In
the second decade of the twenty-first century, the political arena in the
United States remains dominated by the male of the species. But like the trend within the demographics of
this county that is obviously moving towards a majority of non-whites
(projected to happen by 2045), there is another seismic shift that is unfolding
in regard to the societal power and influence of women. This change is reflected on many levels by
the following statistics.
Currently
(2022), 57% of bachelorette degrees are held by women; 54% of law students are
women; 50.5% of medical students are women; 50% of current students are women
who are earning degrees in the areas of science and engineering. Since the days of my childhood, I have
witnessed amazing changes in the area of women’s rights and women’s
progress. Currently, there is no
profession or livelihood that in not represented by women. This aspect of life that we have taken for
granted was certainly not the way it used to be. There was a time when women were only allowed
to participate in a limited aspect of the human world other than their expected
roles in motherhood and nurture.
Given
these statistics, it becomes quite evident that within a generation, the social
and political climate will undergo a significant transformation. As women participate more and more fully
within the larger culture, the tone and timbre of politics and policy will
undergo substantial changes and the heretofore white male-dominated environment
would become seriously threatened.
In
many states – mostly in the American South – long dominated by white males,
there is a stark realization that those in power will face a very different
reality. The underlying fear of this
eventuality is, of course, shared by many in these backward and repressive
states where the development of educated and free-thinking people is discouraged
and ignorance and religious intolerance is thoroughly exploited. This explains why in many states, legislation
has been speedily crafted and made into law with the transparent aim of
suppressing the ability to vote by many of its non-white citizens to the
ludicrous degree of making it “illegal” to supply water to those waiting on
long-lines to vote even in the hottest of climates. This subliminal fear also explains blatant
attempts to control women even by imposing draconian measures to condemn and
outlaw abortion.
There
are backward areas of this country where Big Lies are freely supported and
propagated. One of course is the
completely unsubstantiated conviction that the 2020 Presidential Election was
stolen. Another absurdity that is
currently being codified in some states is that human life begins at
conception. This purported truth flies
in the face of biological reality.
Clearly, a fertilized human egg is not a person; is not human. In fact, the human fetus does not become
viable outside the womb until after twenty-four weeks of development. To suggest that the termination of pregnancy
in the early stages of fetal development is equivalent to murder is
preposterous and draconian.
The
purpose of this kind of lie is to substantiate an absurd political reality that
allows for convicting a woman seeking and abortion or those in the medical
profession who could safely abort fetal development as guilty of attempted
murder. The defense of democracy or
morality is not the foundation of such assertions – they are driven by an exaggerated
fear of a changing world in which women are no longer held captive by their
gender, and men freely acknowledge and support a true equality of the sexes.
These
attempts at changing the course of human history will fail as all
fundamentalist and extremist ideas must, for they are ultimately
unsustainable. The tragedy lies with the
fact that many innocents will suffer unnecessarily due to this level of extreme
ignorance and profound stupidity.
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