I was thinking this morning about all the forms of communication that have been threatened and censored over the millennia. Liberty threatens authoritarianism. The slow relentless march of progress, the questioning of the establishment and the subsequent violent repressions all stem from authority attempting to halt or slow the march of progress, fear of the chaos that may ensue if the crowd doesn't fall in line.
stories, philosophy, books, movies, poems, romance, art, science
Creative minds communicating revolutionary ideas using all forms of these media have been accused of heresy even before the time of Christ.
Educated minds threaten authority as they began to question why things are done the way they've always been done.
Later in this interview (at 11:35), John Cleese points out Jesus was crucified for blasphemy
At one point Muggeridge criticizes the comedy for minimizing "the enormous role [the crucifixion]'s had in peoples lives" over the centuries, but I ask - can't we critically view both the bible and "heresy" such as The Life of Brian and absolutely recognize the impact, put it all in context, and continue walking forward with a healthy nod to a less enlightened time in history, all the while striving to be better as a people than we were in the past?
Although we still have our barbarisms, at least we've moved away from crucifying people, right?
___________________________
Source that got me thinking about all this
Showing posts with label social change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social change. Show all posts
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Fundamentalism, Part 4: Fright
Even misguided cult leaders think they are doing what is right.
These preachers thrive on conflict and drama - preaching about the scariest underbelly of the world draws the timid sheep in closer to stick by him. And then associating even innocuous fun with evil drives a greater wedge between his sheltered sheep and the proverbial wolves of the world. Hallmarks of an abuser (insecurity needing fulfillment from adoration) - isolate your victim from friends and family.
Lately the Pentecostal fringes have been getting a light shined on their fear mongering tactics.
Extremism has no place in any faith. Many Christians are embarrassed that extremists like this man try to speak as representatives of the faith - except those still trapped and blinded in these denominations rush to defend his vitriolic words. Can we please realize this is just another example of hatred in the style of the Westboro Baptists?
You know, I wonder, how do extremists get started? It's fright. They are so afraid. So fearful in their own hearts of the world out there. It's a scary place, fraught with danger and misunderstanding. Afraid of losing the people they need, afraid of being left alone, afraid of rejection, and so they grasp at their families like trying to hold water in their fists. People that dress and act and speak differently are frightening when you live in isolation, protected from outsiders.
This is why I feel it is dangerous to isolate children and put them in churches where they have no exposure to the rest of the world, church schools to protect their innocent eyes - from what? From love and the joy of life on this earth? Fundamentalists see exposure to the world as something to be feared and so they limit their exposure and hide away in their own communities, so the problem compounds upon itself.
On the other hand, technology makes it increasingly difficult for such extreme isolation to work effectively, and you get kids like me that learn to think for themselves, study the love in religious texts, and rebel against cultures of judgement and wrath. Naturally this leads to many in the religious fringes to reject and fear technology. Television was banned, going to movies, many types of music - when caught with my radio tuned to the local rock-n-roll station, my clock radio was taken away for three years (I got it back for my 16th birthday).
We make our children afraid
Power and drama in end time scenarios
Excite teens by building tension
Pander to tribal instincts of fear - the boogie man is out to get you if you don't behave
Look at the hell scaring films of the 80s
Are Muslim fundamentalists doing this to their youth too? They're due for their own protestant-style reformation. Or has Islam already had a reformation and it's just the conservatives hanging on by their teeth that are being all apocalyptic and shit, wooing in disillusioned youth? I can't speak to that side of the aisle but I sure would like to know. I only tangentially know a couple of Muslims, certainly not closely enough to talk about religion.
Kids in many churches of the 1980's were subjected to book and record burnings. Heavy metal music enthusiastically gave the finger to religious fear-mongering and flew the flag of demonic symbology laughing all the way to the bank at the frightened Christian parents.
Humanity has been throwing rocks at the "other" guy for eons. Spiritual leaders continuing this practice after so many centuries is simply shameful, but it happens here in the west just the same as it happens in the east. Mad men lead naive followers down paths of hatred and annihilation.
