The Sexes

“After God cast Lucifer and his followers into darkness, all the fallen angels came straggling on the plains of hell — to recriminate, to console themselves and to discuss their new identities as devils. . . . . It may be time for men to hold a convention for the same purpose”.

Thus begins a Lance Morrow essay http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,980115,00.html?artId=980115?contType=article?chn=us written twenty-two years ago (“Men Are They Really That Bad?”, Time, Feb. 14,1994) that serves as the focal piece of our Member Monday (11/7) discussion as we eye our own convention on the subject of: The Sexes.

So be it. Let us gather in a gender-balanced forum to compare and contrast today’s environment with that of two decades ago. A good place to start would be with the smoldering sexual theater on this day before of the Presidential election as it flares with the latest accusation or leaked video, often overshadowing serious policy debate.

But perhaps it better to gauge such matters by the movements on the ground rather than by the combat in the air. Beware of undue reliance on the media which would suggest an ongoing gender-sliming atmosphere of attacks and counterattacks. That may be simply the same commercialization of the id while life on the ground goes on more or less as usual.

May we approach the subject of male/female relationships with utmost openness and maturity. The role of feminism seems to have morphed over the decades. Some feminist gunslingers like Camille Paglia argue for “Amazon feminism,” the achievement of true independence of thought and action and thereby distinguishes it from much of the root belief system of the American campus culture.  

Then, wandering further into dangerous territory, we may take note of the men’s case of Warren Farrell, once the country’s leading male feminist advocate, in his book called The Myth of Male Power. The feminist take on men, he says, left out an important part of the story i.e. each gender has a light side and a shadow side. The problem arises where  feminism is incompletely or dishonestly or opportunistically pursued. Equality must mean equality in all things. Otherwise there is a dishonest configuration.

And, finally, in the analysis of Allan Carlson, “We are at the tail end of the deconstruction of patriarchy . . the last acceptable villain is the prototypical  white male . . . (then noting) in history there are no examples of sustained, vigorous matriarchal societies . . . (and concluding) we’re a society in decay and destruction.”

Men-devils nodding: Whud I tell you?