Overheard
1 boy is equal to 8 girls
Background
A heated discussion between a few men, since a to-be FIL was
putting up unnecessary demands. Normally this is the job of the groom’s father
but here the tables were turned. The men were trying to instill some sense of pride
and courage upon this would-be groom who seems to be already trembling under the
FIL. How can it be allowed? It is a man’s world and one needs to show these
lower folks their places!
The person who uttered that 1 boy is equal to 8 girls
is a Father to two lovely girls! I guess how much they deny, in their hearts
every parent craves for a boy child. And the boys, while they grow up, imbibe from
the society a pride in being a boy while the girl does the opposite. She grows
with a sense of inferiority complex which destroys her. She becomes weak when
she is required to be strong.
But why am I writing this here? Because I did not confront
him when he uttered it and hence lost a golden opportunity to vent my anger.
In US Currently, a woman makes 77 cents to each dollar a man earns.
On November 17th, the Paycheck Fairness Act went to the Senate for vote. The bill would have provided “improvement and modifications” to the Equal Pay Act of 1963. President Obama called it a common sense bill. Nonetheless, it failed to pass due to an overwhelming surge of Republican opposition. Democrats voted 56:1 in favor, while Republicans went 1:40 against it.http://ecosalon.com/7-stupid-laws-against-women/
To mourn the death of the Paycheck Fairness Act, check out our homage to some of the more ridiculous laws regarding women on the books. Hopefully, some will soon be repealed. Let’s just not send them to Congress to do so
1. In Maryland, a woman cannot go through her husband’s pockets while he is sleeping. Not even if she really wants a piece of gum.
2. In Vermont, a woman must obtain written permission from her husband if she wishes to wear false teeth. Because women really lead with their teeth in wanton, uncontrolled sexuality.
3. In Tucson, Arizona, women are not allowed to wear pants. No word on the stance on booty shorts or thongs.
4. In Carrizozo, New Mexico, it is illegal for a woman to appear unshaven in public. Rejoice, razor industry, rejoice!
5. In Dyersburg, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to call a man on a date. I don’t want to live in a world where equal-opportunity drunk dialing isn’t free to all.
6. In Carmel, New York, women may not wear high heels within the city limits. They are obviously just protecting their citizens, as this move effectively disqualifies the city from ever letting a “Sex and the City” sequel to be shot in their town. Good move, Carmel!
7. In Michigan, a woman isn’t allowed to cut her hair without her husband’s permission. But what if her husband cuts it for her?
But then we saw how the Republican's lost the presidential election because of the their foolish utterance on rape and women in general. Obama got votes from more women than men. The Guardian explains it well.
The ancient Greece was worse; it seems a woman would be
executed if she ever saw an Olympic event!
In the Iliad, in the Olympic-like funeral games for Patroclus, you can read how important it was to be the best. Those who won were expected to be the best even before winning: Entering the contest if you weren't the best (kalos k'agathos 'beautiful and best') was unacceptable. Women, foreigners, and slaves were not considered to be tops in arete 'virtue' -- what made them best.
Greek Philosophy on the Inferiority of Women
The two most influential philosophers, both in the Graeco-Roman world into which Christianity was born and in the world of Christian theology of the Middle Ages, were Plato and Aristotle. We will briefly discuss the views of each.
In Greek society, women's status was very low. A woman's main function was the reproduction of children, especially of sons.
Plato's attitude to women was ambivalent. In some of his writings he advocated a fairer deal for women. In his idealised Republic he foresees an upperclass of ‘guardians’ among whom the chattel status of women is abolished (i.e. she is no longer owned by her husband) and in which women were to receive equal education to men.
According to Aristotle, man rightly takes charge over woman, because he commands superior intelligence. This will also profit the women who depend on him. He compares this to the relationship between human beings and tame animals.
‘It is the best for all tame animals to be ruled by human beings. For this is how they are kept alive. In the same way, the relationship between the male and the female is by nature such that the male is higher, the female lower, that the male rules and the female is ruled.’ Aristotle, Politica, ed. Loeb Classical Library, 1254 b 10-14.
India’s most famous
early legal code, The Laws of Manu were complied over the years between 200 -
400 C.E. While the position of women in early Vedic India had been good, these
laws illustrate the efforts of the Brahmin elite to restrict women’s legal
independence in this later period.
- “Women must always be honored and respected by the
father, brother, husband and brothers-in-law who desire their own
welfare.”
- “If the female members live in grief, the family is
destroyed. If the female members are happy, the family flourishes in all
directions.”
- “Women shall receive one-quarter share of the
inheritance of their parents. If a man has no sons, his daughter may
inherit everything he had.”
- “Brothers should give one-forth of their inheritance to
their sisters for their sisters’ dowries.”
- “In childhood a female must be subject to her father,
in youth to her husband, and when her lord is dead, to her sons; a woman
must never be independent.”
- “A father sins unless he marries his daughter off when she reaches puberty.” (no wonder the Khaps very recently echoed the same!)
- “Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention
fixed on age; they give themselves to the handsome as well as to the ugly
just for the fact that he is a man.”
- “A husband should be worshiped as a God.”
- “Even in the home nothing should be done by a child, a
young or even an old wife (woman) independently.”
- “A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared
to have no property. The wealth which they earn is acquired for him to
whom they belong.”
- “Women, shudra (or sudra, lowest of four castes), dog
and crow embody untruth, sin and darkness.”
- “Women must particularly be guarded against evil
inclinations, however trifling they may appear to be; for, if they are not
guarded, they will bring sorrow on both the families. Considering it the
highest duty of all castes, even wealthy husbands must strive to guard
their wives....lest the seed of others be sown on your soil.”
- “It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world,
for that reason the wise never remain unguarded in the company of female.”
- “A woman should not go to a meeting place; and they
should not dance like the young, but sit at their proper places.”
- “This is the first law...A wife cannot be dismissed
from the marriage by a slave, separation or abdication.”
“A man can leave a barren woman after eight years and one who only gives birth to daughters.” - “A virtuous wife who after the death of her husband
constantly remains chaste, reaches heaven, though she have no son, just
like those chaste men.”
- “If a woman should happen to merely to overhear recitations
of Vedic mantras by chance, hot molten glass should be poured into her
ears.”
The roots of the Judeo-Christian sexual prohibitions, as well as the sexual prohibitions of religions such as Islam, spring from ancient Jewish tribal law. During early times wives were considered "property" and laws were specifically codified to protect three things: livestock, wives and dwellings--an order or importance that seems clear in Jewish law.
The Christian church still treats women second to man. There
are many rules that bind her from birth to death that makes her different from
a boy. Not that every household follows these rules. But it is in the subconscious
mind and comes forth when needed! If I die tomorrow I can only be buried in the
Church that my husband belongs to and never in my Parent’s church. Parents unconsciously
pushes the girl child away from them as soon as she is capable of standing up. Since she will never belong to them it is better to train oneself early in life!
