The Silent and Brave revision page #109

I just realized that I have to be careful. Sexual domination has always been a part of war; Ghengis Kahn knew that rape is a fast way to absorb a culture. It’s still that way, from the comfort women of the Second World War to the sex slaves of ISIS. That may be the most telling sign that war is an artiface of man, not woman. (Where are the comfort men?)

I also find it hard to believe that we still live in a world where slavery of any kind seems like a good idea to a culture. I understand the desire of mankind to take the fruits of labor of other men and women for their own, for free, as a way of exerting their own dominance, but I don’t understand the lack of understanding of history. Slaves tend to rise up against their masters. In world society, slavery is no longer tolerated. Trying to justify it is a horrible black mark on any culture, and trying to remove reliance on it is devastating to a country (see our own Civil War, still the most awful conflict in our history in terms of American lives lost and economic ruin and recovery.)

In this chapter, On the Ice, I have a character, Dreck, who likes the prostitutes who follow the arm to earn money. Realistic, yes, but just introducing them as caricatures is not right. I live in a state with legalized prostitution, and I also believe that we should not judge how anyone tries to make a living, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, but I realize that I have to be careful, because the exploitation of women is a sensitive topic, especially for those who have been and continue to be used in that way against their will.