[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Suspending disbelief

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Mon May 5 20:33:22 EDT 2008


Posted by Mary Madigan:
Suspending disbelief
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1210033950.shtml


   Why do some people [1]ally with the enemy?

     Of all the incomprehensible things about the incestuous life and
     times of the man they call the Tyrant of Amstetten, none is more
     alien to logical thinking than the assertion that Rosemarie Fritzl
     knew nothing of her husband's debauchery in the cellar of their own
     home.

     How was he capable of abducting his own daughter, fathering seven
     children by her and keeping the whole unhealthy ménage a secret
     from his wife for an incredible 24 years?

     What chronic lack of maternal curiosity stopped her from
     investigating her daughter Elisabeth's disappearance? Or wanting to
     find out whether the three babies allegedly left on her doorstep â
     three â were really her own grandchildren? ..

     ...What sort of a woman is she?

     The same question might have been asked of Primrose Shipman, who
     calmly handed chocolates round at her husband's trial for multiple
     murder. Despite his drug addiction and constant bullying, she stood
     by Harold throughout his trial and imprisonment and beyond his
     suicide in 2005...

     ...Whatever turns out to be the truth of Rosemarie Fritzl's role in
     this horror story, it demonstrates the peculiar nature of marital
     dependency and the lengths to which some women may go to preserve a
     facade. Misplaced loyalty, fear or self-deception allow all kinds
     of women â from battered wives to partners of paedophiles â to
     suspend disbelief. In effect, not to question.

   Maybe battered wives and partners of pedophiles ignore reality for the
   same reason their husbands do what they do - because it's easy for
   them, because they want to and because they can.

References

   1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/austria/1922110/Austria-The-horror-of-being-Frau-Fritzl.html



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