SenseOnline faces its first death threats and we learn the truth that hell really hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Nor Hell a Fury
Many attribute to William Shakespeare what really is William Congreve’s work:
Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.
I doubt Congreve had any idea of how popular the phrase would become over the centuries when he inserted it in The Mourning Bride in 1697. Over 300 years on and this phrase has become the telltale signage of a woman pushed to the edge of insanity, where her nurturing and calming nature has been abused for far too long.
Touch a Woman
In
Wathint` abafazi, Strijdom!
Wathint` imbokodo uzo kufa!
Now you have touched the women, Strijdom!
You have struck a rock! (you have dislodged a boulder)
You will be crushed!
This was the struggle song sung by women across colour and creed against the apartheid government’s intention of issuing passes to women and ensuring their every movement was monitored and subsequently curtailed.
Women have always been seen as the fairer sex. I don’t think anyone knows what this means. There are notions that women are physically weaker than men. Of this I don’t doubt, but, as with all stereotypes, this does not go across the board. Somehow a woman’s constitution has always been felt to be soundly more in need of protection, which is why we have men as hunters and women as caregivers.
The Caregiver
But the idea of caregiving is easy is rubbish. As Oprah Winfrey often says, raising a child is the hardest job on earth and we know that nine times out of ten women are forced to raise a child on their own. Sure, it’s in our nature to be loving, kind and gentle, but when the love and kindness is continually spurned then it’s hard and ultimately we are pushed to revisit once more our more masculine traits.
What does that say? Can men only understand a language they speak, which in many instances boils down to verbal abuse and physical violence? In no way am I bashing men. They are lovely, consequential human beings and the world wouldn’t be the same without them.
A Woman Spurned
There are many instances in history of women when spurned, knocked, kicked, shouted at, beaten, whatever you will, exacting their revenge. Think only of our mothers who marched on parliament on
Ask Yavaughnie Willins who, in a very public display of revenge, posted billboards in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco depicting her lover and herself embracing with the words, ‘You are my soulmate forever – cep’ – the acronym being the initials to her lover’s name, Charles E Phillips.
The thing is, Phillips was a married man and Yavaughnie was his mistress of eight years. Once she realised that he really was not going to leave his wife for her, she decided to make her voice heard, ultimately ruining the reputation and possibly career of a man who was a member of American President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Empty Promises
OK, maybe she was a fool to have believed he would really stay with her after years of empty promises, but love is irrational. As Congreve says, ‘Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd’. How right he was!
If you can think back to the movie Waiting to Exhale, where Bernadine Harris played by the hard-hitting sensational Angela Basset, raids her husband’s closet of all his clothes. She puts them into his car and then lights a cigarette, throwing in the burning flame, watching all his precious possessions turn to cinder.
What’s Love Got to Do with It
You’ll also remember Angela Basset playing the role of Tina Turner in the movie What’s Love Got to Do with It, where again she plays a long-suffering wife, but after years of abuse turns on her man and sticks a stiletto heel in his head. I want to know how many women were not shouting encouragement at the television as she did this.
Personally, I have seen women sit in despair as they watched their relationships crumble or their workspaces tampered with. We’ve always had a rule of thumb – ‘he only has to say one line’ and that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Threesome
Take Sarah*, a woman of 35 years, whose boyfriend asked her to have a threesome. She agreed to do it because she insanely believed it would prove her love for him. Once she had done it, he turned around and accused her of cheating; only he had shared the bed too.
It took a while, but she finally realised she meant little to him, no more than a pin on a needle and it was one line, just one line, that finally did it: ‘You have fat thighs and I’d sooner kiss a man than kiss you ever again.’
That evening he arrived home to find his clothes strewn on the pavement and all his important possessions like his extensive music collection, jewellery and shoes pawned. Like Yavaughnie, she also printed black and white posters and attached them to every tree in his neighbourhood. She hasn’t heard from him since, although she has heard that when her name is mentioned, it is whispered and, even then, you can feel the fear collide into you.
Celebrating Women
Now, we at SenseOnline do not in any shape or form advocate violence. We celebrate women, their achievements, their successes and their humanness. We do not tolerate abuse, whether physical, verbal, emotional or mental towards women, children or animals.
But this week has been a trying time for the team at SenseOnline as we have received our first death threats.
Marisa Robson/Cronje
As the previous editor of SenseOnline, I have been the subject of threats before. Not everyone likes what you put out. However, it is my constitutional right as an individual and the publisher and the rights of my team members to speak out as we see fit, especially when we see injustice carried out against all sentient beings.
