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HOBBLED SPIRITS, CORRUPTED DREAM
Some of you may have read books by Horatio Alger, Jr. Others may have found these strange books in Grama's attic or in a used bookstore. They were all the rage from around the Civil War to the turn of the century (20th, that is) when values were very, very different from what they are now. They depicted the American Dream -- for men only, of course -- but irrespective of wealth or position in life. He wrote over a hundred books with a consistent theme:
"The heroes of his books almost always had the same qualities -- moral, brave, generous, kind, diligent, industrious, and persevering. His novels told everyone, no matter how poor, orphaned or powerless, that if they persevere, if they do their best, if they always try to do the right thing, they can succeed. Success was earned by hard work and right action. Alger trumpeted the doctrine of achieving success through self-reliance, self-discipline, decency, and honesty." http://www.horatioalger.com/junior.htm
Today we don't need such character building books. Life, as it is, spreads out before a child as soon as she deems to take notice of it. The "Greatest Generation" is giving way to the "Me Generation" which is about to succumb to the "GenXers," and the "Y's" lurk sullenly wishing everyone would get out of their way.
Our
governmental bodies are even now sweating out bigger and better ways to
educate the young so our country can remain competitive in the world. All
the while, prime examples of the futility of studying or working hard loom
like vultures over our children.
In case any child might miss absorbing the lessons of sloth locally, "W" tells Yale students that the highest office in the land may be obtained effortlessly by a C student and his sound bite is published and republished by a delighted media. Meanwhile, the terribly difficult jobs, the very necessary work done by nurses, teachers, human service and social workers, etc. remain the least paid and the most criticized in our culture.
And why not? Most of these positions are filled by women, and traditionally women and their work are devalued by society. For awhile there it looked as if affirmative action and similar legislation would change things and make our genders at parity with each other. Then came the backlash.
What it didn't stop in its tracks, it blunted. The thrust of the women's movement changed from a battering ram to a vague ripple of discontent. Pseudo-science hacks in private, political and governmental agencies were quick to capitalize on this by force feeding women on masses of cultural edict. http://www.integrityinscience.org
First they told women how guilty and tired and unfulfilled they felt for working outside the home, for wanting and enjoying a career. From that came more and more articles about how different women and men are, showing, of course, that men were fit for careers and women were not.
Everyone in the media pitches in to make this brain washing of women continue. Recently Ann Landers moaned, "I wish we could go back to women wearing dresses and long hair." That was her answer to someone who wrote that she couldn't tell what gender a person was who wore slacks and had short hair.
It
reminds one of how ancient Japan controlled women's movement and self-expression,
and enforced their conformity by breaking the bones in their feet when
they were very young to hobble them. After breaking the bones, the feet
were wrapped in bandages to keep them from growing properly. Walking was
both painful and difficult on these thin, blade-like appendages -- but
it was argued that the tiny feet "emphasized a woman's femininity."
Today many women's spirits have been broken, bound up and hobbled. Their will to walk toward self-actualization has been obliterated or bought off by the glitter of false promises or threats of reprisal for their nonconformity.
"W," born to a rich influential family, attended the best schools by right of that birth but he was a failure in every business adventure he attempted. Far from resisting the temptations of drugs and alcohol, he embraced them. He went AWOL from military duty and expected always to have whatever he wanted irrespective of the will of the majority of voters. Truly, he is the antithesis of the heroes of the Horatio Alger series and a corrupter of the American Dream.
2001-025
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.
G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
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