Geranium maculatum, Wild Geranium, taken from the wild at Goomp's years back by Ellen and planted in our own border garden, is having an exceptional growing year after last season's mild winter.
We shall never get over nor fully understand the universal hatred and fear of women that all human cultures and religions throughout history seem to expresss. Some are worse than others, of course. Is that what distinguishes our species from all others? We've never detected any such dynamic amongst the puddies nor the birds we've watched through the years. He loves, and she loves, and they love.
Having been born a girl, we knew from practically day one how unfair and ugly it all was. We were the second child, with our bro coming before us. First time we got the picture was when we were informed by the parents that he could do whatever it was we both wanted to do, but we couldn't because "You're a girl." We imbibed it through the years in the Western Civ literature of our secondary-school curriculum and identified with male figures like David Copperfield and such, as we couldn't imagine being identified with his "child bride" and all those flighty gals.
The trashing of females in Western literature is mild, of course, compared to some of these fundamentalist cultures that would have buried us up to the neck and stoned us to death for having even thought of an agenda of our own. At the same time, we despise the Marx-lite gimme, gimme agenda of the p.c. feminists whose greatest triumph was to humiliate the president of the nation's top university recently. If you had a choice, which sex would you choose?
Know'm sayin'?
I'd still choose to be born female, though growing up wanted nothing more than to change my sex. Boys were allowed to do all the 'fun' stuff and I wanted that power in the worst way.
Little did I know back then that women wielded their own unique powers, some feared, some revered and others reviled. -Depending on your mileage-
Nope. Wouldn't change a thing. ;)
Posted by: pam | May 19, 2005 at 09:42 AM
Well said, Pam. :)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | May 19, 2005 at 09:58 AM
As girls, we have all sorts of identity issues - but I've never wished I could be a boy.
With age comes acceptance of self and appreciation of my strengths. I didn't like myself in my teens and twenties. In my thirties, I discovered that I was pretty nifty. At this rate, I figure that by my forties I'm going to be darn awesome - beyond that, darn well near invincible. (Can you hear the Helen Reddy playing in the background?)
Posted by: Be | May 19, 2005 at 12:29 PM
I do hear a loud roar coming from your general direction. :)
Posted by: Sissy Willis | May 19, 2005 at 01:28 PM