There are frustrated Muslims that are fighting for sanity even as they are misunderstood and vilified. We Christians have our nut jobs too, but ours are not getting condemned as strongly in the news, because it's a little too uncomfortable to think that we might have a stick in our eye.
Fear isn't just a religious thing, it's a cultural phenomenon. Jon Pavolvitz wrote yesterday about fearful Christians and for all but one part I see his point (as a libertarian I object to his anti-gun line and find liberals being fearful of guns hypocritical, but there's plenty of hypocrisy on both sides to go around). I wasn't afraid of gays for my kids, but of straight adults. I was afraid Christians would make my kids afraid of God.
I took my kids out of the church to protect them from being afraid of God like me. I was raised terrified that my parents and everyone were going to disappear and leave me behind. I knew I wouldn't make the rapture because I was bad. I was rebellious and wanted to do my own thing and I hid my enjoyment of "sinful" things. I wouldn't do without my "sinful" behaviors because I knew by natural law in my mind that what I enjoyed wasn't harmful to anyone, not even to me, that it was just "sinful" because the church said so. I was so afraid the rapture would strand me, yet that wasn't enough to change my behavior, because in my heart I was doing what felt right: my natural spirituality overruled my taught spirituality. I didn't want my kids to feel that terror in the night, or to feel awful about themselves, so I protected them from church.
I myself obtained my concealed carry permit because I felt such powerlessness and grief at the news of the Pulse night club shooting. I know that fundamentalist beliefs can be the root of much mental anguish; although I opened my eyes when I was age 12 and began turning away from fear of god, I know that many others do not awaken and are suffocating under that torment of their souls.
If such an incident were to happen in my vicinity and I did not have a way to put an end to such fanatical madness, to protect "sinners" in the line of fire, I would have so many regrets. So yes, I carry a gun.
When a man can be so sad and tormented with guilt over the natural desires of his heart and soul (the FBI did not find corroborating evidence but the allegations are numerous), yet religion has made him feel compelled to destroy all those who share such desires, I wish that all the beautiful souls there at Pulse would have been armed (caveat - designated drivers only - not drinkers) and could have stopped his self-destructive eruption much earlier.
I pray that people being compelled or inspired by power hungry maniacs in extremist factions to commit atrocities will begin to wake up, to grow emotionally mature and their edges will soften and join the human race.
It make take centuries, but I yearn for the progression of love and peace. The more we accept others, the less we have to fear, as they become part of our family, the family of the human race. Even in insular communities, each person is a marble that can touch the person adjacent, thus spreading warmth and compassion as much as we can.
Failing that, I suppose the apocalypse is coming after all.
These preachers thrive on conflict and drama - preaching about the scariest underbelly of the world draws the timid sheep in closer to stick by him. And then associating even innocuous fun with evil drives a greater wedge between his sheltered sheep and the proverbial wolves of the world. Hallmarks of an abuser (insecurity needing fulfillment from adoration) - isolate your victim from friends and family.
Lately the Pentecostal fringes have been getting a light shined on their fear mongering tactics.
Extremism has no place in any faith. Many Christians are embarrassed that extremists like this man try to speak as representatives of the faith - except those still trapped and blinded in these denominations rush to defend his vitriolic words. Can we please realize this is just another example of hatred in the style of the Westboro Baptists?
You know, I wonder, how do extremists get started? It's fright. They are so afraid. So fearful in their own hearts of the world out there. It's a scary place, fraught with danger and misunderstanding. Afraid of losing the people they need, afraid of being left alone, afraid of rejection, and so they grasp at their families like trying to hold water in their fists. People that dress and act and speak differently are frightening when you live in isolation, protected from outsiders.
This is why I feel it is dangerous to isolate children and put them in churches where they have no exposure to the rest of the world, church schools to protect their innocent eyes - from what? From love and the joy of life on this earth? Fundamentalists see exposure to the world as something to be feared and so they limit their exposure and hide away in their own communities, so the problem compounds upon itself.
