Prior to the 20th century, women were essentially subjugated to men, existing only in terms of their relationship to fathers, husbands and sons, with divorce, or out of wedlock child birth leading to scandal, the convent, or the workhouse. For many educated women, it was far better to become a nun than to be married off against their will.
Outside of isolated pockets of religious fundamentalists and poor, agrarian economies, the 20th century saw social advances for women in equal opportunities for voting, education and professional work, the no fault divorce and scientific advances like birth control, freeing women to be independent of men, in line with the breaking down of barriers in Dwapara Yuga.
At the beginning of the 21st century, women are, in the US, the majority of voters, 60% of college students and 50% of professional students in law and medicine, having not simply caught up but edging ahead in terms of being better educated than men, less prone to early death, imprisonment, drug addiction and obesity with skills much more suited to modern knowledge work than defunct skills of hunting or manual labor.
With the divorce rate in the US around 50% and the majority of families requiring two wage earners, many, especially professional women are re-assessing their views on marriage and the 'dream of finding the right man' in terms of the 'dream of motherhood', independently of any potentially impermanent relationships. As of 2006 in the US, married couples are actually the minority.
It seems to the author that in correcting past wrongs, we are passing a period of over correction that will itself calm over time with generations after the hedonistic 'sex and the city' one choosing not to simultaneously pursue motherhood, girl around town and master of the universe at work and a recognition that men are not better than women, or vice versa, rather that each are different, with their own complimentary strengths.
3 comments:
I happen to personally know many women who have put much time and energy into persuing a career, who now at 30+ are wondering why it is so hard to find a good man. College campuses are full of young men who expect sex for nothing, and young women who are expected to perform sexual favors at increasingly early ages. The over correction you are speaking of and the abuse of the creative force is creating a degenerate society void of God or Godly thoughts. And has been the ruin of many would be yogi saints.
Sex and the city - the story of three prostitutes and their mother - as the old joke has it!
Perhaps the strongest of all spiritual stories are those of going from bad to good, like Saint Augustine in the brothels of Alexandria saying "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet", or Valmiki the writer of the Ramayana.
In his youth he was a highway robber. Young and strong, he attacked travelers going by lonely roads and stole their money and valuables. He knew this was wrong, but he thought it was the only way he could make his livelihood. Moreover, his father, mother and wife were there at home, depending on him.
One day the robber caught hold of a traveler who had nothing. Angry, he asked him how he could wander around like that. "I am the sage Narada," said he. "I travel freely even between heaven and earth. I am one of the 'immortals'." Narada asked this man whether his family would share in his sins. The man said they would, but did not sound too sure of himself. Narada asked him to go to them and find out. So the robber tied Narada securely and went to his family.
His father, his mother and even his wife refused to share his sins. They were aghast that all these years they were being nourished with evil. They denounced him and renounced him. The robber's eyes were opened. Going back to the tree where Narada was tied, he told the sage what had happened. He begged forgiveness and asked Narada how he may atone for his sins. Narada taught the young man to worship and told him to go into the forest. He went into solitude and began to practice meditation and prayer. He kept this up for many years, living at first on fruits and roots. Eventually he became totally absorbed in meditation and forgot himself, losing awareness of his body. As a result, ants even came and made anthills around him, heaped up high, so that he looked like a mountain of ants.
After many years a divine voice came to him. "Arise, O Sage, your guilt has been erased; you have had a new birth, and you now have a new name: Valmiki -- meaning, he that was born in an ant-hill."
That's a great story, I had not heard that one about Valmiki...
Interesting story, "Anonymous." After all of our Western efforts to break out of Kali Yuga restrictive rules and expectations of women, we have unfortunately also forgotten the value of marriage and families. Ancient, successful civilizations such as India place high value on marriage at a young age and family life. Young men were to live in celibacy in their gurus' ashrams during adolescence, safe from the temptations of women. Then they would go out and marry, thus avoiding the sexual problems we have in the West today.
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