As you can see, she's not going to be working for a while, not with eyes like these. But she is in good spirits, and she is laughing at the commenters and bloggers who attempt to blame her and her mother for a host of crimes, including her inability to summon the psychic power to foresee that the creep would assault her.
I am proud of her for laughing and for having the courage to prosecute her violent ex-boyfriend, and especially I am proud of her for having the courage to 'out' - or name and shame - Matthew Allen White. Because of her courage someone else's daughter may have something more reliable than psychic powers to guide her away from Matthew Allen White.
I offer my heartfelt thanks to the many of you who have expressed empathy and support. A special thanks to Jesus General and Rude Pundit for their kind words and for their help in the naming-and-shaming effort. The internet is often described as a detached and impersonal medium, but suddenly it feels like a warm and caring community. Yes, there are trolls, but a little comic relief can also be a good thing. Heh.
Pasted below are excerpts from some of the responses to Men Are Scum Until Proven Otherwise .
Feministe -- Intimate Partner Violence Looks Like This -- "It looks like egalia’s daughter. The tactic egalia employs here — outing the man who did this to her baby, naming and shaming him — is one that I first read about in Cunt, by Inga Muscio. Muscio suggests using the naming-and-shaming against rapists: If a you or a friend are raped, post pictures of the rapist around town, with the word “RAPIST” in big letters. Put his name on it. Post a sign outside his house. Let everyone know what he did. In a culture that too often condones rape and that too often fails to bring justice to the victim, publicizing a crime can, at the very least, help other women to avoid these men, and remind other men that actions are not without consequences. Obviously, this tactic is debatable, and there are certainly feminists out there who won’t support it. Luckily, I don’t speak for all feminists, and I say when a person beats, rapes, or otherwise injures another, you splash the fucker’s face all over the front page."
Progressive Gold -- Named and Shamed . . . "I have to agree with Egalia. Until proven otherwise, men are scum. Many other woman who'd met my former husband would agree too. Look around you: how many women in your immediate circle are suffering something like this from their partners? How would you know? They won't speak of it for fear of being blamed. . . [W]e the victims and former victims, are not to blame and we should not be ashamed for saying who they are and what they've done."
Brachiator -- Brutalized Girl Gets Man-Panties In a Twist! -- "Here’s the deal: some asshole named Mathew Allen White apparently beats up his girfriend. The girl’s mom writes about the beating on her blog and posts pictures of the injuries, under the title “All Men Are Scum Until Proven Otherwise.” A bunch of “men” blog in response how the mom is a “feminazi.” . . . Keerist, gentlemen — . . Are your respective masculinities so fragile, your testosterone levels so teetering on the low edge of the normal range, your ‘nads so sucked up and no more a’danglin’ that you see some threat in the outrage and common sense of a family whose daughter was just assaulted? Yeah, common sense, Manly Men."
Welcome to Pottersville -- Assclowns of the Week #47 -- " 2) Matthew Allen White . . . Misogynism Sickness, he ought to call his one-man band. That’s the guy who beat up the teenaged daughter of Egalia, my friend who runs Tennessee Guerilla Woman. . . Last Thursday, after some agonizing, Egalia decided to come forward with this story and to expose this miserable little prick for what he is: A dickless, spineless, Mom and Dad’s basement-dwelling coward who apparently fancies himself the next Ike Turner or Rick James."
Nine Pearls -- Domestic Violence and Asshole Blaming -- "If, in fact, one looks at a picture of a teen girl with a Boyfriend-Inflicted Black Eye and then immediately feels the need to shout, “But, men are really great, and you’re a big meanie-head for insinuating otherwise!” while thumping ones chest self-righteously, perhaps one should just go get “Asshole” tattooed to their forehead so that the rest of us know ahead of time that you’re totally self-absorbed, insensitive and incapable of genuine human response."
Pandagon -- Violence against women round-up -- "Let me beat the critics of this post to the punch: 'WHAT ABOUT MEN?1!!11' Okay, done. Now onto the post. . . [F]rankly, the only difference between egalia’s point and Hugo’s when he wrote that women have a good reason to be wary and careful around men until we’ve learned to trust them was egalia’s tone. Naturally, it didn’t take long for some commenters to bellyache about the grave danger to the world that is man-hating. "
Tiny Cat Pants -- Who Will Listen to Les Jones? -- "Yes, Egalia's daughter got beat up by her boyfriend, not her mom, not Brittney, and yet when Egalia complains publicly she's victimizing her daughter. Why are folks critiquing Egalia's behavior? Or Brittney's behavior? I posit that it's because folks assume that Egalia and Brittney can change (yes, I think even Smantix believes that if Egalia would pull her head out of her ass, she would see things his way), but that the boyfriend cannot--that he's an abusive asshole who cannot help but be a monster. Why criticize him? It's not going to do any good. He's irredeemable. So, we must search for victimizers who can be rehabilitated, because the man who did this to her cannot."
Super Babymama -- Tiny penises on parade -- "This tiny penis beat his girlfriend."
Mikebdot -- Until proven otherwise -- "This is for all the men out there. Have you done your part to prove yourself otherwise? Domestic violence is disgusting. Just so everyone is clear. They may as well call it domestic terrorism because that is exactly what it is."
Cannablog -- A Word for Feminism -- "Some feminists have been saying for years, every man is scum unless proven otherwise. That seems really shocking to men. Don’t we have the right to be presumed innocent? In a court of law, sure. But if you’re talking about how much of a threat a bad man can be to a woman, you cannot afford to be so generous. Don’t be too trusting until you know him. . . It’s not something I would talk about ordinarily but I felt the need to speak up for what Egalia says."
Alternate Brain --Know what? -- "There's something that pisses me off much more than anything the Chimp can do. Well, it's part of the same problem. Little men asserting what little power they do have by beating on their women."
A View from a Broad -- But aside from THAT -- "Help, help! This mad woman is attacking me! " Sniff. "...All I wanted was to know about the play, Mrs. Lincoln..."
Volunteer Voters -- Matthew Allen White From LaVergne, TN -- "'[M]en are utter scum until proven otherwise.' ~ egaila ... On a different occasion, I might quarrel with this assertion -- but not today."
Nashville Is Talking -- Battered -- "Go learn who did this to her, so that you and yours can avoid him at all costs. Once he gets out of jail, that is."
Men Are Scum Until Proven Otherwise
The Defenders of Manhood
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