On the other hand, technology makes it increasingly difficult for such extreme isolation to work effectively, and you get kids like me that learn to think for themselves, study the love in religious texts, and rebel against cultures of judgement and wrath. Naturally this leads to many in the religious fringes to reject and fear technology. Television was banned, going to movies, many types of music - when caught with my radio tuned to the local rock-n-roll station, my clock radio was taken away for three years (I got it back for my 16th birthday).
We make our children afraid
Power and drama in end time scenarios
Excite teens by building tension
Pander to tribal instincts of fear - the boogie man is out to get you if you don't behave
Look at the hell scaring films of the 80s
Are Muslim fundamentalists doing this to their youth too? They're due for their own protestant-style reformation. Or has Islam already had a reformation and it's just the conservatives hanging on by their teeth that are being all apocalyptic and shit, wooing in disillusioned youth? I can't speak to that side of the aisle but I sure would like to know. I only tangentially know a couple of Muslims, certainly not closely enough to talk about religion.
Kids in many churches of the 1980's were subjected to book and record burnings. Heavy metal music enthusiastically gave the finger to religious fear-mongering and flew the flag of demonic symbology laughing all the way to the bank at the frightened Christian parents.
Humanity has been throwing rocks at the "other" guy for eons. Spiritual leaders continuing this practice after so many centuries is simply shameful, but it happens here in the west just the same as it happens in the east. Mad men lead naive followers down paths of hatred and annihilation.
There are frustrated Muslims that are fighting for sanity even as they are misunderstood and vilified. We Christians have our nut jobs too, but ours are not getting condemned as strongly in the news, because it's a little too uncomfortable to think that we might have a stick in our eye.
Fear isn't just a religious thing, it's a cultural phenomenon. Jon Pavolvitz wrote yesterday about fearful Christians and for all but one part I see his point (as a libertarian I object to his anti-gun line and find liberals being fearful of guns hypocritical, but there's plenty of hypocrisy on both sides to go around). I wasn't afraid of gays for my kids, but of straight adults. I was afraid Christians would make my kids afraid of God.
I took my kids out of the church to protect them from being afraid of God like me. I was raised terrified that my parents and everyone were going to disappear and leave me behind. I knew I wouldn't make the rapture because I was bad. I was rebellious and wanted to do my own thing and I hid my enjoyment of "sinful" things. I wouldn't do without my "sinful" behaviors because I knew by natural law in my mind that what I enjoyed wasn't harmful to anyone, not even to me, that it was just "sinful" because the church said so. I was so afraid the rapture would strand me, yet that wasn't enough to change my behavior, because in my heart I was doing what felt right: my natural spirituality overruled my taught spirituality. I didn't want my kids to feel that terror in the night, or to feel awful about themselves, so I protected them from church.
I myself obtained my concealed carry permit because I felt such powerlessness and grief at the news of the Pulse night club shooting. I know that fundamentalist beliefs can be the root of much mental anguish; although I opened my eyes when I was age 12 and began turning away from fear of god, I know that many others do not awaken and are suffocating under that torment of their souls.
If such an incident were to happen in my vicinity and I did not have a way to put an end to such fanatical madness, to protect "sinners" in the line of fire, I would have so many regrets. So yes, I carry a gun.
When a man can be so sad and tormented with guilt over the natural desires of his heart and soul (the FBI did not find corroborating evidence but the allegations are numerous), yet religion has made him feel compelled to destroy all those who share such desires, I wish that all the beautiful souls there at Pulse would have been armed (caveat - designated drivers only - not drinkers) and could have stopped his self-destructive eruption much earlier.
I pray that people being compelled or inspired by power hungry maniacs in extremist factions to commit atrocities will begin to wake up, to grow emotionally mature and their edges will soften and join the human race.
It make take centuries, but I yearn for the progression of love and peace. The more we accept others, the less we have to fear, as they become part of our family, the family of the human race. Even in insular communities, each person is a marble that can touch the person adjacent, thus spreading warmth and compassion as much as we can.
Failing that, I suppose the apocalypse is coming after all.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Leon
Leon Russell was always an influence in the background of my life, exactly how much I didn't put together until this week. His passing last Sunday November 13 brought me to reading up more details of his history, stories I had heard over the years but the details were fuzzy.
