So, Andrea Yates finally got the sentence she deserved. Not guilty by reason of insanity. I haven't followed this second trial as closely as the first. Perhaps it was in the news less. Perhaps the first one just left me with too many bad feelings.

The kids. As is often in this land that claims to love our children, they suffered the most.

What shocked me was not the mysogynistic religious cult that placed unreal expectations upon her, not the callous husband blithely planting his seed as instructed by above mentioned religion, not the medical community that fails to understand post-partum issues, whether baby-blues or full blown pyschosis, not the doctor who yanked Yates off all her anti-pyschotic meds days before the incident. None of those things shocked me. Many women in American still live as second or even third class citizens in their homes and churches and workplaces.

What shocked me was the utter condemnation by other women. I understand it in a way. The crime was so horrible, that it appalled us to see a nice, religious, married former nurse guilty of it. Women had to pull away, to condemn, to reassure themselves that no, they would, could never be capable of such a heinous act.

A reaction born of fear, I think. Fear of recognizing that we are all capable of madness. Our minds can be co-opted by hormones or chemical imbalances that we have no control over.

It's too scary to look at Andrea Yates and think, there but for the grace.....