Women -- the Second Sex?

Simone de Beauvoir wrote in 1949 that women are the second sex. It is 2009 and they are still considered thus. How sad that half of humanity is seen as less than. Even women believe it, if not intellectually, then on a subconscious level due to brain washing. If they didn't, they would not stand for the injustices against them ranging from clidorectomy to non-existent or inferior educational opportunities to honor killings to lesser pay for the same work.

If you are on a computer reading this blog, you may begin to argue vociferously against this statement. It would be easy to understand why if you are a woman of privilege or power but take yourself out of your self-made universe, of which you are the shining star, and check out the rest of the world. This is a global phenomenon and most women have accepted the inequity.

Only a handful of women such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, her buddy Susan B. Anthony and lesser known women like Esfand Farrokhrou Parsa (the first woman in the Iranian cabinet), have dared to challenge the status quo. The rest have, maybe with a bit of grumbling, carved out lives within the confines of this rigid class system.

It is breathtaking that there has not been a total revolt against this worldwide prejudice. Strides have been made (and I applaud Nicolas Sarkozy's June 22, 2009 stand that burqas will not be tolerated in France) but the scale is still waaay out of balance. What rights women have gained have been largely through intellectual argument rather than through the force of arms which, by the way, may lend credence to the argument that women deal with injustice in a more rational manner.

It is not a overstatement to say that discrimination against women is second only to global warming.

Cultures develop their unique set of rules and customs. These rules are basically made by those with the power and, the longer a culture endures, the harder it is to question and revise those rules. Tradition has an inertia on par with the expanding universe. (For those who would like to trace the origin of our present day beliefs and norms, I highly recommend Karen Armstrong's The Great Transformation.)

Religion is the cornerstone of most cultures, and it has been employed effectively in putting society's heel on the throats of women, children and slaves for centuries. Religious leaders (male, of course) have manipulated thoughts of well meaning prophets to reinforce their positions of dominance. Women and children, fearing the supposed wrath of God/Allah/Yahweh, are kept in line through the effective use of fear and, if they dare challenge that status quo, must endure derision, ostracism, beatings, even death in some countries. Incredibly, after generations, most women have been so totally brainwashed that they abhor anyone else questioning these "truths." They feel extremely threatened and will defend their right to their substandard place in society as arduously as any man.

Here's an example of what I mean: Muhammed's stated initial encounter with the angel Gabriel resulted in the Koran. After his wife of 24 years died (a wealthy international trader who supported him), he made addendums to his visions -- addendums that he claimed were God-given visions. These revisions are suspect in that they conveniently fall in lock step with his needs. Addendum #1: Men are in charge of women. Addendum #2: A man can have up to four wives. (He, being a follower of Allah, dutifully compiled by immediately taking two wives, one of which was a 9-year-old girl.) Addendum #3: A father can marry the wife of his son (put in place when he desired the wife of his adopted son.) Addendum #4: Muhammed can marry more than 4 women. (He claimed he did so for tribal alliances.)

Today there are thousands of women in Muslim countries that believe with every fiber of their being that this is what Allah wants. Muslims aren't the only ones to blindly follow. Most have not bothered to examine the etiology of their faiths. If so, they would see how the faith was twisted by men to keep women in place (and other surprising facts to know and tell.)

(By the way, just so the reader knows I am not trying to single out a particular culture or the Islamic faith, Christian-led England did not allow women to own property until the mid-1800s. Muhammad advocated this right for women in the 7th century. During the rise of the Greek city states in the 8th century BCE, everybody could become a citizen except slaves and women. These were aggressively male states. During the preceeding Dark Age, women had enjoyed a better status but during this new age they were marginalized, segregated in their family homes and rarely seen in the streets. So the Muslims were not the first to sequester women. Islam borrowed many of it current abhorrent practices from surrounding cultures.)

Islam does not stand alone in its religious injustice. Preachers of Christianity have been equally unjust. (John Calvin quickly comes to mind here.) There are two versions of the Creation story in the Bible: one that has God creating man and woman at the same time as equals and the other version proclaiming woman was created from the rib of man. Guess which one is usually preached from the pulpit? No wonder women feel subordinate to men. They have been taught this from childhood. If this is the premise one starts with then man can use the "logic" that woman is a helpmate to man. In logic, the premise must be true for other truths to follow. If the premise is wrong, what follows cannot be true. Which version is the correct version if one believes that every word in the Bible is true?

It is human nature to resist giving up cherished beliefs. People rather persist in a belief than consider they may be wrong. Few people have the courage to admit they were wrong and to make a change. Change is one of the scariest things a person can do. True beliefs can withstand close examination and do not involve wishful thinking. If questioning shows a weakness in the argument, most would rather disparage the questioner than have to re-examine closely held beliefs. The Catholic Church put to death anyone who thought the world was round but one need not go back that far for an example. There are still people who believe that African-Americans are intellectually inferior to whites and will put you in a world of hurt if you argue too strongly against this.

Since I am interested in pursuing truth, my first litmus test is...is this true for everyone at anytime? If this system were just, then men would not mind if the tables were turned. They would undergo surgery to eradicate pleasure from the sexual act. They would be understanding when their wife took on extra husbands. They would obediently sit/walk behind their woman. They would not grumble for being paid less for the same work. They would not be bothered that, although they are half of the population, they only have marginal representation in government. They would not rebell against being disenfranchised from the vote. And they certainly buy in, at the deepest level, that they are less than.

The truth is....the woman's movement has stalled and women falsely believe that the fight is over. While the majority of the women in the world still suffer from true injustice the fight must continue. What is true is that it won't change if women do not become more vocal about it. The truth is women need to realize they are not the second sex and need to see themselves as powerful and worthy of respect across the board -- from the workplace to the bedroom.

If any reader wishes to challenge this post in any way, I welcome it. I do not profess to know everything and I am quite willing to change. I have made tremendous changes and been forced to examine my own closely held beliefs. If someone can show me that my belief about women's status is wrong, I actually would welcome it. What a tremendous relief that would be and I could feel comfortable about not only my daughters' future but the future of daughters everywhere.