one of the gifts that getting older has given me
is i don't seem to need enough sleep
and so this early early morning
lying in bed
i remembered one of my heroines: Margaret Mead
as a young girl growing up in the 60's
she was a light that illuminated my world
according to her - i was um, sexually normal
and i wondered
what happened to all of the cultural anthropologists??
replaced by an engineer, i imagine
but if one just happened to appear
what would they think of our world now-a-days?
i then imagined that i was one of these cultural anthropologists
and i went to Dafur
and i interviewed women
and learned that they thought::
that sex was just something that you did
to stay alive
it wasn't one's choice
it wasn't enjoyable
it wasn't pleasurable
it was endured
as one endured the following childbirth
praying that the child was a boy
and not a girl
who would endure female genital cutting
and then rape after rape
after baby after baby
until death by starvation
***
and now for something completely different: Letters to George
***
This blog is written with the help of my alter-ego Lady Liberty.
I am not responsible for any offense you may take to her Comments
7 comments:
I love Margaret Mead and cultural anthropology. Where ARE the modern "on location" anthropologists?
It sucks to be a woman in much of the world.
Killer post, AZ. Well done and makes the point with sharp fangs! Margaret Mead - I, too was a fan of hers. Now you have me thinking what she might have said about now.
I read Margaret Mead too. I remember wanting to be like her...travel to exotic areas and be a famous writer. I still want the same things so many years later. Where so dreams go?
AZ, I also was greatly influenced by the great marget mead. sadly, i think in many of today's univ programs, "Cultural Anthropology" has become a sub-facet of Archeology. Though where in Archeolgy is there room for "a small group of thoughtful people can change the world"? "Physical Anthro" still gets some glory with actual bones, though we only seem to hear about the BIG discoveries.
and of course, anytime the original hypothesis of this or that working theory is revised to fit new facts unearthed, the creationists are off'n'running. There's an Institute of Creation Science in El Cajon CALIF ... I think stringing those words together should be a mega-swear-word requiring much washing out of the mouth with soap!
Hmmm, a case could be made that the modern cultural anthros are feminists like Gloria Steinham, only working in a current medium. "Every time we liberate a woman, we liberate a man".
I like to watch "Faces of Culture" on PBS when I can find it, altho' it too focuses on present cultural diffs & doesn't attempt much analysis of the HOW, WHY & WHEN. ~~ D.K.
You would remind me of that. It ticks me off everytime I think about it. A woman isn't much fun unless she is verbally letting you know she is climaxing. So that you know she is enjoying it also. Then you can hold back and see if you can bring her up again. I let mine be know, even ask her if she is ready if I'm getting close. :-)
I agree with you Pam.
What is happening to women in the world can be terrible at times, and this "genital cutting" is disgusting.
There are efforts to educate, but combating ignorance takes a long time.
I've read about Margaret Mead, and I admired that she traveled so much.
Thanks for the last link. This is one of my favorite quotes: "Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." - I'd say that this addresses baby bush pretty well.
This is a test, to see if my computer locks up while trying to make a post here. I'm trying to figure out what is happening. I've posted about it on my blog. Hugs.
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