For reasons I don’t understand I’m called to look back into
history in order to try to discern how and why women became regarded as
property and of value only to the extent men wished them to bear children.
I am not a feminist (but do not begrudge them
at all) but a soul who finds great distaste in any form of oppression of souls
condemned to be lesser by those who foist themselves up as greater.
Call it a character flaw if you will but it
discomforts me greatly to see such a long history of abuse that is still often
perpetuated today.
In
History as a Weapon by Howard Zinn, you
can see in the United States at least in its very early beginnings, the dismal
manner in which women were treated merely because they were women.
Then a quick glance around the internet and
we see that many women around the world throughout history were great leaders.
A quick excerpt of many of them can be found
at
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/rulers.html.
So I wonder, why, why were women treated so
horribly?
Why were women singled out to
become mere property and other too dismal to expand upon objects? It’s really a question there is no answer to other than
in my own opinion, fear and stupidity.
In my querying I mean to position neither of the sexes as
superior to the other but to point out that mistreatment based on sex alone,
religion alone or culture alone is of the same ilk…fear and stupidity. I usually keep my opinions to myself but I’m
bothered by mistreatment of any class for any reason. The depth of which this subject bothers me is
I see it in the world, I see it in my own neighborhood and I hear it on the
news which I try hard not to watch (but since others do and talk about it, I still must hear the
horrors perpetuated by the unaware and woefully unawakened). As much as it disappoints and even at
times causes me much pain, I cannot sink to the same level as those who created
the problems to begin with. I will not
hate. It’s just a personal commitment I
have made to myself. I will become not
one bit a part of the problem but I cannot stand by and watch it consistently
perpetuated and have no feelings either - I think. I can pray or join an
organization and stand with greater voices and numbers to help decry the wrongs
and strive to help put them right through education but never ever could I engage in the violence so many choose when feeling as I do just now.
I see the reports of youth carrying out random acts of
violence based solely on color of skin or choice of romantic entanglement and
it makes me want to cry. Why do we raise
a whole generation of children perpetuating even more fear and loathing of our
racial, religious, sexual or political differences? We could accomplish so much more in this
world if we stood together side by side in the one manner that unifies every
single one of us on the planet. I refer to us
all being members of the human race. If
we stood together unified, without any fear of each other or without the need for control by the men declaring superiority over the women, or the white
declaring supremacy over the black or the perfectly religious over those wrongly
considered mere and vile pagans, we might be able to help each other through this thing we call life.
I realize that the incredulous feeling that rises within me is
merely yet another message from me to me for me to figure out and better
understand. I have great capacity for understanding both the oppressors and the
oppressed but where does that leave me other than greatly conflicted as I read
of or learn about the latest heinous activity committed during the day? Why can we not have a society in which
everyone has a better and more equal role?
We are so smart and resourceful today.
Why can we not find a way to use the strength of that intelligence and
resourcefulness to teach our children to choose love over hate, to stand up for
what is morally right, to live in this world giving their best to contribute to
the human race as a whole rather than to just a select few deemed worthy only
by a select few who claim worthiness to determine worthiness?
I grew up very poor in the welfare system. My parents were uneducated and unable to cope
with the intricacies of the workings of the world in which they found
themselves. They were looked down upon
by others because they were good looking people but were so very poor. Under-performers were they judged and maybe that was so but they had a right to be
respected as human beings. So does every poor person,
every homeless person, every addicted person, every soul who has had to steal
to feed their families and even every criminal who is acting out the perpetual
cycle of victim turned villain by pain and abuse. If we could stop this cycle of fear and hate maybe the pain
would finally end. But that is my very human
side that cries out in pain for all of those who were wounded and thrown
away. My heart will always ache for them
but then again, maybe not all is
horribly and irretrievably lost.
Maybe
if we were to pay attention to the themes and roles that are occurring right
now at this point in the history of this planet and see how it has repeated in nearly all
societies throughout the civilized history of this planet, we might just learn
something. If we could look to the good
and focus on creating more of that and if we could look to the bad that hurt those
societies and brought them crumbling to the ground and then refused to engage
in or perpetuate that, maybe life could be better on Earth. Maybe Pollyanna is my twin sister huh?
I’m afraid I have no real answers, just a heavy heart this
morning seeking broader resolution that may never come. It may never come because I live in a
framework not designed to resolve these dilemmas of thought I’m choosing to
assign emotion to in this moment. In a
single moment I can dispassionately re-review history, I can re-review the news
reports and see everything as if it is a book of lessons from which we are all
given the opportunity to learn and I mean really learn. As with all students, some will take a class
and pass, get the lesson and move on to their next class thus achieving the goals of their lesson plan overall. Some will take the class, miss the concepts
the lessons were designed to teach and be doomed to fail the class thus having
to repeat it or give up altogether on the goal of mastering their
education. I’ve referred to this place,
this beautiful planet in our Milky Way Galaxy as the Earth School and I do so
on purpose. Perhaps I am but learning
one of the hardest lessons of this place and that is that it just is what it is
concerning prejudice, judgment, hate, idiocy, stupidity, pain, suffering and missing
opportunities out of nothing but fear.
The only choice that I can find the courage and strength to
muster is just to love all whether or not I understand the reasons why they do this or that or not do this or that. Women are not lesser beings than men. Black men are not lesser beings than white
men. Gay, Lesbian and Transgender human
beings are not lesser than heterosexual human beings. Members who choose one form of religious
expression are not lesser than human beings who choose other forms of religious
expression or no religious expression at all. This I understand and must
still love all regardless because that is who I am. I must realize that I stand in a framework
here that I do not totally and completely understand and my role is not to turn
the tides on everything wrong in this place but to seek to understand it and
learn from it. At some point, perhaps, I’ll
stop grieving for those I see so horribly mistreated and realize that they may
just be the bravest and most amazing souls that ever existed because of the
sacrifices they selflessly made so that those of us watching would learn and
see. My deepest respect goes to them
all throughout all time past, present and into the future.
I can share nothing else with these series of thoughts
anything other than a hope. My hope is
for greater compassion in each human being on this planet, greater
understanding and love to eradicate fear and greater tolerance and
understanding to end the suffering of those who are different. Realizing that in this world where my true power to
affect change lies is in one place and in one place only…within me, I now understand there is much
I can do. I can change my thoughts and
how I assign emotion. If I can heal from
the pain I see in this world, I know that I can create the energy and a path
for others to follow. If I can learn,
hold compassion, love and understanding, I can create a pathway for others to
follow, just as I have followed the path after those who learned before me. I need more coffee and a moment of silence in
the stillness of this cool summer morning to appreciate all that is and all who
have lived and do live here in this framework today. Oh, and one more thing, on the men versus women thing (and this may certainly have broader applicability to all the other better than issues I have cited), I truly believe we each have strengths and weaknesses. I believe truly that when we come together we all gain from our strengths. One sex is not better than the other but when both sexes work together in love, harmony and respect...great and amazing things come. That's it for my morning caffeine induced ramblings. ~May the Source bless each and every one of you
with courage and strength, much love and healing light. Have a blessed day.
(c) 2013 Jaie Hart (the photo is of Anne Hutchinson that I found randomly on the internet. You can read more about her here: http://www.annehutchinson.com/anne_hutchinson_biography_001.htm)
If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also like my books. I'd be honored if you'd visit my author spotlight at:
http://www.jaiehart.com. Blessings.
