The topic of her October 14th 2008 show was on the archetype of the Liberated Woman and her supposition that this archetype is actually a myth. She was inquiring exactly what we were liberated from. Overall, a good show. Her definition of what this archetype represents is what I think is fairly typical for what the modern woman thinks she should be: one who "has it all" -- supports herself, doesn't need a man, is a strong individual who is completely independant, yet somehow has and raises kids successfully. Since her idea of the Liberated Woman is quite exactly what I describe as the lioness with a false mane, this show got me to thinking.
What I particularly love about her is that she does what I do -- ties everything into a historical perspective. Afterall, in order to understand the complete picture one must first SEE the complete picture and this includes the history behind how and why we got to where we are. While she did do this to a small degree, she didn't explore it overly much. She was looking more at what we lost by demanding 'liberation' than in what was being rebelled against.
What exactly did women want to be liberated from? In order to answer this question, we have to go back a few hundred years and understand why women started to demand equal treatment under the law, to demand the right to vote and thus participate in and therefore influence the world in which they lived more directly. This then became a demand for work opportunties, most especially after WWII as I've already talked about, and then it became a demand for 'equal' treatment in the work place.
After looking at the things that women were actually asking, I realized that what she was REALLY wanting was nothing less or more than "treat me like an adult". As a collective, Women were asking to stop being treated like little kids who didn't know their own mind, who weren't even potentially sophisticated enough to grasp the magnitude and complexity of the adult world. Look at the objections of the time of the Suffragette Movements and you'll see statements which pretty much baldly state that men didn't consider women either smart enough or emotionally capable of handling the responsibility voting would bring with it. Indeed, through the previous centuries, women were by and large handled just like kids with the exception that women were interchangeable while a man's kids were not. You can see it in the laws, the social attitudes, and the expectations.
So if the root idea behind the original Liberated Woman was simply 'it's time I be allowed to grow up', where did this other 'need to have it ALL' idea enter the picture? When did she forget that she wanted to finish maturing and instead attempted to cut men out of her life as extraneous baggage? The transition can be seen in the 40s through the 80s. As always, it was a long slow building process.
The absolute irony is that by trying to be so strong and independent and "I don't need a man ever", that's actually a pretty immature stance. It's identicle to the sheltered teen who leaves home for very first time ever to go to college only to end up doing crazy stupid stuff.
I recall watching a movie called "Bounty Hunter" with Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. In it, the woman is complaining that the man isn't mature enough for her. In her tirade, the character all but stomped her foot in a childish temper tantrum. In that moment, I could see the frustration and eye-rolling tolerance toward women than a huge number of men have. She WANTS to be mature, demands it of others, but has no idea what that really means. Archetypally, she's in college, first time away from home, doing crazy stupid stuff yet thinking she's being mature and adult.
I see the last century or half century as growing pains in the maturation process of the feminine. At some point though that first time college student has to realize 'whoa! what am I doing?' and from there true maturity begins. The first step is always taking personal responsibility for our actions. Here are the things that women in western society have gained in the last century alone:
- We can own our own property.
- Our worth is no longer based on what we bring into the marriage contract.
- We have equal protection under the law, even if the abuser is our husband.
- We have the right to work without having sexuality used as a bargaining tool.
- We have an equal say in the running of our democratic republic.
- We can do more with our lives than attach ourselves to a man and have kids, if we so choose.
The Liberated Women was freed from the puera eternis (eternal little girl) notion and granted the right to grow up. We've had our growing pains and I think we're starting to settle back into ourselves. I can see the trend starting. What we collectively have to do is make sure that we don't go backwards because that's the pattern we know. If we do that, we're doomed to repeat all this over again at some point.
I am not an eternal little girl looking for a daddy figure to take care of me! I am a Woman. I roar. I am fierce. I am intelligent and opinionated, caring and compassionate. I take responsibility for my life and my actions, but I am not alone. I have a Partner, who will hunt the deer and protect the campfire so that I can tend the homestead, gather berries and see to the social bonds of our group. I can't do it all. I don't WANT to do his job and mine.
I think that the majesty of the feminine is rooting here: confidence and maturity.
- Lioness (in training)
She wants to belong, to contribute, to count as she is in her role as creative, nurturer, feminine, strong enough to roar, soft enough to share and care with the wisdom to balance them both.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!!!