Much of the inequality perceived can be explained by the different expectations people have been brainwashed to to maintain. I remember a doctor from Greece at a meeting at Hellenic College regarding training priests. Women wanted to know why they couldn't be priests as some other religions are now allowing women as ministers. The doctor told me women could never stand long enough to give a sermon because their bladders were too small! I was horrified by this physician's hold to the double standard of inferiority of women.
Woman's equal rights as a matter of law has been sought for more than thirty years but the overwhelming majority of male legislators have voted it down every time it came to a vote. If one believes that our forefathers meant to use the word 'men' as all mankind, there is already equality. But we know that our constitution did not include races as having equality so, presumably, this allowed some to believe that women were as inferior as slaves.
One might wonder why with the Phyllis Schlaflys of our country, any women ever became CEOs, hold jobs outside the home, or graduate from colleges with medical, legal, engineering and all other degrees. As always, women have been forced to carry more than their share of the load, dragging some of the few remaining Neanderthal-thinking males..
Hopefully, even if laws aren't changed, mothers raising their sons eventually will make chauvinistic men extinct. We can at least maintain hope. There is always a new tomorrow and prospects for enlightenment.
4 comments:
In regards to the discussion at Hellenic College about women ministers, I am pleased to report that women ministers have served in this country since the nineteenth century. One of the first such ministers, Phoebe Hanaford, was the minister at the First Parish in Waltham. Also, women have served as Hindu priests, Shinto priests and buddhist nuns for centuries.
The fourteenth amendment asserts that constitutional protections apply to all citizens born or naturalized in the United States. In recent years, courts have rightly decided that this amendment extends constitutional protections to women.
Thank you, Frank. You do understand that I was speaking more about persistent attitudes rather than the actual law, don't you? You may interpret it as equality but too many do not. You and I have already discussed how unfamiliar people are with the Constitution
your commentary is, unfortunately, very familiar to me. even to this day, there are companies that pay men more than women in the exact same job. i've seen it. and that's just one of a host of examples. as long as the "good 'ole boy" network is alive and passed on to following generations, our hopes that mothers raising sons to be less chauvinistic men might suffer the test of a long period of time. however, it is a hope that i carry as well and one that i try, when appropriate, to voice in conversation with men who have the same blinders on as the doctor in greece that you refer to.
The Wisconsin protesters have been dealing with these issues for years and have pioneered with unionizing to fight such outrages. While some unions have become undesirable, the whole concept should never be lost.
Thank you for writing a comment.
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