Daddy was hard working Montana stock with no tolerance for or understanding of hippie nonsense and silly kids that wanted to lay around and do drugs and protest. He served in Korea as a conscientious objector, not as a war protester, but on the grounds that killing is against the ten commandments. So in his eyes the war protestors were despicable as they shirked their duty in cowardice, where they could instead go, and refuse to kill if their conscience so led them but still put themselves in the line of fire, like he did. Dad's staunch following of right and wrong with no room for ambiguity shaped my early life.
See, I was born in Tulsa and lived next to Woodward Park during my preschool years. It's one thing to have the hippies in California and New York and grumble vaguely about their dirtiness and shirking of duty, well it's quite another when they come into the neighborhood. Leon Russell, Tulsa native turned rock star, bought a house just five blocks down the road from us in 1972.1 So! Our family left - it was time to move the vulnerable daughters out to the country before sex, drugs and rock-n-roll got their hooks in us.
So I didn't get offered brownies at the door of the Russell mansion, but the sweet strain of tinkling piano keys still reached me 40 miles away as I lay my head on my clock radio speaker with the volume turned down as low as it could go for fear of discovery.
(See when I was 13 rebellion was the first sign of me growing my wings, and my radio was taken away, punishment for listening to the Tulsa rock-n-roll station KMOD. I had forgotten to change the station back to news or gospel one day when I left for school, so my wicked wayward ways were found out. I did finally get the radio back three years later. After that I was much more careful to always set the station back to an approved channel before leaving my room.)
While Casey Kasem's American Top 40 show of the same era was entertaining in its happy and saccharine way, as I grew older the stronger appeal of deeper grittier stories led me to listen more to Rockin' John Henry instead, who educated me on music history and the role Tulsa played in shaping rock and roll. His "Saturday Bandstand" on Tulsa radio KELI played throughout my childhood and teen years, and then he expanded into the Sunday night Smokehouse Blues on KMOD right when I was at college age.2
Listening to his smooth deep voice expounding on the finer points of the origins of a song, playing two or three historical versions, and gently laughing at some silly coming of age story, oh that was magic to the soul and candy for the brain, and his lessons sunk in deep.
So over the years Rockin' John told us all the fun stories of Leon, how he rankled the Maple Ridge neighbors and built a wall around his mansion, how stars orbited Leon and of his song writing and piano playing mastery, his start as a 14 year old playing in Tulsa clubs. All these stories wove a grand picture around an already impressive persona with god-like white flowing hair and beard.
And it felt like he belonged to us, to Tulsa, like an imposing grand wild uncle of the city. Leon elevated Tulsa to a higher stature in the rock and roll culture, and we were thrilled to say we were part of Tulsa too, riding on his coattails. Us teenagers of his era were influenced, whether our parents willed it or no.
While he undoubtedly left his mark on rock-n-roll at large3, we of Tulsa still cling to him as our example of what amazing stuff can come out of our little home here on the prairie. This is what we're made of. Star stuff.
Daddy was hard working Montana stock with no tolerance for or understanding of hippie nonsense and silly kids that wanted to lay around and do drugs and protest. He served in Korea as a conscientious objector, not as a war protester, but on the grounds that killing is against the ten commandments. So in his eyes the war protestors were despicable as they shirked their duty in cowardice, where they could instead go, and refuse to kill if their conscience so led them but still put themselves in the line of fire, like he did. Dad's staunch following of right and wrong with no room for ambiguity shaped my early life.
See, I was born in Tulsa and lived next to Woodward Park during my preschool years. It's one thing to have the hippies in California and New York and grumble vaguely about their dirtiness and shirking of duty, well it's quite another when they come into the neighborhood. Leon Russell, Tulsa native turned rock star, bought a house just five blocks down the road from us in 1972.1 So! Our family left - it was time to move the vulnerable daughters out to the country before sex, drugs and rock-n-roll got their hooks in us.
So I didn't get offered brownies at the door of the Russell mansion, but the sweet strain of tinkling piano keys still reached me 40 miles away as I lay my head on my clock radio speaker with the volume turned down as low as it could go for fear of discovery.
