On 14 Nov 2000, at 2:40, philip52 wrote:
> tony the sexes think differently. womens and mens make collaborative
> contributions to cultures. sometimes one or the other emerges in subjective
> dominance. cockatoo's calling is a play in this paradigm. study indigenous
> art in australia over the past fifty millennia and you'll observe cycles
> lasting as long as fifteen millennia. flora, fauna and human depictions
> commence and continue with male and conclude with female depictions. today's
> owners talk about past cycles as the work of ancestors from different
> ecologies. the two traditions i'm referring to here are those of kakadu and
> the kimberleys. what matters in these cycles is that the sex which isn't the
> flavour of the month isn't villified like in civilization. there has to be a
> conscious element to distinguish the sexes in decision making. it always has
> and always will be a women's senate and a men's assembly or whatever
> construction you want to put about that. thanks for your post. philip.
>
> managing women and men
> http://mfbns.com
>
> TONY SPIERS wrote:
>
> There is nothing "contemporary" or "modern" about women taking equal place
> with men in Aboriginal society in a lot of Australia. Women play a big
> part, indeed the major role sometimes, in decision making in a lot of
> communities these days. Sadly this is by default in many cases, because the
> men have lost it and the women have had to take more on than they used to.
> It's my belief that the notion of "balance" -- Garma, as they call it at
> Yirrkala -- originally reflected the ideal relationship between man and
> woman.
>
> However, it was my observation when in the Yirrkala community about eight
> years ago that the men had pushed the women into an inferior role -- much as
> white men had also done. This observation is confirmed by this story below.
> If the Yirrkala men are in fact changing their ways as the story implies,
> then I wonder -- is it due to their own women reasserting themselves and
> restoring the old balance, ie have the men given the fire back? -- or are
> they copying white men who are in turn responding to the "women's liberation
> movement"?
>
Notwithstanding that Europe is a Greek/Romanised idea, as is the patriarchy
that stems therefrom, witness the Celtic Queen Boudicca, the following is
an interesting story relating to an uncolonised mind, a mind devoid of
christian theological imperialism.
I heard this from a woman friend who had been working with the late great
Kimberley Lawman David M________i at his "Bush University." in the North
West.
As a feminist, she one day asked him to explain the "women's and men's
business" thing. This followed;
==============================================
"Chris, bend down and do your bootlace up."
"Eh? "
"Just humour me, please."
So she bent to tie her laces.
"Chris, with only one hand!"
=======================================
His point is just too beautiful to explain and a thousand theological
theses could be written on the subject, but this piercing wisdom makes
goose bumps on my neck. I am so humbled by this rabbinic type of wisdom
that I have been privileged to experience.
Bye,
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