My next book is for our daughters and their sons.
It's a history of gender roles and sexism and the fight for women's liberation. It spans 5,ooo years so it's a pretty daunting task.
I'll be writing about history, mythology, religion, philosophy, culture and psychology. Five thousand years of controlling women and maintaining their inferiority, keeping them in the role of second class citizens, somewhat less than a full human being, handmaidens, servants of men, sex objects, It's not apretty story.
We have become complacent in Western society, believing that we have gained equality. Sadly the statistics show this is not true. And while we may have changed many laws and gained many rights legally, attitudes have not changed. And the most puzzling thing to me is that, throughout history, most women have colluded in their own dependence and slavery, even being the ones who carried out the brutal practices of foot-binding and female genital mutilation on their own daughters.
I am constantly asking myself why have women allowed themselves to be kept in a second class position. Why do both men and women combine to maintain the status quo of women's containment?
It is not about blame. Both sexes are involved. But men have been slower to change because, while gender roles confine and constrain them, they are still given the advantaged position in all societies. In this technological age however, the current concept of "masculinity" is too destructive to be allowed to continue. It is destructive of individuals, damaging to women and children, and could destroy our planet. We need a balance of male and female concepts and energy in control of our destinies.
For our daughters and their sons, I am writing to help us free both sexes from the straight jackets of rigid gender roles. Let's all be human beings, individuals who win or lose respect and dignity by our own actions not by prejudices that place us in groups and pre-judge us as groups.