(See when I was 13 rebellion was the first sign of me growing my wings, and my radio was taken away, punishment for listening to the Tulsa rock-n-roll station KMOD. I had forgotten to change the station back to news or gospel one day when I left for school, so my wicked wayward ways were found out. I did finally get the radio back three years later. After that I was much more careful to always set the station back to an approved channel before leaving my room.)
While Casey Kasem's American Top 40 show of the same era was entertaining in its happy and saccharine way, as I grew older the stronger appeal of deeper grittier stories led me to listen more to Rockin' John Henry instead, who educated me on music history and the role Tulsa played in shaping rock and roll. His "Saturday Bandstand" on Tulsa radio KELI played throughout my childhood and teen years, and then he expanded into the Sunday night Smokehouse Blues on KMOD right when I was at college age.2
Listening to his smooth deep voice expounding on the finer points of the origins of a song, playing two or three historical versions, and gently laughing at some silly coming of age story, oh that was magic to the soul and candy for the brain, and his lessons sunk in deep.
So over the years Rockin' John told us all the fun stories of Leon, how he rankled the Maple Ridge neighbors and built a wall around his mansion, how stars orbited Leon and of his song writing and piano playing mastery, his start as a 14 year old playing in Tulsa clubs. All these stories wove a grand picture around an already impressive persona with god-like white flowing hair and beard.
And it felt like he belonged to us, to Tulsa, like an imposing grand wild uncle of the city. Leon elevated Tulsa to a higher stature in the rock and roll culture, and we were thrilled to say we were part of Tulsa too, riding on his coattails. Us teenagers of his era were influenced, whether our parents willed it or no.
While he undoubtedly left his mark on rock-n-roll at large3, we of Tulsa still cling to him as our example of what amazing stuff can come out of our little home here on the prairie. This is what we're made of. Star stuff.
- Leon's Lair by Matt O'Melia
- Rockin John Henry by John Wooley
- Interviews and Video: RIP Leon Russell by Brandy McDonnell
Monday, November 7, 2016
Right to Farm - Oklahoma State question 777
I was for it - competition, and driving prices down is a good thing, and less regulation on the market. Scientifically driven efficiency is optimum. But a constitutional amendment seems silly, frivolous. Over the top hyperbole.
On the for side, face reality: small farms are a luxury, not a viable way of life anymore, this is for progress to use better technology to create more food more efficiently. While I buy seasonal items from a farmers market for the freshness and flavor that is so much better than big box grocery offerings, I do so as a luxury of my older years, and I personally know how prohibitively expensive fresh produce is for young families. Anything we can do as a cooperative society to use technological advancements to drive down the price of fresh food is a good thing.
However! On the against side: this bill doesn't solely focus on vegetables and fruit, it's also about ranching, raising livestock. It's so broad that it could be applied to any kind of husbandry, including raising pets. I sure don't want people wantonly breeding more animals. The unaltered cats roaming the street and breeding rampantly are incredibly annoying if not yet a menace. And because this bill paints such a broad swath across many markets, this can only tend to muddy things up in court - losing the best outcome, a fast and responsive free market.
For future consideration: what we really need is a mechanism to make fresh produce more affordable to young families who are often living paycheck to paycheck (with mortgage plus utilities at nearly 50% of their salary there's no wiggle room in those young budgets).
When a bag of celery and a head of lettuce costs more than an entire frozen meal, cheese crackers and potato chips, canned or frozen items in excess of x caloric, salt, sugar or fat content, need some sort of health tax imposed that gets applied directly to subsidize cost reductions for produce - balance it out. Celery, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, grapes should all cost 1/4 what they do now. A bagged salad or prepared fresh veggie box should be much cheaper than a fast food box meal. We'd solve a lot of problems, and help health issues and farmers both.
On the for side, face reality: small farms are a luxury, not a viable way of life anymore, this is for progress to use better technology to create more food more efficiently. While I buy seasonal items from a farmers market for the freshness and flavor that is so much better than big box grocery offerings, I do so as a luxury of my older years, and I personally know how prohibitively expensive fresh produce is for young families. Anything we can do as a cooperative society to use technological advancements to drive down the price of fresh food is a good thing.
