More Thoughts on men and women

Ok so to continue my thoughts on Harvey Weinstein et al.  These are thoughts somewhat unedited; I invite discussion.

What I have found and continue to find most disappointing about this Weinstein episode is first that we act surprised and secondly that we are so willing to make some lame excuse for misogynist behavior, like we somehow can't help ourselves: 'boys will be boys' is not acceptable, it is simply saying that we men have no control over our primal selves and urges.   I simply do not believe and cannot accept this.

It would seem, in the evolution of human behaviour, that men, for no better reason than brute strength, have assumed a role of superiority and dominance over women.  Because we were stronger and able to kill the woolly mastodon with our sticks and stones and, therefore, able to provide sustenance for our clan of women and children; we have given ourselves the right to be dominant; to rule.  Translated to modern times; "I am the breadwinner and so what I say, goes.  And by the way, if you women have to have your monthly sojourn with nature then hide yourselves from our eyes and don't come back until your clean."

Recently here in Canada a young, modern man was elected to be the Prime Minister and one of the first things he did was appoint an equal number of women and men to be in charge of various government ministries in the cabinet.  I think this might be the most revolutionary thing that he could have done and, hopefully, might initiate the redressing and start us on the path to a more balanced relationship.

This does not mean that I think that women will make all the right decisions, they are humans and we humans can, and do, make the wrong decisions with equal frequency.  What it does mean is that we are having the benefit of two points of view on any discussion.  Women have been living with us men all along and they doubtless have ideas that men would never consider so let's bring these considerations to the table and open up the discussion.

It was once suggested to me, by a man by the way, that we need women to run our economy because women really understand supply and demand.  If we men were not successful in our hunt for the woolly mastodon and could not add that meat to the larder we did, never the less, demand dinner when we came home from the hunt and our women, understanding this basic problem, always held back a couple of tubers so we could at least have potato soup.  Otherwise we men could be very irritable and unpleasant to be around.  That is the 'economic' reality that women understand.

Clearly, hopefully, the vision of a world like Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, where woman's only role is to propagate the species;  is not what we want.  It would be a nightmare and we must all take stock of ourselves, our beliefs and out behaviour to insure that this is not a direction we take in our society.  If this is not enough, then of course there is always the basic human decency. 

It is absolutely the case that women do not think like men.  That is a good thing, not a bad thing.  It is inconceivable that only men can figure out what is good for men and women and it is a situation that we must address with our partners, our neighbours, our children and our world and now is the time.  Men are you listening.  Time for some heavy lifting.

OK guys let's evolve a bit.

Gee Harvey Weinstein, really, you grew up somewhere that didn't give you a basic sense of right or wrong, I mean really.  No one suggested to you that men and women might appreciate the same sense of civility and basic human decency and you were so poorly raised that how to treat women with the same respect was not part of your upbringing.

It might be time for any male wandering around with the same world view as our president and too many of our male leaders like this distasteful movie mogul to pick up the book The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir and give it a careful read.  It may seem a bit out of date but with the type of lizard brain that these mokes exhibit it is probably right on time.  (Careful though, there are some big words in there.)

I do not necessarily consider myself a feminist (I am not even sure what that is) but I am house broken and I have learned to treat women with the same way I hope to be treated.  That includes much more than putting the toilet seat down by the way.

We all know what I'm talking about but we do not talk about it and we should.  It is shameful to have my fellow men treating anyone the way these macho, power players appear to give license too. 

I am recalling a wonderful conversation I had with two Iranian women from Tehran who operated small businesses in Ontario but who also maintained full relationships with there friends and family back in Iran.  We were talking about Iran, and men and women, and burkas and niqabs,  and the wars, and the world, and men and women, and race, and war...as the conversation started to wind down and we returned to our original topic which was men and women and equality and revolution in modern Iran, one of the women gave me a quick nudge and a wink and said  that the final revolution will come and that will be the emancipation of women in Iran and everywhere.

I can only say that if we think ridding ourselves of racial stereotypes is difficult, and it most certainly is proving to be quite a challenge; then obliterating sexual stereotypes will certainly not be any easier.  The world is small and we all have to learn how to live together.  The time is at hand for us to face ourselves and elevate our behaviour. 

I think the only really surprising thing about Harvey Weinstein, and his behaviour, is the fact that we can still act surprised.