Police Behaving Badly 5.30.18

More than 900,000 people serve as sworn local and state law enforcement officials in the United States (the highest number ever). These police officers are charged with upholding and enforcing the law, maintaining order, and providing general services. To carry out these duties, police officers possess certain powers, granted by the state. If the situation calls for it, police officers can frisk, detain, and arrest civilians, as well as seize property. In addition, depending upon the situation, police officers are empowered to use force to defend themselves or civilians (the amount of force extends along a spectrum from “simply” police presence through deadly force). Given the powers that police officers have, it is incumbent upon them to maintain a level of professionalism in the course of their duties and to wield their powers responsibly and ethically. Unfortunately, there are countless examples of cops engaging in a range of irresponsible, unethical, immoral, and/or illegal activities from bribery and unjustified arrests to illegal search and seizure and the use of excessive force. Here are five examples of police behaving badly:

(against a black and white backdrop of a generic police station, two white, male police officers struggle to subdue a victim. The artistic rendering presents the officers and their victim surrounded by blood, thus implying the use of excessive force on the part of the officers)

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Police Behaving Badly 5.30.18

Reclaiming Slurs







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Reclaiming Slurs

Fellow men: Don’t be like Jesse

Fellow men,
Lets have another sit down.

Take a moment to fully read the Tweet below and the response to it:

Image is a reproduction of a Tweet and its Retweet. The Retweet reads "There's no other reason to why a girl uses birth control other than to have sex with countless guys without having to worry about pregnancy." The Tweet that responds to it lists seven benefits to birth control beyond pregnancy prevention: acne, irregular periods, cramps, PMS relief, cancer prevention, PCOS relief, endometriosis relief"
So smug, yet so ignorant, Jesse could stand to learn that there times we men ought to remain silent.

Jesse’s comment is a masterful example of a perceived sense of male supremacy wedded to an ocean of ignorance.

His purpose is to shame women for having sex.

He is trying to fortify the archaic, misogynistic societal norms that have long been in place that have oppressively regulated the lives and behavior of women.

He conveys much about himself in his comment:

•he reveals his disdain for women who use birth control
•he thinks his egregiously wrong opinion is some statement of fact
•he thinks he has the right to dictate to women what they should do with their bodies
•he cannot think of women as equal to him
•”he thinks anyone who has the reproductive equipment associated with birth control as a woman. He equates reproduction/secondary sex characteristics with gender.” (the preceding quoted material–reproduced with permission–offers additional insight provided by my good friend Tamlin)

The slut shaming he engages in is for the likely purpose of “putting women in their place”. Its an attempt to regulate their behavior by way of public scorn. It is a given that he does not think limitations on men having sex should or do exist (though it is possible he thinks queer men should not have same sex interactions)

He thinks he has the first clue what he is talking about. He does not, as is made clear by the response he received. In addition to significantly reducing the chances of unwanted pregnancy, there are many benefits to birth control.


Even if there were no other benefits, “I do not wish to become pregnant unless and until I am ready” is reason enough all on its own to use birth control.


Once you accept that women are human beings free to act as they choose–including making decisions about who they have sex with, how many partners they have, or how often they have sex–you come to understand why Jesse’s comment is fractally wrong.

As if to underscore his contempt for women, Jesse refers to _women_ as _girls_, an infantalizing act that reinforces his misplaced sense of male superiority by treating women as children in need of a mans assistance.

Guys, don’t be like Jesse. He is a misogynistic ass.

Lesson over.

Your homework is a group assignment: interrogate the idea of “redistributing sex” and explain why it is a morally abhorrent concept.

Class dismissed.

Fellow men: Don’t be like Jesse