ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE ESSAY.
Question 5
WOMEN, THOUGH ONLY EMERGING AS A NEW FORCE, MAY BE ABLE TO
SUGGEST ALTERNATIVE MODELS TO THOSE OF MEN BASED ON POWER.
I agree completely with this statement. Unfortunately, the attitudes and prejudices of both men and women that have formed over millions of years and are deeply rooted in our essence will not be overcome in a short time. Therefore, women must continue to assert themselves in a constructive way, but they must avoid the danger that as their "new force" increases they may be tempted to abuse it; force is potential, potential is "power”.
There are basic differences between man and woman, and a male chauvinist pig would probably say thank God for some of them: But So far we are still ignorant about the origin of these differences and their implications. In our evolution we have reacted instinctively to the necessities for survival. There was no malice or intent to do harm on the part of man or woman. Man was himself cast in a definite role by force of necessity, and by the will of woman (or consent of woman).
I am inclined to believe that it was and still is woman, the procreator, that has the leading role, and man's actions are directly or indirectly subject to her will. It was Female who watched the males fight amongst themselves for her favour. Still now it is mainly woman who picks and chooses and, therefore creates trends in men behaviour. Woman is three corners of a home. Moreover, a woman's sexual drive seems to be different from that of man, and it is definitely man who depends more on woman.
I am not an expert on this subject. Having been educated in institutions and colleges from the age of seven to fifteen, the formative years, I came out with an idealized and unreal concept about women. This concept was influenced mainly from classical literature, from Homer to the poets and writers of the Renaissance and Italian literature.
When I left the 'glasshouse’ of my adolescence, I was struck by the reality of the post war years with all the gross aspects of American capitalist culture, false values, make believe attitudes, etc..
Within a working class environment it took years before I could dispel some of my confusion on man-woman relations. Honestly, I am still confused today. But enough of this.
What matters today is that the environment that has promoted the different roles of man and woman so far, is rapidly changing and much more rapidly than our attitudes can change.
To aggravate the confusion, the present economic system, by commercialising every aspect of life including the most intimate, and putting a price on all human relations, is distorting and degrading all aspects of sexuality instead of restoring our natural innocence.
In my opinion it is not primarily the contest of power in general and between man and woman that has to be resolved; this will follow if we resolve the problem of our ignorance and the problems of inequality and exploitation rooted in our capitalist social and economic organism.
We must create a system based on love for Humanity and Nature that may promote the restoration of our natural innocence. The Question of the abuse of power, whether by man or woman, then may be resolved.
Evidently, we must accept the fact that, as we are not perfect, there must be some form of power structure in any living organism or society.
The point is to keep it to the minimum by sharing in the responsibilities involved. In this way it should become difficult for any individual or group of people to become accustomed to yielding and abusing power.
Following is a little comment on the subject of man-woman relations.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT WE ARE MOVING TOWARDS A NON-SEXIST
SOCIETY
If a "non-sexist" society means a society in which to be male or female has no bearing :-
On the status of persons in the society,
On their obtaining positions of leadership,
On receiving recognition for achievement,
On the role or type of work that one would perform in life,
Then I believe that we are moving towards a non-sexist society.
I do not subscribe to the idea that man has generally oppressed women. The roles that man and woman in the evolution of human society have been determined by the necessity for survival in a harsh environment and man’s role in life is not as easy and rewarding as some women claim.
I can very well imagine that, in the caves, it was woman that chased out a lazy husband to fetch some firewood or to bring home some food when she was heavy with a child and she was looking after the others. Therefore, man acquired bigger muscles and the mind of a hunter and maker of things.
In our general primordial ignorance, man may have at times taken advantage of his superior physical strength; but woman, I am sure, got her own back most of the time, if anything with the “last word”. To prove this point, woman generally has a longer life expectancy, and in old age a woman can cope better on her own than a man.
Today, with the development of technology in production, science etc., which are overcoming and even replacing our primordial natural functions, the role of man is becoming almost obsolete. Economic, scientific and technological factors will tend to “liberate” women and also men from their set roles; consequently, there is a trend towards a non-sexist society.
As change is occurring too fast in some places and too slowly in others, the near future presents a confused picture in which we can see the most troglodyte man-woman relations together with science fiction situations.
The prospects will be very confused for a long time because, while technology and science may move very fast, the attitudes of mind of man and woman that have developed over millions of years cannot change so fast; therefore: confusion.
With present developments, man's role is becoming less important in relation to the survival of the species; but with the development of "cloning" around the corner, the importance of woman is also in danger.
We cannot visualize the distant future; we can gradually make it by reacting to the present in relation to our past experiences and our aspirations. We must think about the possibilities and the dangers, and try to strike a happy balance without transgressing against Nature.