#Metoo

#Metoo is a synonym to fear beyond what most people think.

When looking at the early days according to history books, women were needed for breeding and rearing children. The family needed workers to maintain the land or to continue the father’s trade. It was a matter of survival. The man, who needed strong and healthy workers, would choose a woman, just like a breeder chooses a mare to be crossed with a precious stallion, to perpetuate the beauty, strength, and stamina carried in the genes.

In our DNA we carry our biological genes; however, we also carry our accepted believes coming from our ancestors. So, many men today come with a desperate need to propagate their genes and to continue the line. Carrying the family name and the desired respect from society is still a real need for many fathers today. So, men are, in a sense, afraid that they will not be man enough. Fear brings about irrational behaviors. That’s why chastity belts, burkas, hijabs, abayas, niqabs, and laws limiting women have existed or still exist today in some parts of the world. That is why in some societies punishment to women who do not want to have sex is still accepted.

Women, on the other hand, also bring with them not only their biological DNA from their ancestors, but their accepted belief-system from an oppressed culture. If you are born in one of those countries which accepts those ways of thinking, it is probably very difficult to rebel against them. There have been examples of women leaders who have fought for their right to be allowed in temples when they are of menstruating age because they are believed to be impure as the law states. There are women who also fight for their right to be educated in schools, or for the right to be treated with dignity if their husband dies. These women are breaking their bonds with the beliefs of their ancestors because times have changed. Societies do not require women just for breeding workers, or to be shown off as an ornament.

In a culture like the United States, it should be clearer that the role of women has evolved. I believe sometimes we go overboard with the feminist view in search for a way out of men’s control. Sometimes the pendulum must swing all the way to come back to the center. The old belief systems no longer serve us, but it is hard to get rid of them. Many men continue to have the belief that if they do not have sex they will not live upto the expectation of themselves or society. Women’s fear and accepted belief-system also puts them at risk of being overpowered because if they believe that they are not more than property, and allow fear to have the upper hand, they will attract and accept this type of behavior even when they have the option to say “no.” In many occasions, we have the choice to speak-up, quit, or run, but we do not see the option because it is clouded by our belief that we can’t. 

I invite you to revisit your belief-system. Reinvent yourself!