I was caught up short recently, in a dialogue with Marsha that started to get heated so I thought I'd take a moment and reflect upon the deeper issues. Take some time and e-valuate.
>From my perspective, it bugs Marsha when observed differences between the sexes are explicated. It gets a rise out of her that usually instantiates as "Women have been oppressed and trodden down for ages, and still are in many places, BECAUSE of those perceived differences - which men use to excuse dominating behavior." And my immediate reaction is, "so what?" What does this have to do with me? I certainly don't believe in oppressing women because of their differences. I'd probably been kicked out of my particular household long ago, if that were true. So what's the point? Am I supposed to make up for past injustice? By offering a "free pass" now? Perhaps some sort of reparations are in order? How many years of bowing before the hive queen? before the sins of the fathers are no longer visited upon the heads of the children? There are no free passes in metaphysics. Sorry. If a pattern is observable, then it's existant and fair game for analysis and discussion. The whole division of male/female, wasn't exactly a human invention. Nature came up with that one. The fact of "division between" does not necessarily mean "opposition too". It's the whole competitive sphere that gets people riled up. The idea that we compete for power. It's silly. And dangerous. And pervasive in modernity, techno-socially reinforced on every side by romantic comedies. - but that's another story. In my pause in dialogue with Marsha, other considerations arose. It seems an awful lot like she's had to deal with a lot of flack already. Criticism from almost every corner, all the guys on this list except for Bo, and he just got excluded. So Marsha's had to deal with a lot of rejection. And I wince at piling on. It's not fair to beat up on a girl. My instincts resist. You have to admit, the irony is delicious. As for the whole masculine/feminine orientation of human thought, I sorta agree with the eastern ways of liberation, and the rest of humanity, and the actual division of our natural brain, that these differences are empirically demonstrable and metaphysically significant. And oughtn't be swept away because of the ways these differences were used in the past, present or future. See, there's a baby, And then there's bathwater. And a good mom knows the difference. And a good man, doesn't back down, just to "get along" cuz some queen is having her period. No matter how painful that "not getting along", can be. Right is right and wrong is wrong. And "nyet-nyet" is nothing worth mentioning. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
