I've got such a complicated relationship with feminism that it often boggles my mind. I used to always consider myself a SuperFeminist, but over the past five years or so I've been of the persuasion that feminists are aiming too low.You see, I don't believe that as women we should be striving for equality because deep down in my heart I don't think that we are equal to men. I think that we are better than men, and no one has seemed to convince me otherwise.
Over the years I have had my disputes with other feminists. I've often heard them say, "Women haven't even achieved equality, and yet here you are talking about superiority?" Or on other occasions I have been told by some feminists,"I don't think that one sex is superior than the other sex, because I believe in equality. Men can do some things better than I can do, and vice versa".
Yet I still believe deep down in my heart that women by nature are superior, even though many of us haven't realized our true potential. We're still better than men even though equality for women in many aspects hasn't surfaced and although society attempts to keep many of us down. Maybe a man is more skilled at doing something than a woman, but this doesn't mean that he is superior to her-it just means he is more skilled in a certain aspect.
I've always had this idea that women are exalted beings ever since I was a small child. Last year my aunt told me a story of something that I said when I was six years old. This is what she told me:
I was six years old and we were looking at a small dog shaking her body, while the dog hair was flying all over the place. I asked my aunt, "Tia, why does the dog lose her hair?" My aunt responded, "God makes them like that". So I started shaking my body all over the place and I told my cousin that we could also lose our hair by shaking. My aunt informed me that we couldn't lose hair by shaking. "Why not?" I asked her. My aunt tried to explain, "Because God didn't make us like that. It just doesn't happen". I replied to them all, "Well, can God's husband make us lose hair?"
So, ever since I was a little girl I have always viewed "God" as a woman, even though the mainstream notion of God is that he is male. I've always viewed nature as female. Femininity has always been divine and superior to me. Yet at the same time I recognize that many women have yet to have realized their true potential.
If the true place for women in the social structure is to achieve equality with men, then why are we such a threat to men? Would men really be that threatened if we were equal to them? Don't you suppose that deep down inside men know that we are not their equals, that we have the potential to be superior, and this is what really truly freaks them out?
5 comments:
The way I see it, feminism is only about giving women the same rights (and duties) that men have, to make them equal in society, law, etc., but has nothing to do with the femenine essence. I think anybody can be feminist, aming for that equality, and believe in the superiority of the female (or the male).
For me (I am a male) women have bigger potential in general. Are they better because of that? I don't think so, it depends on what they do with that potential. Can they be better? Yes, of course.
I also think that most of the limits that traditional patriarchal societies have built for woman exist only to avoid women to be conscient of that potential, to protect men from their power.
I'd like to recommend you a movie: Antonia, a dutch film. I think you will enjoy it if you haven't see it yet.
Why do you think women are superior to men?
I have to say something about differences between women and men. When we say there are things that men do better and other things that women do better... this is an incomplete statement that lead us to some stupid conclusion. It is true to say that there are things that the average man does better than the average woman, and things that the average woman does better than the average man. But I am pretty sure there is nothing that all men do better than all women, and there is nothing that all women do better than all men.
We could look at the fact that women are more peaceful than men. They also perhaps more social and altruistic. I do not know if it is. But we could say that in general.
Let's say you enforce a country to be governed by women only... nothing says that it will run better. You might have just a bunch Thatcher-like women running for the elections.
The only conclusion that would could take is that picking random women to govern a country to the opposite to picking random men to do so would be better.
The problem is that there is no such political system. Elections in so-called "democratic" countries are not about choosing someone randomly, it is about choosing someone who has more charisma. Maybe women with best charisma would be even worse than men. The reason is that you are not picking in a whole gender group anymore but in a subgroup.
For something completely different, I do not think that we men exclude women on purpose. I think it is a purely natural behavior that we have. We like to show our manliness. This is stupid, but it is not really wanted on purpose. It is a natural reflex. As long as humans do not try to face their own innate behaviors, then men will try to put women down.
There is nothing that says that men are afraid of gender equality. I would certainly do not like a world where men are under women. But equality is nothing really frightening, it will not break any of our plans. Since we do not have any plan.
The only thing that will try to stop your fight for equality will be the stupidity of people. Nothing else.
"You see, I don't believe that as women we should be striving for equality because deep down in my heart I don't think that we are equal to men. I think that we are better than men, and no one has seemed to convince me otherwise."
well, Amen to that Gurl! I always say that, Add to it, I totally believe that each individual was created on it's Own, and that's the way it can survive, I'm not against marriage, but there's also nothing wrong with me being a Bachelorette! Logic isn't it!
I consider myself a feminist,moreover I believe...or I know that my religion(Islam) is, and my mum is:) so I'm Happily enjoying the Previledge of having a symetric Gene code XX, even if I live in a Male dominated society!=)
KEEP ON GOIN' I like ur posts and i totally Digg FRIDA's POSTS!!:D
R. Fouda-thanks for the compliment!
Valentin David-you make some interesting points, thank you. It's correct that women might turn out to be Thatcheresque and might not rule any different than many men, because they are not exercising their true potential; perhaps in that case they are mimicking men because their ideas of how to lead have been socially constructed. It still doesn't erase the fact for me that I think that women are superior. But I think that men who try to exclude women is not really about "their manliness"-as you suggested it has something to do with their natural behavior--I think that they intrinsically know that women are superior, it scares the shit out of them and therefore the oppression begins.
Joy Mari-Cloete-I have no idea why I think that women are superior. It's been a part of my fundamental belief system and I suppose that it is the lens through which I view the world.
Anonymous-thanks for the movie recommendation. I do think they are better, and maybe if some women haven't achieved their potential it is because systems have been put into place that stop them from achieving to their fullest. And maybe some others internalize the common belief that they are less than men.
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