PILLARS - PART 2

[cont...] It's a man's world and he has secured it upon four, strong pillars. They have supported how he shaped the past, how he is shaping the present and how he will shape the future. Two of these pillars were described in the preceding article.

Edgar Cayce lived and died in the last century. He was a devout Christian and was concerned when his trance states revealed to him some things that were definitely anti-Biblical. One such revelation concerned a tribe called the Essens -- the tribe that Jesus came from. Cayce saw women in high positions in the religious hierarchy of that tribe. Of course the churches roundly condemned him for such heresy.

Recently, archeologists uncovered some burial grounds of the Essens. Burials of that time sharply differentiated the remains of the important and powerful, buried with their signs of high office, from the common masses. They found women's remains buried with the symbols of a high priest, showing that these women were given the preferential treatment and position in the religion that Bible writers and transcribers only assigned to men.

Just how reliable is the Biblical written record of that time that has delineated the low place of womankind? Was it intentional that religions developed in the interest of the male establishing him as "godlike" by assigning a male god, a male son as the hierarchy of his church? Was it intentional that the church itself was given the female gender? It would seem so.

Woman, defined by man's religion, is designated the servant of man and as such, his property -- which is the basis for governmental control of women THE BASIS FOR DENYING AUTOMOMY. Through the ages she has been the mainstay and the keeper in many of the world's religions. In modern times, she is the one that goes to church and trains the children while he watches the ball game. She is the one who holds the rummage and bake sales to support church functions.

None the less, she is also the one who is entirely overlooked in the power structure of theocracy. That's bad enough, but what's worse is that she is complicit in the societal downplaying of her worth and abilities. Forever content to be doormats, many women are eager to bring down anyone of their gender who dares to try to escape the constricts of the four pillars.

A child soon learns that he will grow up to become a man but that she never can. Why is this important? It is vitally important because it robs her of her self-worth and confidence right at the start of her life. She will always be playing catch-up, always knowing that she never can, while he accepts his elevated [over women] position in society as normal.

• "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal." This is written in stone and will never be changed to all people are created equal.
  
  
• Even if a woman pilot is killed in battle the planes overhead at her funeral will perform "the missing man maneuver."
  
  
• Genetic mapping of man is all over the news today. The two males who directed the research were featured, as they should be, but no one notices or acknowledges the contribution of women to this feat, or senses that the "genetic mapping" of woman was also included in these studies or even should be.
  
  
• One top Republican strategist bluntly asserts: "It's been a longtime secret among political consultants that women hate women candidates. Women are bred to compete. It's the old thing: you get 12 guys, you've got a football team. You get 12 women, you've got a riot."
  
  
• Think it's great that a woman, Condoleezza Rice is NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR? Think again. Acting President Cheney is already taking over control of at least one of the NSA's most important positions, that of Chair of the Principals committee.

There are constant examples all over the TV, radio, movies and the Internet that reinforce this gender specific programming. Recently we heard this during a "T.V. news" program: A panel of 3 males and 1 female were discussing what the proposed tax cut would mean "to the average JOE." One panelist said: "Take a guy that earns say 40 thousand, no, wait. Most guys' wives work, so say he makes 60 or 70 thousand..."

Surely we should expect anyone in this day and age to declare that if Joe's wife worked, the family income would be 60-70 thousand? Actually we shouldn't. Not when men control information. However, we should realize, when we constantly hear things of this sort that the majority opinion is that men still do own their wives, her income and her body. Clearly that is why women's reproductive functions are STILL under the control of the government.

The paper today contained the news that two women had died. One was an accomplished writer of thirteen books, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The headline and the first paragraph identified her as "the wife of Charles A. Lindbergh," driving home the point once again that a woman's significance was NOT in what she accomplished.

The other woman was Dale Evans, a singer-actress. The opening paragraph announced that she teamed with her husband Roy Rogers and wrote their trademark song, "Happy Trails To You." Of course his horse, Trigger, got top billing over a woman.

We know that women are still severely limited in roles and scope in movies.

After six years of attracting hundreds of thousands of fans in every country in the world, Xena-Warrior Princess has gotten the ax from its USA screening network. This show filled every requirement for a T.V. program in America: sex, violence and tons of fans. However, it was sending the wrong message to girls and boys and women and men. Xena! A woman superhero who just got stronger and more independent.

Xena! A woman superhero who defied, and gave serious whupass to, men's gods is not the message we are supposed to see and hear. There was danger that if the T.V. Movie, Xena, continued, "Her courage WOULD change the world."

twanda@gendergappers.org       

2001-008

Copyright 2001 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@gendergappers.org.

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