http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\02\24\story_24-2-2010_pg3_4
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 PURPLE PATCH: The fight to be female -Julia Hughes Jones "Girls begin to talk and to stand on their feet sooner than boys because weeds always grow up more quickly than good crops" - Martin Luther, 1533. When I first read the above quotation several decades ago, I wanted to know why anyone would say such a thing. What I discovered is that Martin Luther's reflection was, and continues to be, the echo of ancient philosophical and theological conjecture about female inferiority. Luther was primed to believe this fallacy by centuries of both great and small minds that came before him. Not much has changed in the years between Luther's observation and the present day. The female half of humanity continues to be defined by limitations in politics, religion, and business because an undercurrent of belief in female inferiority persists, sometimes blatantly, oftentimes unthinkingly. At a time when the known world seems to be collapsing, humanity stands on the threshold of awareness that a balance between the sexes is a desired outcome. If social and economic structures are no longer viable as established, perhaps the feminine perspective needs to be applied. If the world no longer works properly with only half of humanity in charge, then the time has come to allow the other half to be equally represented in all things. The lessons of history cannot be overlooked. One of these lessons concerns the disregard for the female role; women have been ignored as unimportant to world development except as 'keepers of the hearth'. This is changing as many professionals of all stripes are re-examining the evidence and revising the historical record. How the female has been treated in history and by history is undeniably related to how we are treated now, but Martin Luther's 'weeds' are fast becoming flowers. In 2008, Americans overwhelmingly elected the first black man in history to serve as president of the United States. By doing so, a majority of the country blatantly and resoundingly rejected the stigma of racism and its consequences. The statement is shockingly overdue because even the country's founding fathers could not bring themselves to repudiate either racism or slavery. The barrier that did not fall in 1776, 1865, or in 2008 is the sexism bias. A poll conducted after the 2008 presidential election for The Daily Beast found that American women 'overwhelmingly believe they are being treated unfairly in the press, in the workplace, in politics, and in the armed forces.' The poll revealed 'sweeping scepticism about how women are viewed culturally, politically and in the workplace,' a conclusion that is backed by 39 percent of male respondents who declared that men are 'naturally more suited' to be president. Female poll respondents undoubtedly viewed the historic election of 2008 as indisputable proof of the biased way women are treated after 233 years of struggling to be heard. More than 60 percent of those polled believe there is a gender bias in the media, indicating a lack of trust in the way information is presented to the public. The older generation of women, of which I am one, viewed the Hillary Clinton candidacy as irrefutable evidence disputing the long-standing criticism of emotionalism in women. The first woman to get close to a party nomination for president, Clinton demonstrated perseverance, tenacity, and determination, even when approaching defeat. Clinton's demeanour while under fire fostered such a sense of pride in women that she likely did more to promote future women candidacies than any organised movement could have ever achieved. For younger generations, Hillary Clinton has invigorated women in the same way that John F Kennedy inspired a teenaged Bill Clinton in 1963. The tenacious and consistent idea of female inferiority can be traced back in history through religion's earliest written records. What gave it wings to fly unimpeded throughout the millennia can perhaps be attributed to the Jungian prototype of the collective unconscious. In plain terms, belief systems are perpetuated through thoughts and actions. If enough people think and act in the prescribed and culturally dictated ways of clans and tribes, eventually critical mass is reached in the acceptance of such ways. Once this occurs, these beliefs become a part of the reservoir of human experiences. Universal archetypal and metaphorical concepts are a part of the collective unconscious. Images of males as leaders and women as followers, and usually in need of rescue, are ubiquitous in folk stories, fairytales, and other morality narratives. The legend of Saint George and the dragon, for example, is routinely viewed as a story of chivalry. The fabled white knight slays a dragon with a great sword, thereby rescuing the princess, dressed as a bride, from a sacrificial death. In most versions, marriage follows the rescue. Another interpretation of this legend portrays the knight rescuing the princess from herself. Saint George represents Christianity (good) and the dragon characterises female sexuality (evil) in this account. The knight's splendid virtue triumphs over the princess' dangerous female sexuality. After being saved from her womanly inclinations, the knight then bestows validity upon the princess by marrying her, demonstrating that sexuality is acceptable only through marriage. An opposing view depicts the legend as a metaphor for the rise of the sword and the ascent of patriarchy, also known as male control. Goddess cultures considered the dragon a defender of the feminine. Christianity dubbed goddess cultures as paganism and construed the dragon as a pagan symbol. This account can also be seen as the beginning of empire building because the sword, or warfare, is the rational way to achieve territorial expansion. It was centuries after the infamous witchcraft executions before women finally began the fight against being labelled inferior and in need of male guidance. The struggle to be recognised as equal to the other half of humanity, at long last, began to make headway in the 20th century. (This extract is taken from The Secret History of Weeds by Julia Hughes Jones) Julia Hughes Jones is a public speaker, author and feminist [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
