Women and the survival of life on this planet

 

Many years ago when I was about 12 or 13 I witnessed an event that disturbed me.

A girl in my class had some possessions in a bag and one was something soft wrapped in a brown paper bag. A boy in this class found the bag that had a clean sanitary napkin,  he took it from her bag and threw it across the class to another boy. They laughed and threw it to another boy and then another boy. The girl went red as if she was embarrassed.

Now the thing to remember is she displayed shame as if it was her fault. Logically this makes no sense the pad was a function of nature. It was in her bag and had nothing to do with anyone else in the class. But when one boy picked it up out of her bag. He made a display of power. 

This is how power works. A number of things display human ignorance about this power. Take pregnancy for example. It is a fact of life but when a woman gets pregnant the man is congratulated and the woman is shamed. No-one talks about desire, the need for money to buy food and shelter.

In fact there is the hint that anything a man can do to a woman is good for him and a shame for her. A woman, unmarried who gets pregnant is often seen as something to be ashamed of. Even the young girls used as sex objects are seen as having been shamed (conquered). We know women rarely if ever brag about being raped, having sex or even sexual desire.

These events are meant to be a triumph for the male and shame for the female. I feel that our society trains us to see women as burdens, weak, problematic, and males as conquerors.

What does that leave males with in terms of achievement? Any power over another is congratulated as a triumph. Kicking a ball into the net, climbing a mountain, making a lot of money for a business. Stealing power from other organizations, inventing ways of winning. The goal of any man is to win, a trial, money, wealth, territory, war. 

Men raised with the expectation they must prove themselves as winners does not inspire nurture. In fact its more likely to dismiss work that heals or nurtures as effeminate and so the "most powerful nation" in the world is the one who inspires fear in others.

Yet women who have shown ability to be good leaders are not praised, do not earn the same money as males. Women who have the ability to create places of harmony are not applauded. The reality is care and kindness benefits all.

Women who work on this are intelligent and beautiful in many ways. MLK junior the African American who inspired thousands of people should never be forgotten but the contempt expressed by some billionaires toward social activists reveals a deep meanness that is destructive for humanity. And could lead to the end of life on this planet.