| Something has been really bothering me. It's this idea that men are better than women. Someone told me the other day that they love sons better than they love daughters. When I asked why, they told me that it was just a traditional way of thinking. Generations upon generations of prejudice and predisposition that have been passed down from father to son and mother to daughter alike have conglomerated into what I see as a glaring wrong in this person's thinking. She is not the only one who thinks this way. Despite the fact that I am of the prejudiced sex, I used to be the same way.
I used to think that if I were ever to make the mistake of giving birth and having children, I would rather have a son than a daughter. I had no reason other than the fact that at that time, I hated girls, especially whiny girls, with a passion. Soon I was enamored with the idea of having twins, one boy and one girl. This was also during my egalitarianism phase. Now, two phases and one whiny brother later, I think about the assets of being a girl and of having and a daughter. I am, after all, a daughter. I think I do a good job of being one.
So what is it about this extra piece of flesh? It is not especially pretty or special. In the animal world, it has always been the females, sans extra flesh, that have been courted and wooed and doted over. Yet for us, a relatively more sophisticated species, it is the male that is idolized. With the exception of the pagan goddesses of Athens, Wicca and The Da Vinci Code, we have developed civilizations that prized men as powerful and portrayed women as weak. What is it about being a male that is so special? Are they stronger? Yes, physically, but women have a much stronger pain tolerance and endurance. What is strength when it cannot last? Are they smarter? No. It is only that the areas more honed by the male brain that has proven to be more prized than that of the female's specialties.
It is strange to idolize a piece of flesh. I understand why brute male strength would have been prized in the glory days of plow-and-sow. But it is time to wake up and smell the agricultural technology. I can understand why you would favor someone for their merits, but to favor someone because of their anatomy is preposterous. Yet some people are stuck in their ways, covering themselves in denial and forsaking better arguments and reason in the wrong attempt to conserve traditions. And until then, we'll always have silly rationalization in the face of stark prejudice. |
