In describing his theory of speech acts, J.L Austin uses the scenario “Man1 says to Man2 "shoot her”, Man2 then shoots woman" as an example. Feminist philosopher Rae Langton, in an essay expanding upon the speech act concept and Catherine MacKinnon’s argument against pornography, reuses Austin’s example.
I’d argue that the example shows how ubiquitous, and comparatively accepted, physical violence against women is, especially as part of a generic narrative. It is at least tolerated, by large parts of society, so that it can be used, casually, as an example by an established and well-recognized philosopher in a philosphical-linguistic argument, and then used by feminist scholars as well. There is a slight shock effect, sure, which probably makes it such a memorable example. However, the violent act of the example is not outrageous nor abject. Violence against women, to use Langton’s language, is not an unspeakable act. In more colloquial terms, it’s pretty much accepted as a part of life. The act is a narrative that easily roles of the tongues and keyboards of philosophers, screen writers, and Internet users.
Thoughts?