22201: Dorval: Response to Racine 2215 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Joseph.Dorval@dwpbank.de


Dear Mambo Racine,

I had decided a long time ago not to send any more mails to the list. But
I've found your comments about Haitian men and women so offensive, that
I've decided to respond.

You wrote:

Once they have their first menstrual period (or even before!) the attitude
is that they have no right to refuse men the use of their vaginas.

Well, I grew up in Haiti and left Haiti after scondary school. I grew up
part in the capital and the province. I never met any Haitian girls or
women with that kind of attitude.

You wrote:

The reason for all of this is that here in Haiti, men consider women
property and women consider their vaginas their "capital goods".  Raping a
woman is like stealing a man's cows, it's taking possession of a *thing*
without paying.  The fact that the victim of rape is a person and not a
thing is not part of the equation.  The equation of "woman = vagina" is
firmly entrenched in people's minds.  When a man curses a woman, the first
word is inevitably "whore" (bouzen, penda).  When a woman curses a woman,
the first word is inevitably "cold pussy" (koko fret) or "stinky pussy"
(koko santi), and women determine their worth by the number of men who
desire their vagina.

There are machos in every country of the world. But It's indeed a bigger
problem in countries where women have no financial independence. As far as
Haitian women considering their vaginas as their capital goods; I can only
say that I don't know any Haitian women who think that way.
I knew of one rapist in my neighborhood. That guy spent years in hiding
because the police was looking for him. And the whole neighborhood showed
lot of love and compassion for that girl who was raped.

You wrote:

Women desire their worth by the number of men who desire their
vagina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Are you talking about some women that you know or Haitian women in
general? That sure doesn't apply to the Haitian women that I know.

You wrote:

This country is sick, sick, SICK!  And no amount of intervention is going
to change it.  It won't change until Haitians want to change, but they
don't - every Haitian thinks his fists are bigger than the other guy's
fists, every Haitian woman thinks her vagina is more attractive than all
other women's vaginas, and that she is better defended by her family or her
powerful friends against rape and violence than other women, and thus men
who desire her must pay money, and thus she is worth more.

I don't believe that Haiti is any sicker than any other countries. Those
comments about Haitian women and their vaginas  are ridiculous.

You wrote:
The fact is that Haitian men are raised to be rapists, and rewarded for
rape.  So please, let's not have any more accusations of rape leveled by
one group of men against another.

How can you write that Haitian males are raised to be rapists? This must be
a very bad joke Mambo. Rape is probably one of the worst things that could
happen to a woman, and every rapist should be dealt with very swiftly.
But to write that Haitian men are raised to be rapists just shows how
little you know about Haitian people.
Even though I experience racism very often, I would never write that
Europeans or white people are raised to be racists. There are rapists in
every country of the world, even in countries with tough judicial systems.
I must tell you that I feel quite offended by your letter.