In the book of Genesis in the bible, thousands of years ago, God made man – called Adam.
Then, from Adam’s rib, he created the first woman, Eve.
Why a rib?
From a patriarchal perspective (the perspective the Bible was written from), a famous British minister of the 17th century, Matthew Henry, put it best:
“Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him, not from his head to top him, nor from his feet to be trampled by him, but from under his arm to be protected by him, near to his heart to be loved by him.”
Prehistoric and ancient societies were worlds of brutish strength and physical power. In general, adult men have 7-8 times the level of testosterone than woman, and this explains their strength and size compared to women.
Physically, men are necessary to protect women from predators, and more importantly the worst predators of all……. other men.
Yet – in these prehistoric pre-agrarian societies, studies have actually found in most cases, men and women were relatively equal.
In some cases, more equal than today.
When it comes to some Middle Eastern and African countries, our prehistoric male and female ancestors were almost definitely more equal.
According to the Guardian, “A study has shown that in contemporary hunter-gatherer tribes, men and women tend to have equal influence on where their group lives and who they live with.
The findings challenge the idea that sexual equality is a recent invention, suggesting that it has been the norm for humans for most of our evolutionary history.
Mark Dyble, an anthropologist who led the study at University College London, said:
“There is still this wider perception that hunter-gatherers are more macho or male-dominated.
We’d argue it was only with the emergence of agriculture, when people could start to accumulate resources, that inequality emerged.”
I guess cavemen weren’t as primitive as we thought, huh?
It really wasn’t until the agricultural revolution that the inequality gap between men and women got bad.
Men could not only accumulate resources, they could also accumulate wives.
And that’s really when women first get their 2nd class citizen tickets.
Sadly, these dark and barbaric times that stretched millennia, across the world (with a few notable exceptions like Egypt, and other societies like the Celts/Germanic/Scandavida tribes that were very small and had social structures similar to prehistoric societies) – men ruled the world.
Does this sound familiar to you?
But fortunately for those who crave equality, the winds of change are a-howling.
It’s time to tell the second part of the story.
Eve’s side of Genesis that never had a chance to be written, or perhaps was lost to the patriarchs of time.
God created Eve second, on purpose, for a reason.
And he created Adam first, on purpose.
His face is rougher, his skin is rougher, his body is rough, his temperament is rougher.
His heart….is rougher.
Men were God’s “rough draft.”
Or if you’re a tech person, I guess you can say that alpha males were ironically enough, a “beta” version.
And that’s exactly why we came first.
I noted the exception of Egypt purposefully, because, it was one of the few highly advanced, highly sophisticated, agrarian civilizations with a full understanding of astrology, mathematics, science, poetry etc.
In virtually every statue of the Pharaoh and his wife, the woman’s arm is around the man.
This to protect HIM.
Spiritually and emotionally.
How many times did she warn him about a feeling she got, and was right?
How many times did she bring him from outer space back to reality?
How many times did she balance him?
And remind him that all the glitter in the world isn’t gold – and even if it was, that his soul was never for sale.
Men are easily misled – they follow their minds alone instead of in conjunction with their hearts because they’re terrified to crack them open.
In a world where “might is right,” empathy is perceived as a weakness.
But, real men understand that now, it’s women’s time to shine like the brightest star in our sky, Sirius.
It’s time to get “Sirius” about women’s equality.
Although we still live in the violent world, it’s safer and less violent than ever, especially in the developed world.
That being said, it is still a very hostile world.
Politically hostile.
Socially hostile.
And perhaps spiritually hostile.
Whether it be in real groups or online, the echo chambers grow ever louder, and more and more people seek confirmation bias, rather than daring to challenge what they already believe.
If you have true believers on each side, it’s hard to put a Republican and a Democrat in the same room together today.
It’s hard to have a serious conversation about race relations today – especially in the context of treatment by law enforcement.
Make no mistake, brothers and sisters, we are in Revelations (allegorically speaking, don’t worry lol)
Don’t you hear the Trumpets?
Trump-Pence?
Get it?
But the four Archangels of the Apocalypse come not in chariots:
They come through our keyboards, our screens, and our conversations with friends and families.
They also come through what we “don’t” say, and what we “don’t” do.
And what many of us dare not even “think.”
Dogma.
Nihilism.
Apathy.
Tribalism.
Too often do we become jaded and stop caring about something that really matters in our hearts (Apathy).
Too often, especially when in depression or anxiety, do we extend that apathy to many things, or all things – we assume, even if it was once very important to us, that in a million years it couldn’t matter, right? (Nihilism).
It becomes harder to listen to those with opposing points of view, even legitimate ones, and so we only congregate with those that think the same of us, act the same as us, and sometimes even look the same as us (Tribalism).
Finally, perhaps the most dangerous, we obey authority unquestioningly, stop thinking critically and we stop thinking for ourselves. Blind obedience is the most dangerous of all, because a Clockwork Orange – we are not nor can ever be (Dogma).
Dogma, Nihilism, Apathy, and Tribalism combined are some of the largest ideological offenders of women’s inequality throughout history.
We focus on gender equality because it’s something centuries long overdue, and because women represent 50% of the population.
And that’s virtually 50% in every neighborhood, city, state, and nation in the WORLD.
But as shown above, gender equality is part of a much greater battle, that I fear, not enough people see.
And it connects back to all genders, all races, all sexual orientations, all plants, all animals – and the planet Earth herself.
You don’t need to drop acid, mushrooms, or DMT to know that WE ARE ONE.
Ask any mother the second her child is born and placed on her chest.
Or someone on their deathbed, or has had a near death experience.
Or an astronaut, viewing Earth from outer space.
You see, Mother Earth went to the doctor – she has a-once symbiotic organism that has multiplied exponentially and is quickly turning into a virus.
She’s heating up quickly, and has a pretty serious fever.
We all have to decide very, very quickly – if we are going to be white blood cells.
We are L’Aquila.
Women’s right’s are a vital part of who we are and our mission.
If you think, and more importantly feel the way we do…..
Don’t just “like us.”
Don’t just “follow us.”
Lead us.
Note: a lot of this isn’t to be taken literately. Take it with as much salt as you need, and maybe even add a shot of tequila for good measure ; )
Note II: Although hopefully obvious, I want to be clear that throughout this post, I’m referring to gender, not biological sex here.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/may/14/early-men-women-equal-scientists
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/91281.Matthew_Henry
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6236/796
http://theconversation.com/extreme-political-polarization-weakens-democracy-can-the-us-avoid-that-fate-105540
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/fashion/25brain.html
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/reducing-millions-of-tons-of-co2-through-eu-single-use-plastic-ban/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-to-fight-climate-change-and-plastic-pollution-at-home/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/reducing-co2-plastic-waste-at-the-same-time/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/loop-industries-leading-the-sustainable-plastic-revolution/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/506055-2__trashed/
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/dare-greatly-the-green-screen-brb-movement/
Jonathan O’Donnell, Founder and Senior Contributor At L’Aquila Active
Learn more about Jonathan by reading his bio below.
Click on link below to meet L’Aquila Active’s entire team of experts, including university degrees, certifications, and credentials on yoga and meditation: