It may be difficult for young women today to conceive, but before Kate Millett and second wave feminism made it unfashionable, people used to be concerned for Life and Society.
Rights were considered something granted to all humans, and were protected by Men, with force if necessary.
There were policemen, firemen, and men of arms willing to lay down their lives to protect Women and children.
All of whom were referred to collectively as Mankind.
Society has benefited tremendously from technologies such as birth control, feminine hygiene products, running water, mass production, electricity, telephony, and networked computers.
These are easy to take for granted but few of these existed or were widespread outside of the very wealthy when my great-grandmother was born.
These miracles of technology helped produce a protected, stable society that has allowed us to maximize the contributions Women can make.
It’s been an astonishing, wonderful and terrible century.
A distorted, one-sided view of the history before these developments as an “Oppressive Patriarchy” where Men collectively enjoyed the benefits of privilege is a satisfying story for little girls.
It doesn’t hold much water, historically, however.
Worse, perhaps, it covers up a history of collaboration, mutual respect, and division of labor that allowed us to propagate and develop into the society we enjoy today.
Further, it robs us from something fundamentally human, to recognize the spark of divinity and capability for evil that each of us possesses.
A focus has been put on rights to be granted, rather than protected, at the loss of recognizing the accompanying responsibilities. It’s precisely the acceptance of responsibilities that brings power.
Unsettlingly the emphasis on what’s good for Women has coincided with a willful blindness toward what is good for men, children, and society.
Over Women’s history month, I’ll be following the work of Studio Brule and Dr. Janice Fiamengo’s “Fiamengo Files.” Dr. Fiamengo is a former feminist and Professor of English at the University of Ottawa. The Fiamengo files offers a well-read, historical insight into all the waves of feminism.
Dr. Fiamengo’s first video was entitled, Why I Am Still An Anti-Feminist and will give you an academic view of the Women’s Movement that few have ever seen.
Personally, I believe the study of Women’s movements is very important. In many ways, this is precisely what my entire blog has been about.
Dr. Fiamengo sheds light into a corner most historians of these movements ignore.
More often than not, this movement emphasizes feelings over reason, granting oppressed status to wealthy Women. It vilifies men, justifies hate, and creates competition for victim status, allowing Women to accuse, blame, punish, and destroy men and the Women who disagree with them.
Giving a mechanism for Women to convert their rage and hysteria, while embracing superstition and authoritarianism without a realistic check and balance has created societal anxiety and rot at a time when we should be celebrating the greatest society in the history of the species.
Instead, people live in fear of saying the wrong thing, thinking the wrong thing, or telling the truth if that truth offends.
Over the course of the rest of this series, I aim, with the help of Dr. Fiamengo and her deep dives, to tell the other part of the story in hopes that we can move beyond the taboos that keep us apart.
