She was and remains a stranger -- not completely one but enough of one... For about 5 minutes, we collectively endured one of human kind's strange phenomena -- queuing. I believe it is our most orderly way of marking how little we've progressed with so much advancement in science and technology...
She had the uneviable task of carrying two bags of groceries in her left hand and in her right, she headlocked -- what looked like -- a 9-pack of bottled water (the tall slender kind) between her hip and her armpit.
It was not like she was struggling or anything but walking behind her with a guiness and herbal tea in one hand and nothing in the other, I thought I should stop her and let her know that I was available to help her -- if her car was not parked close by, that is.. Yes, I said all that!
But woh-o-w!! I mean if one arm and a hip can carry that much weight, why do we even flaunt two of them? The 9-pack was heavy, yow!! And at the expense of shedding some of my masculinity, I told her so. I also added that this was a reminder that men underestimated women and women some how instinctively played the 'damsel in distress' role when a man was available. Outside of this availability women were quite creatively capable. She agreed. We exchanged good byes at her car and I headed for my own...
I thought that this less than 48-hour old experience would make a good introduction to my more lengthy than ordinary "whats on your mind' FB paragraph. The above affixes a capability badge to women that could serve to arrest some of the myths we siren about without a second thought. It leads me to hypothesize that the difference between the sexes may really be a matter of HOW things get done instead of gendering WHAT is done!!
Hinged to the above... Check this out! Two people are in a cavernous domicile on the side of a rock that provides the greatest wind and rain protection. The rock's painted in thick greenery -- a seasonal green depending on which body part the earth is exposed to the sun. (Now, hey, if I just said the word cave, you'd instantly dress my imaginary characters in wolf skin and clubs.) Anyways, I wanted a gradual immersion into the past. To continue, if a snarling bear rummaged its way to the inside of the cave and one of us was more strongly built than the other; and the less physically strong nursed a month-old baby, which one do you think would soon be titled protector and provider? Which one do you think might makeover cave and self one day as a surprise since there is uncertainty as to whether the partner will return from that risky day's work? Which one would feel the greatest self-worth the more skinned zebras he brought home?
I was not there (and could not be, if you regard time as consecutive, accumulative and/or a straight line) but, intuition tells me that for every five couples who made the above scenario one for abuse -- towards woman or man, there must have been one that demonstrated mutual appreciation for the role that each other played. The difference would be as a result of ONLY one thing: how quickly one or both of the partners experienced the passage of time. Time, in this case, meaning the impact of YOUR interpretation of what's happening around you -- on you. It is based on what you perceive your relationship with the rest of the universe is... But this is not about Time -- this time!!
To get back to the "Check this out!" paragraph which hints at the unavoidable condition of today's lingering, gender-based roles as being NOT an ill of society but rather a neutral rite of passage... I would like to propose that: the rate of evolution of the human species is equal to the rate of technological advancement which creates the optimum environment for women, surpressed races, children (compared to adults, etc) to evolve exponentially compared to men or any entity once considered to be ahead of the pack. Our concern here, though, is the class: women.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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