Saturday, October 13, 2007

A REVOLUTION OF ATTITUDES

Bettye Johnson ©

** This is not a calling forth a revolution of violence or controversy. It is not promoting the bashing of men. Bashing of men is counter-productive to women’s evolution. There are men who respect and love women. Their numbers at this time are too small to truly change the bias against women.
** Working for equal rights is a long and arduous road. I have written about the plight of women all over the world because the attitudes of men toward women has not changed in many countries and is slowly changing in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European countries. This isn’t about equal rights. This is about a change of attitudes of men towards women; women about themselves; women towards men; and men about themselves. It is a revolution of attitudes.
** Women need to recognize they have aided and abetted these attitudes the majority of men have towards women by believing they were less than and deferring to men. We have to change our attitudes about living as victims. We cannot expect change until we change our attitudes and our outlook on the world. Change must begin with a change of individual attitudes.
**A new religion appears to be replacing the standard religions. The new religion is Corporate America who controls all the advertising we are blitzed with in our newspapers, periodicals, television and radio. We are led to believe that being sexy will make us happy. Taking this drug or that drug will alleviate stress, bloated stomach and other aches and pains will make us well and happy. All it does is cover up the symptom but never cure the root cause. We think must have the best and most beautiful auto vehicle. We are a debt-enslaved nation.
**It appears younger women in the United States have more freedom than their mothers or their grandmothers had. The senior women have deferred to their husbands all their married life. Many still vote according to the way their husbands vote. Younger women and girls as well as the older women are distracted and enslaved by the media blitz, which includes television and the movies. These women must be thin, beautiful and alluring according to what the media dictates.
**Have you noticed that there is an over abundance of overweight women, children and men? In their subconscious they know thin, beautiful and sexy is not all it is cracked up to be. Frustration, doubt, fear sets in and the obesity gene are triggered. The advertisement world has a field day with a diet for this and a diet for that. Diets don’t work because the basic attitudes do not change. Diets are only a form of self-punishment.
**In the United States the medical and pharmaceutical professions enslave the majority of the populace. On week days usually beginning at 7 A.M. all over the country the parking lots of medical buildings are filled with autos and these are not hospitals. The United States has the largest concentration of sick people other than those in the third world countries where starvation, war and pestilence are killing them.
**There must be a change of consciousness in this world for humans to survive. The Earth will survive, as Mother Nature will see to that. We are on the cutting edge and to survive turbulent times we must rise above the issues of war and enslavement. Let this change begin with the women and those men who are open-minded. Change will come with a change of attitudes.

ENSLAVEMENT ATTITUDES:

~ I need a man to make me happy. Have you ever asked yourself why? Women have been programmed by attitudes, input from religions, books, movies, and television that every woman should have a man. Could it be a subconscious program that the only worth you will know is having a husband or a significant other in your life.
~ Men are more intelligent than women. Really? And who decided that? Women haven’t had a chance to develop their intelligence. However that is changing and more and more women are using their intelligence. In many cases, it is still an uphill climb for women. Sr. Francis Crick won a Nobel Prize for his discovery re the DNA when he actually stole it from a woman scientist. Albert Einstein has become a sacred icon and it is not known to many that he had the help of his first wife. He didn’t do it alone.
~ Since God created Adam first, then man is superior to women. If one were to reason this ancient attitude that has been carried down through the ages, one would realize that if Adam was created first, then the woman was the evolution of the first being. It is the woman who carries the seed of the child. Why did Eve tempt Adam? She was asking him to join with her in seeking the tree of knowledge. Was Adam a dummy? And who was the serpent? In ancient lore and wisdom, the serpent is wisdom. I grew up believing that woman was put on Earth to serve man. I have moved far away from that attitude/belief.
~ Man must be the breadwinner of the family. This attitude and belief goes back eons when in actuality, women were the ones who labored while the men hunted. Yes, the men ‘brought home the bacon’, but women labored to keep the household and family from falling apart. This is also changing. Today in the U.S. a marriage is usually a two-job family. Much of it is done to ‘keep up with the Jones. The population has been given through advertising that the family must have all the luxuries that their parents didn’t have. ’
~ I must be alluring and sexy to appeal to a man. This attitude has been fostered by Corporate America, which includes the garment designers, cosmetics, and entertainment world. If one were to really think about it, to follow the dictates of advertising, one is giving her power away. What is wrong with natural?
~ The man is the decision-maker. Again, this is programming. Society has been a patriarchal power for too many eons. It is time for women to take back their power and demand an equal say. Of course, in the marketplace it might not work. Women can change this by developing their intelligence and create businesses where they can be their own decision-makers.
~ Since my husband, partner, lover likes sports, and then I should too. Why? I have seen too many give away their power to their mate for the sake of togetherness and to have something in common.
~ The woman’s place is in the home. Again, why? If a woman chooses to be a stay-at-home mother/wife – then the only reason should be that it is her sincere choice. There are some women who abhor the thought of going out into the workplace. I have an idea that this goes back to women being in a harem perhaps in some past life. I ask, is this using their intelligence and expanding it?
~ It’s o.k. for women’s to teach Sunday school, and religious classes, however they are not qualified to be a priest, minister and in some cases a rabbi.
~ Father knows best. Really? Not if it means the woman's ideas and knowing are considered. I had two husbands who would argue with me that I was wrong on different issues and when I was proven right, each told me, "Even when you are wrong, you are right." Women, stick to your knowing! It is time to stop giving your power away. I have done it in the past and never more. It never pays to force a point of view just to be stubborn. That is not a productive attitude. It is to look at both sides of the coin and choose an intelligent reason.

**Attitudes are choices. None of us needs to be a bulldozer to have it our way. When we are wrong, we should admit it although no one likes to 'eat crow.' The Revolution of Attitudes is the journey within each of us. We have choices. We can be miserable, a whiner or we can be happy and productive – and powerful. The choice is ours.

No comments: