 50 – the invisible generation
By Hilary Mantel
The Guardian
Aug 4, 2009
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/04/hilary-mantel-older-women

Marilyn Monroe: Through Your Most Grievous Fault
By Ayn Rand
Capitalism Magazine
July 22, 2003
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3247

'I really regret it. I really regret having children'
By Doug Saunders
Globe and Mail
originally published Sept 2007, last updated Jul 29, 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/i-really-regret-it-i-really-regret-having-children/article784948/
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2007_Sept_IReallyRegretHavingChildren.doc


links updated June 2012

Women's rights: breastfeeding on demand?

If this mother is allowing her almost-2-yr-old daughter to be fed on demand, apparently for no other reason than she was "cranky", what kind of message does this give to the toddler, and what will this do to her future development as a human being living in a social world with others, as she grows older.

The article doesn't say whether the two-year-old had inadvertently gone too long without sustenance of any kind, and whether the realization that she had had led the mother to taking such immediate action, or whether the offering of the breast was her usual method of calming a cranky child, as she indicated in this article. When people/children demand their rights, it is often at the risk of the rights of others being taken away from them. Thinking in the short term and the longterm, I question the value to society of this kind of on-demand practice.


Mother fights for right to nurse in pool
By Susan Pigg
Toronto Star online
Nov 12, 2008
http://www.thestar.com/article/535310


Link updated Apr 24, 2012

 

Life at the top: Toronto and Hong Kong

The mention in this article of the "$25 million penthouse at One Bloor – which was sold to an unidentified Hong Kong buyer" (Sky's the limit for Four Seasons condo, Sept 21, 2008) reminds me of my grandfather, John L McPherson, who lived in Hong Kong for 30 years and for some time lived in the most privileged area - on 'The Peak', at that time reserved for Europeans, mainly, I believe, not the Chinese. I realize there must have been some hostility about these circumstances, but I have often thought that at least my grandfather was trying to do something beneficial for Hong Kong, spending 30 years there building up the YMCA. I would ask, at this point, in what ways are the buyers of these expensive properties in Toronto planning to make a difference in the lives of the people of Toronto and, more widely, of Ontario.


J. L. McPherson, Hong Kong YMCA: General Secretary 1905-1935

By Sue McPherson
Sue’s Views on the News
2006
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/JLMcPhersonHKYMCA.html

Sky's the limit for Four Seasons condo
By Tony Wong, Business reporter
TO Star
Sept 21, 2008
http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/503119


Links updated Apr 24, 2012

Public displays of private matters - Irene Mathyssen and James Moore

I agree that the issue now is whether or not it is appropriate for politicians to be checking out pictures of their girlfriends, half-naked, while at work, or pictures of any women. It is so easy to claim the offensive pics are 'legitimate.' Does the label 'soft porn' not apply if the man is in a relationship with the female posing scantily-clad? Why would the writer of this article consider it sanctimonius to prefer that members of parliament keep their minds focused on official matters being dealt with rather than on pictures of scantily-clad women whoever she was. Does this have something to do with current norms by which sex is seen as right and normal and cool, while anything objecting to time and place might be considered old-fashioned, and unsexy? I'm not sure that the motive of the offending MP, James Moore, is relevant (see question asked by writer of the article). When sex is introduced into the public arena in the workplace, and so easily dismissed as possibly being problematic, the question we must ask is why the writer of an article such as this thinks its okay for an MP to be viewing pictures of scantily-clad women on the job. Is it because it's his right? And if it is his right, what else does he have the right to, while on the job.

Irene Mathyssen, NDP MP, raised this matter after inadvertently seeing the images of a scantily clad woman, full-screen, on Moore's laptop computer during a parliamentary session. She thought afterwards that it would have been better if she had approached him first about this behaviour, which she saw as inappropriate, instead of passing the information along and having it end up in public. I don't know how many women have tried to resolve difficulties personally, only to have the individual back off and refuse to communicate, but it has hapened to me, and in a way that has come to ruin my life. Mathyssen is lucky she has the backing of her organization. It is likely that a woman on her own wouldn't stand a chance of having a man attempt to resolve such a problem otherwise.

Added Apr 2012

The phrase “No sex please, [fill in the blank]” (see Sudbury Star, 2003) is a joke, and using it as the title of a news article makes a joke of the issue being discussed. No sex please … we’re Canadian …we’re British …we’re sweaty …we’re babyboomers … we’re married, are just some of the ways it is used in the news.

It’s so easy for people to say this incident was a non-issue, that it should never have been raised, that to have done so was “obnoxiously sanctimonius” – ie. coming from a sense of superiority or high-mindedness in sexual matters, and in a high-handed manner. However, the MP sitting in a session of parliament with his computer screen set at an angle so it was visible to members seated behind him was an unnecessary distraction, to say the least. More was said about it at the time, leading to the incident being dismissed with a ‘full’ apology from the MP who had brought it to the attention of the House.

And who should the Sudbury Star have apologized to? Certainly not to MP James Moore, whose reputation they protected by making a joke out of the incident. There were no repercussions that we know of - no jobs lost and no new regulations about parliament members’ permitted viewing during parliamentary sessions. Members should have some sense about what behaviours are acceptable and what may not be, in certain places at particular times, such as in the House of Commons during a parliamentary session. There’s a time and place for everything, and it is usually left to the judgement of the parliamentary politicians to determine that, as individuals.

Why Ms Mathyssen responded the way she did, by raising the matter without addressing it in private first, or to someone in authority, I don’t know, but the incident occurred close to the Dec 6 commemoration of the Montreal Massacre, and the hype associated with that can lead to increased sensitivity to women’s issues. Even though Marc Lepine’s acts of violence had nothing to do with intimate relationships, the other side of it - the White Ribbon campaign - suggests that men work together “to stop domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment” (White Ribbon Campaign, 2012). Sexism is part of that, though often considered to be of milder consequence, if any.

A month or so ago, I was carrying out my routine task of rolling the garbage bin out to be picked up the next day, whereupon I noticed a fairly large picture on the inside of the window of a car, directly in front of me as I reached the sidewalk. It was of a scantily-clad woman, posing in a sexually suggestive manner. There was no information on what it was advertising, and no name or phone number. I don’t know how common this is, but there it was! It only happened once, and I have not seen it since, in fact, I haven’t seen anything remotely similar on a car window before, or since then.

In ‘Tempest in a laptop,’ Moore is said to have made accusations against Mathyssen on his website, claiming,, “This was a baseless personal attack, and I am disappointed she resorted to such an outrageous tactic to score a headline." That’s as bad as the original accusation made by Mathyssen, in its tone and substance. He is accusing her of making the accusation about soft porn on his laptop to get at him personally, for no reason that he can see, except to be able to make headlines in the news. Obviously, he was “rattled,” but was he as rattled as Mathyssen when she decided to make public his apparent display of sexual images?

According to Allan Woods of the Toronto Star, “MPs are protected from legal action for anything that they say in the House based on the principle of parliamentary privilege.” But in this case, Mathyssen repeated her allegations against Moore to reporters afterwards, while Moore also overstepped legal boundaries by placing his defamatory comments onto his website. It seems as though they were both at fault. It wasn’t the law Mathyssen was afraid of, was it, that led her to apologize. Could it have been the threat of loss of career, for speaking out against behaviour that for men might well be seen as normal?

The phrase ‘tempest in a laptop’ is a play on words of the phrase tempest in a teapot, referring to a big fuss over a minor matter, similar in effect to the joking, demeaning title of the article ‘No sex please, we’re Canadian.’

Allan Woods continues to distort the event in his ‘Tempest’ article, writing that while telling reporters about it, “the image of the scantily clad woman she had described to her fellow MPs turned into "soft porn, Playboy-type stuff." Sometimes it takes a while to come up with the right words to best explain the situation. “Scantily-clad” could mean images from the underwear section in the Sears catalogue. But we all know the difference between that and the kind of sexually suggestive images that are implied by the terms "soft porn, Playboy-type stuff." And, by the way, the image stuck on the inside of the window of the vehicle I mentioned outside where I live was of a woman scantily clad, but of the Playboy type, not Sears catalogue. It was small, too – the article of clothing work by the woman in the image - not the picture itself.

Both of these people - Irene Mathyssen and James Moore - made mistakes in judgement, but only one of them had to apologize, coming across as the guilty party. So was this an error on her part in “jumping to conclusions,” as Woods says in his opening sentence, or was her lack of judgement more to do with expecting this kind of behaviour among MPs, or any men in the workplace, to ever end. If it did end, if men stopped looking, what could we surmise from that?

The problem returns again to one of time and place. Where should such behaviours be tolerated, or accepted as humorous, or seen as normal, and when? It then depends on the person him or herself to decide and act accordingly.


