Men Supporting Women

Subscribe to this RSS feed

I believe that one of the great disorders of the world is a misunderstanding of the value and role of women. This misunderstanding has been propagated by men and accepted by far too many women. In a history dominated by violence, men found it easy to oppress women, and thought of all sorts of clever justifications for the relegation of women to the status of second class citizens. Arguments were presented that it was a woman, after all, who first ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, conveniently forgetting that it was quite probably a male “serpent” who offered it to the poor innocent girl. Long discourses were presented about women’s wiles, and deceptive natures. Women were told that their brains were too small and that they couldn’t possibly understand the complexities of science and politics. Thus, the vote was denied them. When women became emotionally overburdened amidst the stress of a male-dominated society, Victorian physicians callously removed their ovaries, to prevent “hysteria”. Lest my male readers think that all this is “in the past”, is it not still true that women around the world are even now oppressed? Why is it that women are still paid less when they do the same jobs as men? Why is there a glass ceiling? I doubt that women feel truly good about their current status, whether they live in a Manhattan penthouse, or are bundled up in a burka in the Middle East. Men may feel enough confidence to present a laundry list of women’s deficiencies, and may even feel like quoting Hamlet’s assertion that “Frailty, thy name is woman!” A man may nod, and wonder aloud about the risk of a female president pushing the big red nuclear button on a bad hair day. Puffing on their cigars, some men might wink…