However! On the against side: this bill doesn't solely focus on vegetables and fruit, it's also about ranching, raising livestock. It's so broad that it could be applied to any kind of husbandry, including raising pets. I sure don't want people wantonly breeding more animals. The unaltered cats roaming the street and breeding rampantly are incredibly annoying if not yet a menace. And because this bill paints such a broad swath across many markets, this can only tend to muddy things up in court - losing the best outcome, a fast and responsive free market.
For future consideration: what we really need is a mechanism to make fresh produce more affordable to young families who are often living paycheck to paycheck (with mortgage plus utilities at nearly 50% of their salary there's no wiggle room in those young budgets).
When a bag of celery and a head of lettuce costs more than an entire frozen meal, cheese crackers and potato chips, canned or frozen items in excess of x caloric, salt, sugar or fat content, need some sort of health tax imposed that gets applied directly to subsidize cost reductions for produce - balance it out. Celery, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, grapes should all cost 1/4 what they do now. A bagged salad or prepared fresh veggie box should be much cheaper than a fast food box meal. We'd solve a lot of problems, and help health issues and farmers both.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Gender Norms, Pronouns and Changing the World
I always thought of myself as a Daddy's girl. Mom was great and all, but Daddy would spend so much time outside, always in the background of my big country playground, that I naturally gravitated to him. Fifteen acres to explore starting at age 4, I thrilled in imaginative explorations through tall Oklahoma prairie grass (and wheat sprouting wild, leftover from past owners), as Daddy built fences, barns, sheds, a chicken coop, rabbit hutches - I was there, equal parts following him and trying to hammer nails, and wandering off to chase a grasshopper or dig in the muddy creek shallows.
I was supposed to be Daddy's boy. Last child of three, they already had two girls and Dad wanted one more shot at having a boy, so enter me, but oh well, here's a third girl. So I loved my puppy dogs, red cowboy hat and white boots, silver cap guns, and long curly blonde ponytails. I also picked up a love for things with wheels. There's a picture of me as a baby, pre-walking, with a steel Tonka Trencher. That toy is sitting on my dresser today, along with a die-cast model of Daddy's red Ford tractor. I was the little girl climbing on the school bus in the frilly dress (Pentecostal - that's a whole 'nuther subject for another day) with a Hot Wheel clutched in her fist.
But about gender norms. I'm not talking earth-shattering transformations and super-controversial stuff here. This isn't about transgender issues. This is very basic everyday, every person, touches every life sort of thing. I'm talking the ordinary every day gradual changes that husbands and wives and partners of all types have gradually shifted into over the last hundred or so years.
Husbands don't necessarily enjoy gardening, garage work. I'm one of those girls that spends more time outside in the yard and garage. I'm interested in making things, building, using mechanical tools. I'm far more Tim Allen than Jill (Home Improvement tv series). Different people like different things, gender doesn't really rule that, and yet there is nothing wrong with shows that perpetuate gender norms as long as we humans will just let up laughing at or poking fun at those who deviate from the norms.
My parents were born almost 100 years ago, my grandparents 100+. In their world, there were serious peer rejections and reprisals against anyone who deviated from the norms. Then after WWII forced the necessity of women working more, the pressures slacked up a little, and not long after the rockabilly and hippie movements rebelled full throttle. I think after society got over those shocks, we humans were a little calmer about little things like boys playing with dolls.
Daddy grew up with the generation that ridiculed soft boys as "sissies." It was an expression of derision I heard often regarding the hippy types around town. Sure there were still extremists who would get horrified about such things, but most people were in the middle and ready to accept differences that didn't harm others.
In the last 50 years I'd say there's been a growing respect for a girl who can kick ass right next the guys, but the negative humor bias against a guy who is tender-hearted and prefers arranging flowers is still pervasive. There are some instances of finding this an awesome way for a guy to be. Like there was Scrubs. JD is cute and soft hearted and "wimpy" in a very endearing way. We need another show like Scrubs.