No sex please, we're Canadian
Sudbury Star
7 Dec 2007
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=808127&action=svdMsg&&archive=true#threads
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=808127&archive=true

Mathyssen stands by her complaint
By Chip Martin
London Free Press (Sun Media File)
Dec 7, 2007
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/Mathyssenstandsby.doc

NDP MP sorry for 'scantily clad woman' attack
The Canadian Press
CTV
Dec 7, 2007
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20071206/NDP_apology_071207/

Tempest in a laptop 'Porn' furor grips MPs
By Allan Woods
Toronto Star
Dec 6, 2007
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/283086--porn-furor-grips-mps

White Ribbon Campaign
Online site
2012
http://www.whiteribbon.ca/about_us/#1


Links updated Apr 19, 2012

Clinton: femininity, masculinity, and marriage

Some truth here, finally. It's not a welcome idea that women are able to achieve success because of the men they marry, but in Gary Younge's article in the Guardian (UK), author Suzanne Goldenberg quotes a female lawyer as saying about Hilary Clinton, "This is a woman who is where she is because of who she married". A lot of women, feminists included, aren't willing to admit that that is how they've managed to get ahead, in their own spheres of life, even though they are lesser in status than Clinton's. Marriage has always been, and always will be, the best resource a woman can have (the same goes for men). Thus, the essential ingredients for success, for Hilary Clinton and many other women, are indeed a combination of femininity, masculinity, and marriage. Read also essay on Gertrude (Briggs) McPherson: an interdisciplinary, biographical approach to life cycle development. Gertrude (Briggs) McPherson was a wife and mother, a missionary, artist, author and suffragist. Born in England, in 1908 she went to Hong Kong. . .


All Clinton has to do is prove her femininity. And her hypermachismo
By Gary Younge
The Guardian
Nov 12, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/nov/12/comment.gender

Gertrude McPherson and the Grey Cottage: an interdisciplinary, biographical approach to life cycle development
By Sue McPherson
S A McPherson website
2001
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/EssaysandWriting/GMcPhersonGryCttgLifeCycleSMcPherson.doc


Links updated Apr 19, 2012

Marriage and the Career Woman

There must be many reasons why women university graduates aren't marrying. That they can't find their intellectual equals isn't a very good reason, I should think. It's more about level of education, class membership, and potential for moving up in the world that matter. And there could well be many women who don't really want to marry at all, but would rather not state that publicly. How do women expect men to "rise to the challenge of feminism" when men feel threatened by them? Now that the truth is out, such women need to see that the answer is not that being 'like a man' is better than being 'like a woman,' but that there is a place in this world for different kinds of men and women, with different interests, and different capacities. This was a mistake to make being up there with the big guys the place to be, if women wanted to be seen as having worth. So now, as Boris Johnson says, instead of women at the bottom, it's some men and some women down there, while the rest live the 'good life.'


I'll tell you why women are running out of men to marry
Boris Johnson
Telegraph
Feb 1, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3636932/Ill-tell-you-why-women-are-running-out-of-men-to-marry.html

Link updated Apr 19, 2012

Teenagers vs older women: contraception, pregnancy and abortion

Re: Teenage pregnancy myth dismissed
BBC News Monday, 22 January 2007

Is it this newspaper article or the study itself, of this complex subject, that seems so dismissive of the way things are for women today, whether young or older. Surely this is only part of the problem, that teenage girls are becoming pregnant. What about the ones with unwanted pregnancies, or wanted ones, who decide not to terminate but go on to have the baby. And then, of course, did these researchers look at marital status. I'm not suggesting that all women need to have a husband in order to start a family (in today's world it is a choice that well-established women are free to make), but there may well be a difference in how an unwanted pregnancy develops, between single girls and married ones, as well as differences in ways of working through the problem. It's not all a question of getting "carried away in the moment," as Toni Belfield, of the sexual health charity FPA was reported as saying. I recall a book by Carol Gilligan, with the title In a Different Voice (1982) in which she discusses a study of college girls who become pregnant and are facing the dilemma of whether or not to have an abortion. The book may be a bit outdated for today's world. But making the problem of teen pregnancy into a clearcut issue, whereby wanted babies are carried full term while unwanted ones are aborted, seems dismissive of the process of decision-making that pregnant women must be having to go through, not to mention consideration of their socioeconomic circumstances.


Teenage pregnancy myth dismissed
BBC News
Jan 22, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6279601.stm


Link checked Apr 18, 2012