Reader Y.W. e-mails an astute comment on our take on Code Pink’s holiday campaign against war toys for little boys. (See “Look What Santa Brought You, Son–a Pink Frisbee!,” Dec. 22, and also Carrie Lukas’s article on the IWF home page.):
“As a 54-year-old male homemaker (my wife could make more money than I could), I forbade my son to watch overly violent films and to own toy guns. I taught him to use a real gun early, and we went target shooting whenever he wanted.
“People need to understand that real bullet wounds, especially to the torso, are a devestating injury. TV and movies present them as minor injuries. They most assuredly are not. Boys will be violent with or without my permission. I wanted my son to understand that guns aren’t toys while validating his need for violence.”
You make a good point, Y.W. And the point simply is that all the pink Frisbees in the world aren’t going to do much to dampen male aggression, which can be a force for great evil or, believe it or not, great good.