So long as we only believe in the justice of the state, of the law-made by those in power, to serve those in power-so long will we continue to be exploited by those in power.
Derrick JensenRead
By deafening ourselves to the emotional consequences of violence we have become confused by its relationship to sex. We have come to believe that violence equals aggression, and we have come to base our model of sexuality on our model of violence... converting an act of aggression into an act of consensual sexuality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates how society blurs the lines between violence and sexuality, leading to harmful beliefs.
Derrick Jensen's quote critiques the troubling tendency of modern society to conflate violence with expressions of sexuality. He argues that by ignoring the emotional impacts of violence, individuals have developed a distorted understanding of both aggression and consent, resulting in a dangerous dynamic where acts of violence can be misconstrued as consensual sexual acts. This confusion invites a deeper reflection on the ethical implications of such associations and the societal norms that allow them to persist.
Themes
ViolenceSexualityAggressionRelationshipsSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on societal norms regarding consent and aggression, this quote could serve as a powerful illustration of the confusion between violence and sexuality.
More from Derrick Jensen
All quotes →The stories we are told shape the way we see the world, which shapes the way we experience the world.
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Those in power have made it so we have to pay simply to exist on the planet. We have to pay for a place to sleep, and we have to pay for food. If we don't, people with guns come and force us to pay. That's violent.
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So many indigenous people have said to me that the fundamental difference between Western and indigenous ways of being is that even the most open-minded westerners generally view listening to the natural world as a metaphor, as opposed to the way the world really is. Trees and rocks and rivers really do have things to say to us.
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When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We too must hurl ourselves against and through the literal and metaphorical concrete that contains and constrains us, that keeps us from talking about what is most important to us, that keeps us from living the way our bones know we can, that bars us from our home. It only takes one person to bring down a dam.
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The big dividing line is not and has never been between those who advocate more or less militant forms of resistance, or between mainstream and grassroots activists. The dividing line is between those who do something and those who do nothing.
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