January 31, 2010 |
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Women’s rights are
human rights?
Stephen Henry Lewis,
United Nations’ envoy for HIV AIDS in Africa, 2006, said:
“[Women’s rights have] never been made real, and so long as men control the levers and bastions of power… it never will be real. The demeaning diminution of women is everywhere evident… where freedom from sexual violence, the right to sexual autonomy, to sexual and reproductive health, social and economic independence, and even the whiff of gender equality are barely approximated. It’s a ghastly, deadly business, this untrammeled oppression of women in so many countries on the planet.”
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If it has tires or testicles it's gonna give you trouble. (Source unknown.)
“Denial” excerpts from J. Peterman’s Eye Web site.
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Equation for Sustainability
“To understand how any society functions you must understand the relationship between the men and the women.” ~ Angela (Yvonne) Davis (b) January 26, 1944
Enter Center Stage
Every person ever born emerged from the womb of a woman via that taunting, forbidden, unspeakable space between her legs and between her vulva and rectum. Often considered dirty, sinful, and despicable, the female anatomy has been branded as taboo—except for the purposes of sex and birthing. This unwarranted taint has somehow spread to the entire female body, seemingly engulfing females’ ability to reason, respond, and reward her gender for giving life to each member of the human family.
Equality means balance. Birthing billions of humans throughout the history of Earth has always resulted in a formula of gender equals—half males and half females—surviving to create more of the same. Humans have had little to do with this successful, natural phenomenon. Without it, our species (and most others) would have become extinct within a relatively short period of time.
There will soon be 7,000,000,000 (7 billion) members of the genus known as Homo sapiens, made up of approximately 3.5 billion females and 3.5 billion males. Yet equality of the quality of life is rarely found in the multiple cultures composing the grand total of Earth’s population.
Solo Starring Role
Males are the favored gender and have long been glorified because their anatomy includes a visible penis and testicles, even though for a short time during the embryo’s development, every male was female. The uneducated would dispute this fact and in some cases, kill anyone professing this information.
The assumed superiority of the male gender has its roots in exclusivity. He hunted alone and in silence, excluding all external stimulation except what was necessary for a successful hunt. She stayed in camp, caring for children and elders. If and when he returned with food, most often he shared with others—with her for sex, with elders for knowledge, with children for appreciation. If he returned empty-handed, he was a failure, although often consumed his kills along the way.
In his absence, women, children, and elders foraged for sustenance. She would go without food in order for the children to eat—an evolutionary trait in many mammalian species for guaranteeing the survival of the young. In so doing, she continues to inadvertently sacrifice her energy that could be used in fighting for her just share of everything.
What other factors influenced exclusivity over the millennia?
Maternity:
None so potent as maternity. Gestating, birthing, and rearing offspring prevented females from great works, causes, and advances on behalf of civilization. Yet without her contribution (at the risk of her own death) of giving birth, none of us would be here today to debate equality.
Physicality:
‘The weaker sex’ most likely refers to the smaller physical size of females. This biological inheritance seems unfair, but nature and evolution are unconcerned with justice—only reproduction. If women were physically large enough to refuse mating, it is likely the species would not have survived. But exclusivity thrives on brute force, eliminating the weak or inferior specimens, aka, survival of the fittest.
Paternalism and fraternalism:
An old adage claims there is safety in numbers, and this is one way to protect a group meme or action contrary to the total popular opinions. For centuries, males have bonded for survival, creating a majority rule in human matters. A group mentality further ensures exclusivity in many social systems, activities, beliefs, and customs. The favored gender notion has influenced almost every generation, culture, and advancement.
False worth:
One advantage of group thinking and action is that a group can claim a majority or superior position and not have to prove its validity. The idea promotes a sense of false self-worth, both in the greater and lesser numbers of advocates. False worth often leads to segregation, another aspect of exclusivity.
Denial:
For his book Denialism, author Michael Specter chose the sub-title, “How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives." He claims that denialism is all around us. “Denialism,” the experts say, “is the employment of rhetorical tactics and false arguments to give the impression of legitimate debate, when there is none.”
And so, women and other so-called minority segments of our human family continue to believe and act as if exclusion is to be expected, tolerated, and celebrated as the way things have always been and should always be. But in reality, there should be no ‘favored gender’—only genders in full cooperation with total compassion for each other—not only in order to survive, but to thrive and bask in the delicate balance of life continuing to unfold. It may not always do so.
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