I love, honor and respect women. I always have! I believe that if women ruled the world, we would live more peacefully; work more productively; govern more reasonably; learn more completely. Now I am not naive enough to believe that all women are cut from the cloth that would produce such lofty outcomes as listed above. I know that many women through the centuries have succumbed to the endless propaganda perpetuated by patriarchal societies that proclaim women as the weaker and therefore, inferior sex and help continue this lie created by men. This is Misogyny – The second of the Things that Bug Me.
I have many, many reasons why Misogyny bugs me! The first and foremost reason is that it takes one sex of the human species and relegates that sex to a place of subordination. This is untenable! I would say that Misogyny is visited upon women only by men who justify actions of social and professional exclusion; sex discrimination; emotional, physical, sexual and spiritual abuse; and general contempt; however, that would not be entirely true. Sometimes, women have internalized these centuries old perspectives and treat themselves and other women with the same loathing. This, to me, is doubly untenable!
The Cheyenne understand the power of women in the larger scheme of things. They say, “A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is finished: no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons.” The conquering of a nation – any nation – occurs when the hearts of its women are on the ground; crushed, broken, torn apart, victims of mindless disregard or purposeful prejudice.
In my years on this planet, I have witnessed the rise of feminism as a direct affront to the historically dominant practice of misogyny. Feminism is essentially the advocacy of women’s rights based on the presumed equality of the sexes. From what I know of women, even this stance falls short of their inherent power. William Golding, the Nobel prize winning author of Lord of the Flies, has been credited with the following quote: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”
I don’t know about you, but I love Mr. Golding’s belief statement! The Cheyenne get it! William Golding gets it! And I for another, get it as well! I know others who get it too! Those of us who get it, those of us who understand its origins and purposes must stand to honor the true place of women in this world and work to eliminate misogyny. The sooner we do this, the better our world will be!
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
