Tag Archives: women’s equality

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A Male Dominated Society – Commentary to ABC News Report “Missing Girls In India”

Writing this commentary is going to be tricky, and I forewarn you that the views expressed in this post are my views and no one elses.  As a historian, studying ancient cultures, especially when it comes to women’s rights, is one of my areas of chosen study as I pursue my doctorate.  And it gives me such pain when I read about the horrible things male dominated societies have enacted upon the female partners of their species.  So when I watched the ABC News Report about the millions of missing girls in India this morning, my heart couldn’t take just sitting by, sipping my hot tea and shaking my head in discouragement.

First of all I want to say something about the roles men and women play in today’s world.  We have slowly moved from the true purpose of how God intended the two parts of the Human species to interact with each other as partners.  I say partners, because, unlike most beliefs, I know (and I say this word with all clarity) God did not make men and women separate, operating with one as master over the other.  In fact, he made both equal, it’s the only way things can get done.  It is religion gone awry which has created the servant women.

Before the existence of the Roman Empire, men and women were equals.  Many ancient people and tribes operated with both as equals, and for a majority in European cultures, a female form was considered God, the sacred feminine.   Most people see history as something that goes back to about 200o years ago, and view with a limited eye the creation of today’s world.  Much of what is set in place today comes from the establishment of Roman Culture which developed about 800 BC to 400 BC, and Roman Culture was Male Dominated.

A prime example of Roman influence can be seen in Judaism. There is a jewish myth that God created both Man and Woman equal, Adam and Lilith, but because Lilith wanted to be on top during sexual intercourse, Adam got angry and called out to God that he wanted another woman who would be his help mate and not equal.  Lilith, in Jewish myth, now became a demon who sought out infants to eat.  An educated mind would see that as the Roman culture expanded to take over Jerusalem, much of the male dominated influence did too, causing this myth and version of creation.

So, I am getting off topic, which is easy for me to do.  Back to India and the report.  Sex selection in southern India has gone completely out of hand.  People put such emphasis on having boys and not girls, because of expensive dowries that have to be paid by the female’s family, that people go to places, which are illegal, to find out the sex and then either have an abortion, or if the baby is born, kill her, starve her or abandon her to die.  The practice has created about 32 million deaths according to one source I researched this morning, of unborn and born females.  According to this Facebook page: Sex Selection Increases Number of “Missing Girls” in India by Zayn A. Beg, there is in one village a ratio of 400 boys to 2 girls.  In another village, there wasn’t a single marriage for 110 years until recently. There is such a shortage of women now.  And I can’t understand why they just don’t adjust their customs, seeing their prime minister is female.   http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=78302365369&topic=5968&post=30852

Does anyone else see a problem?

I am somehow taken back a month or two to the study in my “Third Reich” History class about the holocaust.  Hitler used Euphausia to eliminate about 250,000 mentally ill patients, and of course, the millions of Jews killed because they were considered racially impure.

What is going on in our world, that killing innocence can be so justified?  Does anyone actually believe God (or their god) is looking down at them and applauding?

Whether cultural customs or religious practice, we humans need to wake up and realize this is NOT how it’s supposed to be.  This is NOT how God intended for us to work together.  Truth be told, God was originally worshipped as a Woman.  It is fear, the want of control, and barbarism which took that away.  Let’s hope I don’t need to explain that further.

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Etta Palm D’Aelders – Intriguing Woman of the French Revolution

DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR YOU MAY HAVE TO ENDURE MY HISTORY BLOGS AS I LIKE SHARING MY HISTORY KNOWLEDGE WITH EVERYONE.  (Probably the teacher in me coming out)

 

From all the different subjects that I have researched, thus far, in the history classes here at Young Harris College, I truly enjoyed delving into the women of the French Revolution.  One of the most intriguing historical figures from that period, which I came across, was Etta Palm D’Aelders.

Madam D’Aelders was a Dutch feminist who was very outspoken during the French Revolution, and an upper class woman who played an important role within the political realm as a supporter for the socially conscious, establishing salonnieres for the philosophes, and public discussions circles for those who inspired free thinking, and new ideas.  As a person who was able to read, she helped to introduce the ideas of the Enlightenment to other women, and offered her salon as a meeting place, which afforded them the opportunity to refine their education, and, of course, exposed them to the philosophy of equality in all beings, both male and female.

Yet it is her private life that I find very fascinating.  She was the former lover of Stadtholder William IV, Prince of Orange, who became the courtesan for the better classes, after her relocation to France.  During this time D’Aelders was recruited by the French Secret Service because she had so many lovers at the French court, and employed as spy.  (Talk
about Hollywood movie subject material)

With the money she received from her secret job, D’Aelders was able to afford a larger house, and with her new wealth, transformed herself into a Baroness.  Now, passing as an upper class women, she was able to support these revolutionary ideas of the Enlightenment, when before she could not.

After the Revolution many prominent figures frequented her salon, and because of their support she wrote a memorable speech.  On December 30, 1790, she read her words to the French National Convention.  Her declarations championed the cause of equality between both sexes. Her speech is known as the “Discourse on the Injustice of the Laws in Favor of Men, at the Expense of Women,” and D’Aelders also made this same address to the Friends of Truth, a political club that admitted both women and men, of which she belonged.

In this speech, she stated that justice “must be the first virtue of free men, and justice demands that the laws be the same for all beings.” (D’Aelders)  Her education allowed her to see that men acted as monarchs to women, and she argued, that as men sought to gain their
freedom from their kingly monarch, so should women receive the same freedom from their masculine monarchs.  She insisted that if women were “to be enthusiastic about the happy constitution that gives back men their rights,” then men should begin by treating women the same way. (D’Aelders)

She is an intriguing figure to me because she fought so hard to attempt to secure equal rights for women in a society ruled by men.  Etta Palm D’Aelders stood her ground against obstacles that others did not.  As the Revolution evolved, and the temporary government shifted, those of the Enlightenment soon became targets.  Many of the upper class left France, but D’Aelders did not.  She was cast aside by her employers in the Netherlands, for whom she was spying for, as her political involvements increased on behalf of females.
They grew fearful they would be discovered, and abandoned her.  She was eventually arrested and jailed.

While she did not experience the guillotine like Olympe de Gouges, she did not fair well after
her imprisonment, and upon her release, her health deteriorated, and she died shortly thereafter.   She was a remarkable figure to me because of what she experienced, and for what she fought to accomplish. Etta Palm D’Aelders is one of my most intriguing figure in History.