If Steve Jobs were a woman...

...he would have been called a stone cold bitch. The infamous rants of "Bad Steve" would have been labeled as "PMSing" and dismissed, or added to the weight of evidence of the female Steve as a "ball-buster" or "castrating female."

I am by no means the first to make note of this contrast, but it serves me well in reiterating a point that I have made before in this sad little egoism I call a blog: considering all the wrongs in this world, the one we must right first is the oppression of women.

Much has been written of late of the last "okay" prejudice; the most recent stirrings have been in relation to "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway. But before that it was fat people and various others have laid claim to the title - people with behavioral health diagnoses, Muslims, etc.

What is never addressed in these various complaints is that within those last "okay" prejudices lies the real one: women. If you think fat people have it bad, fat women have it worse (one of the condemnations of male obese people is that it makes them seem womanish - to be compared to a woman is an insult). If you think Mormons are discriminated against, understand that within the Mormon faith, women are held in prejudice.

Now, some one say that a man writing about women's oppression is simply another case of prejudice - I am assuming that the roles assigned to females are oppressive out of prejudice toward those roles. I will leave others to sort that out. What I know is, as long as it is okay that the ranks of female CEO's is shrinking, that the disparity of wages is accepted (if given lip service), that only men can drive in some cultures, that in some cultures women can be killed simply for doing what men do, I will maintain my prejudice.

To me, the oppression of women is the core of all other wrongs in this world. If you want to improve the lot of Africans, improve the lot of African women; if you want to improve the conditions in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran or Libya, improve conditions for women; if you want to bring Bangladeshis out of the mire of their flooded delta, or bring Myanmar out of the closet, or improve the conditions of all people in the state of Mississippi - improve the lot of their women.

At the heart of all antimodernist (antimodernism being the heart of all ultra-conservative perspectives) movements, be they supporters of Sharia, Christian Reconstructionists or Mormon Fundamentalists, is a dramatic constriction of the liberties of women - often described as a return to basic values.

At the dark, moist heart of the discontent of the Beached White Male is the entry of women into the labor force.

Nothing in the history of the world has been so enduring and so damaging to our global civilization as the organized and sanctioned oppression of women.

If we really want to bring meaningful change to the world, end the oppression of women across it. Every other needed change will descend from that.

For all those purity pledgers

I've never read a more cogent argument against the saving of this nebulous prize. Particularly to give it to some man who will either not appreciate the gift or, worse, use it in come Cro-Magnon accounting of his proper place in the universe.

All's Well that Ends Well
Act 1, Scene 1
Parolles to Helena

There's little can be said in 't; 'tis against the
rule of nature. To speak on the part of virginity,
is to accuse your mothers; which is most infallible
disobedience. He that hangs himself is a virgin:
virginity murders itself and should be buried in
highways out of all sanctified limit, as a desperate
offendress against nature. Virginity breeds mites,
much like a cheese; consumes itself to the very
paring, and so dies with feeding his own stomach.
Besides, virginity is peevish, proud, idle, made of
self-love, which is the most inhibited sin in the
canon. Keep it not; you cannot choose but loose
by't: out with 't! within ten year it will make
itself ten, which is a goodly increase; and the
principal itself not much the worse: away with 't!

The Energies of Life

Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don't let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” 

R. I. Fitzhenry

The question is how comfortable are you with the mystery.

People who know that I do not subscribe to supernatural explanations of events often react as if that understanding of things makes me a nihilist - some dark creature consumed with bleeding life of its significance.

This is quite far from the truth. I take great joy in life and in living. The difference between me and most of these folks is that I am comfortable with the mystery.

There are a variety of logical fallacies used by people who believe in the supernatural, but the first and most apparent problem with that thinking is the idea that things need to be explained in the first place.

Why is there a universe? What is the origin of the human race? Why does evil exist? Why did the crops fail? Why did my son die? Why is that criminal still alive?  All of these questions and many others seem to demand explanation, and surely there is a natural human curiosity that causes human beings to seek explanations. But that is not to say that an explanation is needed. Or that, going forward, if there's is not a practical explanation, a supernatural one is called for.

I don't know how the universe came to be. There are many potential explanations. And the advocates of string theory or multi verses can be as adamant about their speculation as any fundamentalist Christian. Materialists are not immune to bad thinking just because science is "on their side". Or, sweet Jesus, because they are rational (a characteristic no human can rightly lay claim to.)

Although I tend toward practical explanations of things, ultimately I am comfortable with the mystery. I do not need an explanation. That there is not one - or not a satisfactory one - does not create a vacuum, for me, that must be filled by the supernatural.

The funny thing is, my comfort makes the things of the world all that much more miraculous. To me the functional eye is far more miraculous for its evolution than it would be if it were merely created.

Let me put it to you this way: Michelangelo's David is a beautiful creation, I think we can agree.  But imagine how much more amazing it would be that statue grew out of the stone as part of a natural process of erosion.

So, believe in a maker all you want. For me, I am satisfied and often awestruck by a serendipitous universe. There is much I don't understand. That simply means there is much, much more for me to experience.

And who knows, maybe there is a god out there. But I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be more than a little disappointed.