Women. What qualities they embody. Kind, loving, warm, courageous, strong, cold and mean when enraged (or not), terrifying when their own is endangered, conniving, jealous, insecure, smart, intelligent (yes, even blonds), manipulative, sexy, cool, aloof, all embracing, all seeing, intuitive, knowing and believing what they know to be true without knowing how, sarcastic, endearing, soft, gentle, maternal and the list goes on …Women are a natural powerhouse.
Women are the support, the rock, the base on which the world stands. Without women, the world as we know it would crumble. Women run the world from their homes, bathrooms, cars, farms, fields, plains, bedrooms, bars, cafes, palaces, mansions, aircraft cabins, jet fighters, laboratories, on and off the killing fields in wars recognized and not, and behind the scenes in offices. It is so!
Yet women, these magnificent, misunderstood (mainly by men), wondrous, beauty-full and contradictory human beings, are deliberately targeted, willfully bruised and battered, raped daily somewhere in the world, murdered in so-called “crimes of passion”, receive less pay than their similarly qualified male counterparts, face daily dis-respect, feel obliged to tolerate harassment of every kind in order to keep a job and be able to eat, and have their clitoris severed with razor blades, somewhere in the world.
That notwithstanding, women, highly targeted in countries like India to the wealthiest like the counter-inauguration march in the USA against President Trump, continue to demand change in their lives and circumstances most notably equality. Are they interested in moving to a Nordic country where equal treatment of females is enshrined in law? No! They want what they have over there. Here! Now!
Women are consistently admired for their many attributes which are taken for granted as they go about their business whether it’s to make a name for themselves privately or publicly in fields of their choosing such as artistes in any genre, politician, engineering, the armed forces, cutting edge technology, teacher, mother and homemaker, television host, news anchor (still jealously guarded as a male domain), psychic, medium, shaman, doctor/surgeon, human rights advocate, lobbyist, CEO, wife, lover, prostitute (many are forced into it, pretty girls flirt in it to make a quick buck while others believe this form of degradation is their only choice), life guard, veterinarian, prime minister, president, farmer, cashier, waitress, pilot, and so many more.
And you know what, most of the jobs that women occupy today are not of their choosing. They don’t want it, not interested but are resigned to it, it’s the best fit they are told, they don’t feel they have any options, they live in a dead-end neighbourhood, town or village facing a go-nowhere future and more of that nonsense.
And yet, as soon as these magnificent beings begin voicing their opinions, requesting, demanding, exhorting change to improve their lives and the lives of others as they were doing privately prior to attracting attention, they are criticised, reviled, derided. Sometimes it’s just a lone brave voice that speaks up, attracts the needed attention and is attacked. It’s as if women (girls are tolerated because…they don’t know anything” do not have the right to speak out unless you’re a politician and even then, if you participate in no clique, you’re a maverick and not in a good way (only positive for men).
What crap! One could swear that if tarring and feathering were still in vogue it would be used to run the “undesirable” out of town and back into her assigned box.
What is so wrong with a woman, a girl desiring a better life for herself, her family? What is so wrong with demanding that systems change and improve? “It’s always been like that” is not a reason. Come on! Why is it that some women vociferously deny, denigrate and decry another woman or girl’s desire, determination and success? What is it that persuades women to ape their partners’ opinions which degrades her own sex? For instance, why can they not vote differently from those close to them? What’s the deal here?
Women and girls are not cardboard cut-outs although I can certainly see the advantage to many males, patriarchal systems and institutions where no thing must change.
Is it that women fear going against popular opinion or are they afraid of being left behind (childhood brainwashing never acknowledged) thereby justifying their actions in pulling down that female who’s forging ahead, in order to feel comfortable in the round holes into which they were shoved and are afraid of leaving?
Fear, that old bogey bear, is the basis of all negative actions. Drill down beneath hate rage jealousy and you will find fear.
Women are thinkers, natural intuitives and observers par excellence. Due to upbringing many simply do not allow themselves to trust it. They can decipher a human condition, a problem beginning, percolating and predict the consequence long before a man gets around to it. If he’s an observer, in touch with his feminine side, he will get it as well but not before a woman simply because women have the advantage men never will.
Women are connected to their feelings all the time (it would drive men crazy if they had to live that way). This admittedly can throw them off the rails when submerged by them but that’s part of being female. It’s normal. It’s called emotional intelligence not PMS which is another story by itself. Men ought to try that for a day.
Women are the most intelligent of the human species. Science is finally confirming something that women have known for centuries eons. It is a modern absurdity that women are still mentally (and culturally) relegated to the kitchens and bedrooms when the fact is that world and every system would fall down if women stopped working, refused to accept additional burdensome tasks for which they are rarely compensated, and said “No”.
Here, right here, is the crux of the problems all females face on this planet. Many men fear them. They will deny this of course. Vociferously…
The fact that women run this place as natural leaders, are naturally power-full beyond measure, that women are the child bearers who can and do control generations by overt and direct or subtle means or a combination of tactics, is what actually terrifies and frustrates men.
It is for this reason that archaic patriarchal retrograde societies in many cultures – for example, Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Uzbekistan and most African countries – insist on controlling girls and women’s sexuality (their wombs) through female genital mutilation (FGM), honour killings, child marriages, arranged marriages, limited or no access to education. Inequality is the by-word the world over in the blindly determined desire to control women’s reproduction and thus, the minds of their offspring.
