Dear Al:
Just wanted to let you know that I find your perspective on the LBJ/McNamara
machinations very interesting.... I am still somewhat unclear as to what you
are attempting to convey when speaking of women's brain chemistry...are
you suggesting that women are inherently more compassionate than men
because of differences in brain chemistry? I guess I am wary of
statements which allude to the universal feminine nature-- while I would
like to think a woman would not have made the same ignorant Machiavellian
choices that the [male] politicians did concerning Vietnam, it is exactly
this kind of thinking-(that women have essential, fundamental
characteristics different from men)-that is used to oppress, exploit, and
perpetuate male power-over (and which keeps women from fully
participating in society-- we certainly are a long way away from the
historically egalitarian society discovered by Eisler)... the pure and
virtuous feminine character was also highlighted during the Victorian
era (consequently, women were only afforded opportunities which nicely fit
into the rigid role of compassionate mother/wife)--- not exactly the era
of women's rights! Anyway, thank you for the book suggestion, maybe you
or someone who has read the text would be willing to elaborate on the
actual empirical evidence and theories suggested in "The Chalice & the
Blade"? I would appreciate the info..
Take Care,
Jaimie
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Jaimie Ann Carboy
Department of Sociology
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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On Thu, 15 Jun 1995, Al Rushanan TAL (904)487-1855
wrote:
> I missed the war by a hair - my lottery number was 116 when they
> stopped the draft. You're right about McNamara. (Sometimes
> predicting is easy - in the '60s anyone could have predicted that
> in the '90s computers would be ubiquitous, rock 'n roll would still
> be popular, and McNamara would still be trying to figure out
> Vietnam.)
>
> Is McNamara getting religion because death is approaching? Why
> wasn't he this compassionate back then? It wasn't lack of brains -
> the guy has a very high IQ. Would a woman in his position have
> advised the president differently? What would a woman in Johnson's
> position have done? I have a tendency to try to reduce things to
> brain chemistry, and the differences between men and women seems to
> be a key.
>
> A former Ecofem subscriber mentioned "The Chalice & the Blade" by
> Riane Eisler. "Chalice" is probably the most important book I ever
> read. She theorizes, based on archeological evidence, that
> civilization was NOT run by men 5000 years ago; that power was
> shared between men and women; and that war was rare or nonexistent
> until barbarians overthrew them, and it's been downhill ever since.
> I think the concept of moving from a dominator to a partnership
> based civilization is critical for avoiding global holocaust and/or
> ecological collapse (or both). I wonder if we can get there from
> our competition based economy.
> aVr
>
>
