|
|
A
Cuckoo's Nest |
|
| The good old days. When
competition was effectively controlled by class, race, and
gender. When monogamy was primarily practiced by women.
|
| |
|
By
Debby Long |
| |
 “The President Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace Coolidge,
were being toured separately around an experimental government
egg farm. When Mrs. Coolidge came to the chicken yard, she
noticed that a rooster was mating very frequently. She asked the
attendant how often that happened and was told, "Dozens of times
each day." Mrs. Coolidge said, "Tell that to the President when
he comes by." Upon being told, the President asked, "Same hen
every time?" The reply was, "Oh, no, Mr. President, a different
hen every time." The President replied, "Tell that to Mrs.
Coolidge." – Frank A. Beach, The Coolidge Effect, 1959
The good old days. When competition was effectively controlled
by class, race, and gender. When monogamy was primarily
practiced by women. When most women were economically tied to
men because the chances of supporting themselves and their
children were non-existent. To “stand by your man“ was a
survival strategy for most women because his income was her only
possible income.
And tactics to maintain patriarchal dominance were many and
varied throughout the world. In the West, women couldn’t vote,
couldn’t get an education, couldn’t earn an income, and couldn’t
decide when and with whom they would have children. Women, like
their children, were seen and not heard. In many cultures, women
were either betrothed to husbands or sold to families that paid
a bride price. In most Muslim cultures, women were consigned to
the home and were entirely covered in public so that men other
than her husband had no access to her, thus insuring her
virginity and her value as a bride.
This tradition of female covering- known in anthropology as
“paternity protection” - is a means by which a patriarchal
society can minimize the likelihood that the children the males
provide for are, in fact, their actual biological children.
Moreover, in tribal societies, where access to goods and
services is distributed on the basis of relatedness, the
consequences of pregnancies outside the tribe can be harsh and
include “honor killings”, where the offending woman is
ostracized and often murdered in order to retain her family’s
status within the tribe.
“The major world religions sprang from patriarchal societies in
which the resources critical to reproduction, whether in the
form of land or livestock, were inherited from father to son
down the male line…Consistent with patrilineal inheritance, the
sacred texts set forth harsh penalties for adultery and other
behaviors that lower the husband’s probability of paternity. The
scriptures also place greater emphasis on female than on male
chastity, including the requirement of modest attire for women
and the idealization of virginity for unmarried females.”
Beverly Strassmann, https://news.umich.edu/religious-patriarchy-promotes.../
In the years following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center
in Manhattan, Americans became aware of the tradition of female
covering, in particular in the Muslim world, e.g., the abaya,
burka, hijab, and niqab. From the viewpoint of the Western
world, this practice of female covering was deeply misogynistic
and an unambiguous denial to women of their basic human rights.
We were also introduced to the practice of FGM (Female Genital
Mutilation) by feminist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who writes:
“The aim of FGM in all its forms is to control female sexuality.
The clitoris is removed to take physical pleasure from sex and
reduce the libido. In its more severe forms, involving sewing
the genitals up, the aim is to ensure the girl is a virgin on
her wedding night. Many women must be surgically re-opened (or
simply with a pen knife or razor blade) in order to consummate
their marriage. The consequences of FGM are ongoing
psychological and physical harms from infections to fistulas and
even death...FGM is the symptom of harmful cultural beliefs that
girls and women must be sexually pure, modest and that their
bodies exist to breed. Whether it’s justified by being a Muslim,
Egyptian, Indian, Jewish, black, a woman or any other category
venerated in the identity politics pantheon, these beliefs are
not compatible with liberal societies that profess to ensure the
human rights of their citizens."
https://www.theahafoundation.org/ayaan-hirsi-ali-female.../
Now think of Amy Coney Barrett, reciting the Nicene Creed of 325
AD, while weighing in on the legal availability of Mifepristone
for birth control.
Now visualize Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, a hero of
the conservative right, define his judicial philosophy of
textualism and originalism in constitutional interpretation.
And now picture the new patriarch of the Republican Party,
Donald J. Trump, sitting in a courtroom, genuinely not sure why
he’s there. Is it because he lied about the Jezebel, or that he
lied about his betrayal of his wife - or is he just being
persecuted for being a red-blooded American man? None of these.
It is because he broke American federal campaign finance law
and, in so doing, lied to all Americans about his suitability to
be president in the 21st century.
And all the while, Republicans continue to ask, "What is this 'a
more perfect union' nonsense about, anyway?”
Put Donald Trump in any patriarchal society on earth, and, as he
says, he “did nothing wrong”. But put him in a liberal democracy
like ours, where women can select their mates, vote in
elections, go to college to become educated, and economically
support themselves and their children – then, well, we’ve surely
got trouble right here in River City.
So, if a Republican tells you that they love life so much
because all life is precious - even fertilized eggs; and when
they refuse to support the policy of providing medical
assistance to poor people by objecting to the existence of
Obamacare and the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid; and if
they tell you that a woman has no right to an abortion - but
they support the death penalty and consider brown skinned
immigrants to not be human beings - then recognize that they are
hypocrites and that they're lying to you. Their feigned piety
and their elaborate lies are all in service of the Conservative
effort to re-establish patriarchy in America.
And further, recognize that in a liberal democracy like ours,
members of the anti-abortion movement can solve their
disagreement with abortion by not having one. Realize that the
pro-life movement is a fraud concocted by the Republican Party
to use religious dogma to bring Christians into their fold in an
effort to ensure that they have enough voters to win elections
in America.
Now, it is absolutely critical that Americans understand that
the Republican Party – this party of pious Conservatism – is all
about bringing back patriarchy to America in an effort to erase
the progress made in the last century: Civil Rights laws;
Women’s Rights laws; Labor Rights laws; and the introduction of
laws to protect Gender Equality, Environmental Protection, and
the sanctity of our elections. - all of which Republicans
steadfastly oppose.
Wake up, Donald. You’re not only an entitled serial sex
offender; you’re an entitled criminal, and that's why you're
there. |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