Three weeks ago we were approached by Marisa Robson (aka Marisa Cronje) of
Unsolicited Material
He has always been firm that writers be paid for their work, but the model for web magazines is completely different to print. We looked at various options; finally deciding on our own variant of the American formula of paying writers a percentage of advertising attracted to the site. Our scheme, linked to the idea of a community of writers, meant that contributors over time would, in fact, be reimbursed more than for a print article.
Grasping a Simple Concept
Robson had great difficulty grasping our concept of payment, which other writers understood in an instant. This goes for established journalists as well who have embraced our scheme. In fact, leading websites like Suite101 and About.com pay writers according to advertising revenue their articles receive on the website.
We eventually decided that dealing with her was too arduous and informed her of our decision. She then phoned Pat and said she had a great desire to be published and would accept our payment terms, though she still didn’t fully understand them. She was quite clear that building her profile was more important than immediate compensation.
While I and
Hell Hath no Fury
After her first article was published she sent us an email saying how grateful she was to us for giving her a platform to get her work out there. After we accepted her second piece she sent further correspondence in which she praised Pat.
Her third submission we rejected because it was not up to scratch. In this industry it would normally be consigned to ‘file 13’, but Pat wanted to soften the blow by getting her to write a feature we planned for today – Hell Hath no Fury… We were in a concept meeting at the time and Pat phoned her on speaker phone. I clearly heard her delight, acceptance of the brief and confirmation of payment terms.
I must reiterate that the idea for the story was entirely ours. She submitted it a few days later.
Tantrum Time
On Wednesday Marisa sent Pat and I an email saying she was withdrawing our right to publish OUR story even though she had accepted the terms for its delivery. Pat very gently informed her that the story belonged to us as it had been submitted on the agreed terms.
She began sending a flurry of increasingly vehement emails, which culminated in Pat saying he would have no further correspondence with her. She then threatened to post the story on a number of free sites, which she has subsequently done.
Death Threats
At just after
This was just the opening salvo of a slew of deeply threatening letters from Catto and a supposed marketing expert named Hannes Jooste. Pat at first laughed it off, saying, ‘Death threats always come from the most surprising sources, like trout fishermen and 4X4 enthusiasts who didn’t like what I wrote. As Henry Kissinger, who I despise, was fond of saying, “the fighting is always the most vehement where the stakes are the smallest.”’
Fast & Furious
But Pat stopped finding it funny when Toni revealed she was also the subject of intimidation. The message Catto sent her read: ‘Hey CUNT. My friend, Marisa, told you arseholes that you can't publish her story, SO DON'T FUCKING PUBLISH IT or I will rip your fucking arms off, buttercup. See what happens to you, if you defy us. Fuckhead.’
In a space of 24 hours Pat and Toni have received numerous messages and letters from Catto, Marisa Robson/Cronje and a supposed media planner (though no one in the industry has ever heard of him) by the name of Hannes Jooste, in which they have been vilified, threatened and intimidated. Marisa also went onto her Facebook web page and defamed SenseOnline accusing us of refusing to pay for copy.
Not once has anyone at SenseOnline intimated that Robson would not be paid. In fact, Pat has continually advised that payment would be made, but on our terms. We have copies of all emails, letters and messages.
Our Ethos
When we set out our ethos was to have fun while leaving a gentle footprint. This did not mean we would not give up our roles as hard-nosed journalists. So we began to dig. We found nothing on Robson/Cronje (though we find her conduct at odds with the principles of Reiki) and the invisible Jooste, but hit paydirt with Catto.
There is a blog called Richard Catto Watch, which details Catto’s abusive and threatening nature. It starts: ‘Richard Catto is a sick man. This once-married, now divorced man takes pleasure out of other people's pain. He is also a racist… While Richard Catto has the right to hate, he doesn't have the right to hurt.’
The site adds that Cato uses a fraudulent address from which he is able to spew his vitriol. It advises anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts to contact the Human Rights Commission. One of our many questions is, what is an alternative healer like Robson/Cronje doing by consorting with such a person?
What do You Think
As publisher and editor, Toni and I have often felt the urge to strangle Pat. This is especially strong at the moment as ‘we told you so’ emotions course through our bodies. I, in particular, had a bad feeling about Robson/Cronje from the beginning – call it woman’s intuition, if you will.
I know now that I was right, but, after taking a deep breath, I think there might be someone out there who might miss Pat very much if he fell prey to these people. What I cannot countenance, however, and has roused the fury in me, are the threats against Toni – a beautiful, slight woman.
Laying Charges
Toni and I want to lay charges (we have a fat file) against this unsavoury trio. But Pat says he won’t lay a charge until he has heard from you as to whether Catto, Jooste and Robson should be allowed to have their way with him.
In closing, let me say to them, ‘Beware, hell hath no fury…’
