I have previously known how much women have been disdained and how the male ego has been threatened by women since the beginning of “man” however, I never realized how imperatively severe it was. I previously held that belief but after the readings this week I see how much more in depth it really is. One of the brightest and most open-minded men in history I now consider to be just as close-minded as the rest (as far as women are concerned). I’m referring to the article entitled A History of Women’s Bodies. Aristotle depicted women to be, basically freaks of nature, a mistake, a “monstrosity” as he put it.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading! Women is a “misbegotten man”? Didn’t these neanderthawls ever contemplate for a second that they themselves were able to live and breathe through the mercy of a woman? It really pisses me off that women have gotton the shaft through out history. Another thing that I was not aware of is the alleged stigma that women were these sexual deviants that put spells on men. Am I sounding ridiculous yet, because that is how it sounded to me. I’m pretty sure that a woman’s sex drive is far less than that of a man (I’m speak in generalities of course).
I was on my way to Las Vegas this past weekend and I was in the pasenger seat and reading the assignments. I was reading Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Will Not. I started to get fascinated by the statistics of women in sports and how close they are to men in some circumstances. So I decided to read to my husband whom was driving, keep in my that my husband is a typical American male but he trys to understand and respects women because his wife is a femminist. So I read him some different parts of the text, some ideas blah blah blah. Then as soon as I read information to him that might challenge the comfertable breach between men and women’s athletic capabilities he doesn’t believe me and has to google it for himself. I told him that according to the reading, in elite levels a women could out run a man if it were over 100 miles and outswim him over 22 miles. Of course his American male machoness kicked in and he had to testify against that.
I just thought it interesting because even my husband whom is usually respectful of women as people felt challenged by this statement. In the reading a psychiatrist is quoted “It is small wonder that the American male has a strong affinity for sports. He has learned that this is one area where there is no doubt about sexual differences and where his biology is not obsolete. Athletics help assure his difference from women in a world where his functions have come to resemble theirs.” I loved that, and it’s true. I see it in my own life all of the time with men. I like that this reading addressed that fact on point.
