Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence

Jeff Cha

ASA 2 (A02)

Blog 5

            In Hamamoto’s “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence,” he mentions Aileen Wuornos and how “unlike her male counterparts who thrill in their acts of sexual predation, it is more likely that Wuornos ‘lashed out against her victims in a rage that originated in decades of abusive and debilitating encounters with men that began in her early childhood.’ ” This part of the reading gives the impression that only Wuornos is able to claim childhood abuse as a strong influence on her crimes.  Since she is a woman and her crimes were not of a sexual nature, the assumption is that there must be a reason behind it. Sexual, physical and verbal abuse during anyone’s childhood can play an important part in their behavior.  It’s not like men are naturally sexual predators who decide to rape and kill because of those urges. Of course childhood abuse doesn’t excuse the actions of serial killers because there are many other factors or situations to consider.  Hamamoto does mention how the violent fantasies of Ricardo Ramirez may have been influenced by an older cousin who shared similar stories when Ricardo was younger. This shows that my interpretation of Hamamoto’s writing on Wuornos may have just been a misunderstanding.  Nonetheless, I believe it’s reasonable to think that there are explanations for everyone’s actions regardless of gender or race.  Any issue brought up should be considered carefully and logically.

In the fight for equality between men and women, it seems like discrimination against men is sometimes overlooked. Are there similarities between this and the issues of Asian Americans where racial discrimination is also unnoticed? Are both sides expected to ignore these issues that are seen as not a big deal?