More and more I am seeing things that really really trouble me about the bike gangs... er... gentleman hobbyists? The stealing and looting and terrorizing and drug dealing... don't much care. It isn't my business. What upsets me is the violence towards their women. These guys beat up their women. They do it a lot, an for a lot of reasons. The obvious is insecurity and poor male role models. It is also to make sure the women 'know their place'. They do it to impress their needy ass peers. They do it because the realize after being in the gang for 20 years has gotten them nowhere in life. I think they went in looking for fun and adventure and camaraderie. By the time you are 40, though, you being to realize you are just an unemployable douche-bag. They are disappointed with their station in life and the sacrifices they made for the club. Lastly, I think the do it because they are totally fucked up and out o their mind on speed and booze every waking moment.
That is my armchair assessment. It makes it tough for me to to read about. I can't root for these guys. As example? In the late 60s, Hunter S Thompson famously lived and rode with the Hell's Angels. He was transparent about about writing the book, and was fully accepted into the club. It was a natural fit, as Hunter was much loser to being an Angel than a journalist. He loved guns and booze and motorcycles and was at least as crazy as the crew he ran with. Shortly after, famously, he got kicked out. Not just asked to leave politely, but nearly beaten to death. What does this have to do with anything? Bear with me. Hunter was stomped because he intervened on a club fight, which is a big no no for an outsider. This guy was beating up his 'old lady' something fierce. hunter didn't mind, it wasn't his business. This Angel was so riled up he starts kicking a dog. That is when Hunter stepped in. A dog, and a motorcycle are both higher in the caste system than women are.
Thompson got drunk and stoned with the Angels on the beach, and stuck around when things got ugly — something he avoided while writing the book. An Angel named Junkie George started beating his wife to a pulp on the rocks. When Junkie George laid into his dog as well, Thompson spoke up. That was all it took for several Angels to start pounding on Thompson’s skull and ribs.I have zero respect for that level of stupidity and misogyny. I can't root for that, or romanticize and rationalize that behavior. Of course, cops are notorious for beating their women, too? Why? I have a theory, and this is a thoughtful assessment. For cops, like football players (perhaps the most notorious of spouse beaters) violence works! Violence solves all problems. When reasoning doesn't work, be it for a cop, a mobster, or a biker... a swift and thorough beating ends the problem. I just think maybe violence isn't intended, but it lies closer to the surface than many other solutions. For football players, I don't even think they try the 'reasoning' stage... they just hit.
the whole thing about beating up women, though... I just to speak my piece. Let's close this out with a quote from the Beastie Boys.
“I want to say a little something that’s long overdue
The disrespect to women has got to be through / To all the mothers and the sisters and the wives and friends / I want to offer my love and respect to the end.”
Here is the book that started the rant. As I got through the book, I realized this rant was way off base for the text. That is why I pulled it from the review. But it needed saying -
Snakes: Cheating Death by Living A Lie: Inside the Explosive World of ATF's Undercover Agents and How We Changed the Game
Vincent A. Cefalu
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