Women naturally multi-task. It’s not that they want to because it’s exhausting but most believe they have no choice. Clean them, mother them, feed them all, sex them, always look good, solve all problems, cook meals, keep the house clean and tidy, prepare a stupendous meal at the drop of a hat, while she also works at home or outside the home. She is expected to take care of every one and every thing. And she does!
Notwithstanding the fact that women are natural leaders, do they all want to run the world? No! Just their own little patch in the most efficient manner in order to live comfortable happy and fulfilling lives.
Girls are still being forcibly wed at puberty in exchange for cattle in Africa which equates to wealth and status and improved living conditions of her family, not for her, the unwilling bride.
Girls are still being sold to landowners to pay off debts in Asia, sold into prostitution because the family cannot afford to feed them and along with boys, they are also given as child labourers to unscrupulous business men and women to earn money.
Thirty million girls worldwide have and will be screaming in pain and terror each year at having their clitoris severed in Muslim countries and in north east west and central Africa. Families adhering to this barbaric culture have brought it to the West including the USA where they were obliged to issued fact sheets warning emigrants from countries known to practice FGM or cutting, that it is illegal.
Europe, Australia United Kingdom and the list is long of other western countries also battling these horrific and mutilating acts on girls on their territories! The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2016 Report tells the tale along with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) February 2017 Fact Sheet.
In addition to neutering girls, the mutilation carried out with razor blades and scissors, causes lifelong internal damage and incontinence in many cases as well as excruciating pains during menstruation, inability to become pregnant due to infection or very pain-full pregnancies because the baby cannot properly exit the vaginal passage due to internal scarring.
Why is it that men and boys have the right to pursue their desires urges passions, be it as simple as partner in a law firm, attaining the highest political office in the land or backpacking across continents but women must dumb down, to satisfy whom?
If a girl wants to live her Art, be a “Stephanie” Hawkins, a scientist on the cutting edge of her chosen field, an author poet and star (like yours truly), an Oprah, a medium and psychic, a Georgia O’Keefe or whatever attracts her, let her be. How will she know if that’s her calling or just one aspect of it which she can fine-tune to suit herself if she doesn’t throw herself in?
What about wanting to learn to read and write because she didn’t have the opportunity as a child?
Who are the ones saying “Well no, you can’t because…” ?! It’s the mothers, sometimes fathers supported by his better half, their families who supposedly love them and “know” what’s best. Really? This is general not specific but when last did a parent actively listen to the oft unruly secretive not-understood female offspring to hear the message they’re really transmitting?
Women need to ask themselves when did we drink the koolaid? Why do we restrict our girls’ lives as a matter of course instead of encouraging them to spread their goddamn wings and fly, like our boys?
Females are not the weaker sex! Women literally ran the world during the second World War because the men and boys of age and the other idiots who signed up in rebellion and misguided patriotism, were becoming canon fodder for the glory of their respective countries.
Women and girls are the preferred targets in human trafficking and sexual violence. Gang rape is a regular occurrence for women and girls most notably in India South Africa South Sudan and other war-torn countries and they don’t make the news.
The fact that a female possesses a vagina does not equate to weakness or inability to decide how she wants to live her life. Yes. Women change our minds. Often. So what! It’s called following our feelings. When this is criticised, often, and females cave, they usually end up with the nasty end of the stick.
Women rule by their very nature of being feminine. Encourage girls to go all out, to trust their innate instincts, to change their minds when they have to, just like boys. How can anyone possibly know what’s right for them if not through trial and error. You never step into the same river twice and intuition never steers anyone wrong.
If girls are so weak and fragile, why are they not openly loved, admired respected and protected the world over? Women and girls ought to be prized like price-less gems, cherished, adored, and instilled with the knowledge that they are protected from harm wherever possible.
Girls must grow up secure in their value to themselves, in their self-love and self-respect, knowing that they are equal to any male, fully capable of achieving what he can, in her own style. If a man hasn’t done it yet, she can be the blaze the trail.
Girls must feel safe growing up and only the fact that they know they are loved will accomplish that. Thereby avoiding the chasm awaiting of seeking love in all the wrong places. They must feel free to follow their muse secure in the knowledge that someone has their backs.
They must be taught how to integrate the meaning of self-respect and its implications with daily reinforcement to prepare them for life. Begin in the cradle and the world flourishes. Teach girls so they understand what valuable and worthy human beings they are. Inculcate in them this one fact – being female does not make them lesser than.
Teach boys to respect protect and cherish their sisters mothers grannies girlfriends lovers and wives or partners. Let compassion be the key in all thoughts words and deeds.
Equality of treatment and respect is the minimum that females desire. This recognition of girls and women worth must start now. Today! It is untenable in this twenty-first century that women still bear the burden of production and yet are treated as second- third-class or no-class citizens.
Education of girls and women alleviates poverty. Access to medical care, jobs and relevant training to support their families will change radically and positively change the way government and countries are run.
If we want to create a world that is abundant peace-full and compassionate and leave it in safe hands for future generations, mutual respect between the sexes and recognition of women’s worth and the considerable inestimable value she brings to the world, women must fully participate in all decision-making endeavours.
Nothing works without a woman. Time for women to take their seats at the world table and share the acumen developed over eons. It is time for men to shut up and listen. It is time for change.