I know of more than one married guy that nurtures the kids and cooks dinner. It's not nearly as rare as it used to be, and I'm really happy about that.
Now about pronouns. I love that living languages change and evolve with the society to which they belong. New words get added to the dictionary every year. "Okay" is an evolved form of slang going all the way back to "All correct" in some versions of the etymology.
He, she, man, woman, they, vis, ve, ver. Haven't heard of those last three? I saw them introduced in a sci-fi book series, Poseidon's Children by Alastair Reynolds. Apparently they are gender-neutral pronouns. Apparently they aren't the only ones being tested out there by writers and others in the gender-neutral world. Some prefer to use "they" in place of "his" or "her" but this just doesn't work for me as "they" implies a plural. I really like the vis, ve, ver set.
However! Human. I am human. I believe all men are created equal, and I, along with every other female, am among the ranks of these men. I don't really care what the original intent was. My heart and mind tells me I belong there, along with all my friends and foes whether they have penises or vaginas or any combination thereof. We sentient beings, men, human, are all created equal.
Draftsman. I'm not offended by this name. I am so happy and proud to call myself that.
If I'm ever the leader of a board, I'll be the chairman. Not the chairwoman. I don't need a special name pointing out my genitals, thanks.
Personally I think special pronouns for females in positions of power is demeaning and attention seeking. "Ooooh woop-de-doo a girl is the leader, she is in power and we have to point out that it's a *WO*man at the top." Um .... No.... A leader is still a leader no matter what they've got in their pants.
Fuck all those chip-on-the-shoulder people who get offended and write "and she" in reply to a beautiful image of humanity reaching for the stars that uses the pronoun "he" - I AM HE. I am in that number! I count among the rank of mankind without having to use a special pronoun to point that out, as if I didn't count without it. I AM HUMAN, thank you very much!
Picking at a scab doesn't make it better - opening it up makes it heal slower. Picking at the use of the word "he" is like picking at a scab. Taking the higher ground and realizing the word "he" is not an affront to all the humans out there that happen to have vaginas gets us girls progress faster just by participating calmly in that space rather than being huffy and indignant and acting like it's a grammatical error. Just be there. Just be a human in the space of "he", ladies. You're included. You have permission. Come on in.
Someday far in the future, I want gender equality by means of gender neutrality. Maybe sci-fi visions of future gender relations would be the solution, where ve is used instead of "he" (because apparently in some people's eyes the word "he" excludes females. In my head when I hear the word "he" I am included that group!).
I'm with Troi. I wanna hear a Yes Sir when I'm in command.
In summary, gender norms have changed quite a bit if you take a stark contrast of 1916 to 2016. Sure there are tendencies still stick to traditional gender roles, because kids copy what they see modeled by parents, teachers, or in books and other media, and just as we as a culture have come to accept gay marriage, and the reaction to the Pulse nightclub tragedy was genuine love and concern vs. the crude jokes of a similar incident in the 70's, society's view of gender issues is catching up.
So I don't cringe when I see memes that are a little biased to historical trends. Jokes about husbands being lazy, or a joke about a girl being overly concerned about her hair. It's where we've been, but we are progressing. Now we can have jokes about a lazy wife (Clara of The Guild web series), or a jokes about girls fantasizing about men in kilts. No need to get bent out of shape, or to have a miserable stressful day hyperventilating because someone said something "sexist."
For a happier life, chill. Be patient, and realize that the world isn't going to change overnight. Change will come, but it may be two centuries after you're dead. And it's sure as hell going to be slower if you raise hackles rather than being positive. (so maybe I should back off the f-word up there ... hmmm ... thinking ... thinking ... No, it stays. Chip-on-the-shoulder people are a huge part of the problem.)
Screaming, raising your voice, going higher and higher in octave, typing faster and harder at people who don't believe the same way you do tends to make them dig in their heels and resist further. But look at someone like the Dalai Lama who smiles and touches people. This is influence.
Change comes by gentle influence, not by visionary hammer pounds.
Further Reading:
Wikipedia, Gender Neutrality in the English language
Scrubs tv series
The Guild web series
Handsome men in kilts
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