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HARD FACTS WITH A LITTLE FANTASY
A veteran of WWII was being interviewed on TV the other night. He was asked what he thought about the army sex scandals. His answer was quite revealing, so we copy it verbatim:
"Whenever
women are placed in an environment that traditionally *belongs to* men,
you cannot prevent sexual intimacy or rape."
According to historical custom and religious dogma, it appears that everywhere EXCEPT the home may be defined as environments that traditionally belong to men. One would then assume that the veteran army officer was excluding the home from any sexual intimacy or rape, but he wasn't. Within the surety of his male rights (rites), he was just expressing his beliefs -- ALL environments belong to men.
Religious groups of today may be completely male or a varying mixture of male and female, but they are all led by men (with the possible exception of some of the newer, reality-based women's religions.) They proclaim men's place as head, leader, lord and master and refer to the bible as proof that they are ordained by God to rule ("he shall have dominion over..."
Interestingly enough, these groups mostly extend a very special place to women and they say they venerate this place and they say they venerate the women who stay in it. But women must give over all control of their bodies and reproduction to men to qualify.
Whether they call themselves the Promise Keepers, the M.M.M., K.C., Masons, or whatever, the unchristian coalition, irreligious right all speak in glowing terms of the place of woman and how important it is. She makes the home, she has the children and she takes care of the children. She is the Florence Nightingale of FAMILY VALUES.
Therefore,
all problems in the world are due to women who did not stay in their place.
Homelessness -- women took men's jobs. Rape -- women were in
traditional men's environment. Inflation -- women in the workplace.
Welfare mothers, teenage mothers, latchkey children, child criminal
behavior, alcohol and drug abuse -- all that is wrong with society is because
women did not stay in their place. That her place often also
contained battering, molestation, mental cruelty and slavery is discounted.
It only matters that they left.
So the most terrible of crimes, the breakup of the family is laid at the door of woman... and after men and their religion had put her on such a high pedestal too.
"How could she do this?" they lament. "We venerate women, we venerate mothers, we venerate the keeper of our family values. We have done so through the ages.
"Women should be delighted with their place since they are cosseted and protected. Freed from the temptations of the world, they may knit, spin, play canasta and be the useless drones nature and God intended them to be -- once they attend to husband, children and church. After all, doesn't our religion venerate chastity and mothers and all that good stuff?"
Our point in the "turnabout" below is NOT to belittle religion or the bible but rather to highlight MEN'S ADMINISTRATION AND PRACTICE OF IT. So come with a smile and an open mind as we go with "Alice through the Looking Glass."
Just for fun, let's consider how things would have shaken out in this world if the proscribed role for women REALLY WAS HIGHLY VALUED back in the biblical days of yore from whence commeth our kulture.
Does it not follow then that the male in our society would play the subservient role? His part in the deeply cherished procreation process may take only a few minutes; therefore, when entering into marriage, he would give up his "maiden name," lose his identity and become a non-person. He would joyously take his wife's name (which, of course, was her mother's name) and become her property as would all of the children of their union. He would be expected to nurture and provide for the children under the direction of his wife who would be engaged in the world's business.
All property would be in the woman's name since she would be fulfilling the major part of the much revered procreation process. Of course, rape would not be tolerated and crime of all kinds would disappear as all places would be women's places.
Needless to say, all of this would have come about with the presence of a strong church, led by a pope mother superior. She would officiate over a legion of women who, like her, are unmarried and childless. They would be the ones who made the rules and governed the family values for all the lay women and men.
And, probably, like the present male model, these female religiosa would manifest a predilection for young alter girls and boys.
Jesus would have been Jesa; and Pauline, suffering from P.M.S. and depression, would have cursed men all the way to Damascus.
1997-024
Copyright 1997 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: TWANDA@ConnRiver.net.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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