By Jess McCabe | 1 October 2007, 16:59

Head on over to Laurelin in the Rain to check out the sixth radical feminists’ carnival.

As usual, the carnival opens with Laurelin’s description of what radical feminism means to her, before moving swiftly on to the link-fest. One of my favourites from this edition is abyss2hope’s thoughtful comparison of the way fraud and exploitation of senior citizens is treated, compared to fraud against rape victims.

Note that these seniors were not physically forced into these transactions but those setting up the transactions are still criminals. Perks like a free lunch are used to get the target within reach then high pressure tactics are used to get the targets to sign are part of the fraud.

These deceptive elements — rather than excusing the crime — show premeditation.

The only slight problem I have with this comparison, is that one of the reasons that crime against older people is considered (rightly, of course) so bad, is that we have this concept that, well, older people are frail, perhaps a bit out of touch, in need of protection. As my own grandfather used to constantly quote, we see old age as a “second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything”.

Whether that’s really just ageism is another question, but I wonder whether we should encourage too close a comparison?

Maoist Orange Cake’s description of how she discovered that she’s a “third-generation lesbian” is also well worth a read.

Ten years ago I ran across a photo of Mama’s mama, Hettie, wearing a man’s suit and bowler, in a passionate clinch with another woman. I pointed to the photo and hoarsely asked Hettie’s sister, my Great-Aunt Lee, what that was all about. She laughed merrily and said “Oh, your grandma, she liked to dress up and play-act. It didn’t mean anything.”