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- G e n d e r G a p p e r s T M
BE YOUR OWN MAN
| On August 26,
1920, after a 72-year struggle, the
19th Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. was finally ratified,
granting women the right to vote nationwide. President Carter
designated August 26 as Women's Equality Day, as a reminder of women's
continuing efforts for equality.
August 26, 2002 -- 82 years later, women are still struggling for equal rights. "Be your own man" is not a typo. It's no accident that the phrase "be your own woman" cannot exist in our language except as an oxymoron. Viewed through our language, women have not obtained personhood. Women, as our culture sees them are only 2/3 of a noun -- a place or a thing. Only a person can be her own man. Women must work for what is a birthright for men even though many men never bother to utilize it. You can point to where women are "manning" various positions in the workplace or the military but it takes great striving for a women to become her own man. This is not a failure of women as much as it is a condition of the culture that keeps females in their place by law and by religion. One needs only to look at the training grounds for girls to see how rigorous the mold around them is drawn. Happily, some women escape this conditioning. Then they have still another hurdle. They must escape or bear up under "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" because society will punish them for it. Once they have shown they cannot be put back in the box they are mostly tolerated and sometimes even respected. By definition, being one's own man means that the person has taken responsibility for her actions. She defines herself. She does not blame other for her failures, but she includes others in her successes. She doesn't trample on other women to make her stock higher with males or others in authority. Being your own man does not mean being bitchy. Queen Bees are not their own man, they live their lives in deference to men, accepting that they are inferior beings. Some people fear women who are their own man. These are people who cannot attain positions in life they aspire to and so blame uppity women for keeping them down. The blame game is played to relieve one of one's own responsibility for self. How can more women learn to become their own man and why is it important? First women must insist that our culture provides more exposure to assertiveness training and less incentives for fostering deception. Right now most all that is seen on all print and picture media is teaching women deceptive practices. They are taught that they, their minds and bodies, are substandard. They are taught that they must cover themselves up with paints and employ other artifices. They are taught that getting old is to lose whatever self-respect they have managed to garner in their life. Above all, the most deceptive practice women are taught is that they are NOT EQUAL TO MEN -- not competent, strong, intelligent and fearless as men. So the first step must be to throw away the deception and the need for deception. This goes hand in hand with gaining confidence in self and looking for answers within instead of depending on the opinions of the media, their parents or spouse. Becoming one's own man is important because our gender cannot attain and keep civil and reproductive rights unless more women get into leadership positions, educate themselves and vote to change their oppressive and increasingly dangerous culture.
He's never tried to be his own man, finding it much easier to be dependent on others all his life. As a male with tons of family oil money he hasn't had to. He has consistently blamed everything his administration has done wrong on former President Clinton. He has put us into debt, threatened the environment and led this country to seek revenge instead of solutions. He has lied and broken promises. He has brought our country and the world to the brink of World War III. We
have had the vote for 82 years now. 2002-035
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We
now have essentially an all-male federal government led by a person with
the mentality of a child, playing Cowboys and Indians. Despite being born
in a rich and influential family, George Bush has failed and gotten bailed
out of every business venture he's tried.